The research sector has been a consistent, if sometimes undervalued, UK success story, with countless examples of breakthroughs that have transformed our understanding of the world and the way we live in it, and contributed significantly to our health and wealth.
In Manchester last week we celebrated 20 years since the Nobel prize-winning discovery of graphene by researchers at the University of Manchester. Graphene has completely reshaped many research areas including materials science and condensed matter physics, reaching far beyond into life sciences, and now gradually but steadily expanding into industrial and consumer products.
The breakthrough that allowed scientists to first isolate graphene was only possible because universities had the funding and flexibility to allow scientists to explore freely in early-stage, blue-sky-thinking research – a vital aspect of our dual support research funding system, which has often led to unexpected commercial gains. In more recent times, it has led to gamechanging work such as advances in cleantech, renewable materials and, most notably, the Covid vaccine. And these are just the examples that make headlines.
Across the UK, research commercialisation at Russell Group universities alone supports more than 250,000 jobs. These achievements don’t always come about through flash-in-the-pan, eureka moments. They are the result of years of nurturing a pipeline of talent and innovation, building expertise and knowledge clusters – all of which need supporting with long-term, stable and robust funding, which now appears to be under threat. At a moment when the government is focused on growth, regionally and nationally, protecting research and development (R&D) funding is a crucial piece of the puzzle to build the right environment for economic resilience over the next decade and beyond.
If the government follows through on rumoured budget squeezes in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, it’s the blue-sky research and innovation that is likely to suffer, as universities and other research institutions will be forced to make increasingly difficult decisions about the kind of research they can support, and who they can fund to keep doing it. UK universities typically leverage more than £1bn in R&D investment from UK charities each year, and over £5.6bn from business – and the impact of that research is everywhere.
Take cancer, where 10-year survival rates have doubled since the 1970s. Thanks to advances in research, diagnosis and treatment, more than 1m deaths have been avoided in the UK since the mid-1980s. Internationally, charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation can of course invest anywhere, but choose to partner with us in the UK because of the exceptional quality of our R&D base.
However, this could change as our competitors race to invest more in growth-bearing R&D. South Korea’s level of investment is already nearly double that of the UK, so we need to be alert to the risk that the UK starts to fall behind its world-leading position. We all understand the challenging fiscal environment we’re working in, and it’s inevitable that the government will need to make some tough, and unpopular, decisions.
But if they can commit to backing R&D for the long term, it will bring fruitful rewards. R&D is an investment, not a cost. It is recognised as having a much higher rate of return than average for capital investment across government spending lines (every £1 of Higher Education Innovation Fund investment at research intensive universities delivers £12 to the economy). It also makes a huge impact on the UK’s reputation and global standing, with international reach that can be leveraged to attract new foreign direct investment into the UK.
The prospect of funding cuts on the level being touted last week – up to £1bn, with fears that UK Research and Innovation would be left with no grant funding at all to offer next year – is deeply concerning and will do real damage to our research and innovation ecosystem. Put simply, if government makes moves to cut off the flow of R&D funding now, they can’t just turn the tap back on in a few years’ time and expect to see the same results.
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Prof Sir Andre Geim, of the University of Manchester, is the winner of the 2010 Nobel prize in physics, and Prof Dame Nancy Rothwell is formerly president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester