- Funding boost for science and tech breakthroughs that improve lives, create jobs and grow our economy
- £55 billion long-term backing for the UK’s research agencies and bodies is a real-terms rise, with DSIT making its largest-ever investment in R&D
- Every £1 spent by government on R&D delivers £8 of wider economic benefit – from the invention of new cancer treatments, to new ways of harnessing renewable energy – delivering national renewal
From the tech that screens airport luggage to keep us safe, to life-changing new medical treatments, the inventors and innovators behind Great British breakthroughs that drive growth and improve our daily lives are in line for a £55 billion funding boost to take their work to the next level.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has today (Thursday 30 October) confirmed long-term R&D funding for the UK’s research agencies and bodies, with bumper investment for the bodies that are making science and tech breakthroughs that improve lives and grow our economy. These allocations give visibility and clarity on the development of DSIT’s plans for R&D budgets, with the Department’s overall R&D budget growing in real terms.
New analysis published today shows the value of public investment in R&D to the UK – with every £1 spent delivering £8 in net economic benefits over the long-term. Crowding in private investment is a key part of this, with every £1 of public money invested in R&D crowding in a further £2 in private investment, on average.
The Science and Tech Secretary announced today’s allocations while visiting IBM’s London base, to see first-hand how private investment is supporting the strength of the UK’s public offer on R&D, boosting work from quantum to robotics. Publicly-funded UK research has already resulted in some of the most important breakthroughs of recent years, including the first cutting-edge antibody products which have transformed some cancers from a guaranteed death sentence to manageable chronic conditions.
IBM is also working in partnership with publicly-funded researchers through UKRI’s £210 million Hartree Centre, to bring AI, quantum computing and supercomputing to bear to discover new medicines, and breakthroughs in clean energy. While the company is also one of several technology vendors providing access to cutting edge quantum computing resource via the National Quantum Computing Centre – which will benefit from a first-of-its-kind 10-year government funding commitment.
By investing in R&D now, the government is putting a down-payment on Britain’s future that will deliver dividends for decades to come and put money in people’s pockets – delivering on our Plan for Change. We know businesses grow faster because of public R&D. In the 6 years after receiving their first R&D grant funding, employment increases in the average business by 21% and turnover grows by 23% relative to similar firms who didn’t get support. Some of the UK’s most innovative businesses have had public R&D funding help springboard them to success.
Oxford Nanopore, who are developing the world’s first pandemic early warning system, and Cobalt Light Systems, who make the tech that’s used to screen liquids at airports, have both benefitted from UKRI funding in previous years. Today, Oxford Nanopore is a FTSE 250-listed company, while Cobalt Light Systems’ equipment is used in over 70 airports worldwide.
Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said:
Backing our best and brightest researchers and innovators is essential. They are making the impossible, possible, from health to clean energy and beyond. Their ideas will create tomorrow’s industries, boosting growth and transforming public services now and in the future.
By investing in their work, we are backing the long-term success of the UK, by paving the way for breakthroughs that will help us all to live and work better.
Publicly-funded research makes a difference to everyone’s health, wealth and wellbeing, with examples from the last year including:
- £129 million in government support for BioNTech, who are setting up UK R&D centres to advance innovative cancer medicines and in turn unlocking £1 private billion investment over 10 years
- £80 million for 100 nationwide research projects ranging from better prosthetics, to better tests for blood clots
- £44 million to put technologies like AI and engineering biology to work, to make manufacturing cleaner, less wasteful, and less reliant on fossil fuels
- £32 million for novel medical scanners which are up to 40 times more sensitive and up to 10 times faster than existing machines, to help diagnose cancer and heart conditions
- £19.6 million for developing cutting-edge materials for the next generation of computers and medical scanners
- Over £22 million for work to make usable quantum computers a reality, which can discover new medicines and treatments in a fraction of the time and cost it takes today
R&D is also at the heart of around 3 million jobs in the UK, with the power to create many more as discoveries advance.
British quantum firm Oxford Quantum Circuits, meanwhile – founded off the back of public-funded research – has gone on to raise $100 million Series B and deploy the first ever quantum computer in New York City.
The R&D funding being confirmed today, covering the Spending Review period ending 2029/2030, includes:
- UKRI, the UK’s national funding agency for science and research, will deliver more than £38 billion across the period, including nearly £10 billion in 2029/2030 alone
- The budget for ARIA – the UK’s agency backing bold, long-term breakthroughs – to rise from £220 million a year to £400 million a year by 2029/2030. One area that ARIA is supporting, is how robots could potentially help meet the growing need for adult social care
- Over £1.4 billion total backing for the Met Office, to keep the UK at the forefront of climate science
- Over £900 million total backing for the UK’s prestigious National Academies
- Over £550 million for the National Measurement System, and £240 million for the AI Security Institute
- All these allocations will support vital investment in universities, research institutes, and businesses across the UK
DSIT’s overall R&D budget will grow in real terms over the Spending Review period, totalling £58.5 billion from 2026/2027 to 2029/2030.
The funding being confirmed today comes from the transformative £86 billion for public R&D confirmed by the Chancellor at the Spending Review, £55 billion of which is being detailed today. Funding for some further R&D programmes will be confirmed in due course.
Notes to editors
Further information will be published later this year, including more detail on UKRI’s budgets and more information on the outcomes the funding will support.
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