UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a
non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...
of the
Government of the United Kingdom
His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
History and role
Established on 1 April 2018 by the
Higher Education and Research Act 2017, UKRI brought nine organisations into one unified body.
UKRI was created following a report by Sir
Paul Nurse, the President of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, who recommended the merger in order to increase integrative cross-disciplinary research.
Working in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government, its mission is to foster research and development within the United Kingdom and create a positive "impact"—"push the frontiers of human knowledge and understanding", "deliver economic impact", and "create social and cultural impact".
The first Chief Executive Officer of UKRI was the immunologist Professor Sir
Mark Walport. He was succeeded in June 2020 by
plant biologist Professor Dame
Ottoline Leyser.
Research councils
There are nine bodies in UKRI, comprising the seven research councils formerly organised under
Research Councils UK and two additional bodies,
Innovate UK and
Research England. Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) was an Arms Length Body of the
Department of Trade and Industry, while Research England succeeded the former
Higher Education Funding Council for England. Research England is responsible for the
Research Excellence Framework, or REF, and is developing a new knowledge exchange framework, KEF.
See also
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Advanced Research and Invention Agency
References
Sources
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External links
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Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Funding bodies in the United Kingdom
Innovation in the United Kingdom
Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government
Research and development in the United Kingdom
Research funding agencies
Science policy in the United Kingdom
UK Research and Innovation