UK looks to ten year R&D plans ahead of industrial strategy
The UK government has issued new criteria for long term research and development (R&D) funding as it plans to announce its long awaited Industrial Strategy
The criteria will be used by departments and public bodies to identify and prioritise relevant ten-year funding proposals. Short term funding has been a major criticism of technology R&D in the UK< particularly quantum and semiconductors.
“Research and innovation, from computing and AI to health breakthroughs need stability of funding,” said UK Science Minister, Lord Vallance. “This change will provide certainty to certain types of research organisations and unlock vital business investment into our world-class research sector to drive growth.”
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The criteria are based around four areas.
For infrastructure and core capabilities ten-year funding will allow recipients to develop or maintain core national infrastructure or support more impactful use of such infrastructure, which would not be possible under shorter funding cycles.
Talent attraction and retention is also a longer term project. This would apply to areas such as semiconductors where the skills development in a particular area is demonstrably vital to the UK growth agenda and longer-term funding would enable development of a pipeline of skilled researchers, scientists or engineers that otherwise would be difficult.
International collaboration covers demonstrable, additional opportunities for international collaborations with wider strategic benefits, while there is also criteria for partnerships and business collaboration.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has worked with the Treasury and other stakeholders to develop the principles of ten-year funding and the process by which public bodies will select specific activities or institutions for long-term funding, to provide transparency for the R&D sector.
However it will be up to individual departments to implement any long term funding as part of the coming Spending Review. The guidance recommends that public bodies should set a maximum limit for the proportion of R&D budget that should be allocated to ten-year funding.
Further details on the initial recipients of ten-year budgets will be set out in the second phase of the Spending Review, and in due course following the allocation of the R&D budget.
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