Following the 2017 Budget, Tom Frostick, Policy & Programmes Manager (Research & Innovation) for University Alliance has written a blog for Research Fortnight.
“It has been a big week for UK research, with a further £2.3 billion for R&D confirmed in the budget and the long-awaited decisions on staff selection, outputs and portability for the Research Excellence Framework (REF). Next week will see the launch of the industrial strategy white paper, which will reveal still more about the shape of things to come.
The government’s priorities are already pretty clear. The additional £7bn of investment promised between now and 2022 will go on innovation and near-to-market research.
We know that certain sectors and technologies will be targeted and can anticipate greater detail on the nature of the challenge areas announced previously, including artificial intelligence and driverless vehicles. Place—a central theme of the budget commitments on 5G mobile telephony, fibre broadband, a Transforming Cities Fund, and transport infrastructure outside London and the South East—continues to underpin the government’s economic agenda.
Less clear is how easy it will be to meet these priorities within funding structures that are still evolving.”
Read the full article here.
