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 The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It was established on 7 February 2023 by a cabinet reshuffle under the Rishi Sunak premiership. The departm ...

History and role

Established on 1 April 2018 by the

Higher Education and Research Act 2017 The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (c. 29) was enacted into law in the United Kingdom by the Houses of Parliament on 27 April 2017. It is intended to create a new regulatory framework for Higher education in the United Kingdom, higher edu ...

, UKRI brought nine organisations into one unified body. UKRI was created following a report by Sir

Paul Nurse Sir Paul Maxime Nurse (born 25 January 1949) is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along ...

, 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 Sir Mark Jeremy Walport (born 25 January 1953) is an English medical scientist and was the Government Chief Scientific Adviser in the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2017 and Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2017 to 2020. I ...

. He was succeeded in June 2020 by plant biologist Professor Dame

Ottoline Leyser Dame Henrietta Miriam Ottoline Leyser (born 7 March 1965) is a British plant biologist and Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge who is on secondment as CEO of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). From 2013 to 2020 she wa ...

Research councils

There are nine bodies in UKRI, comprising the seven research councils formerly organised under

Research Councils UK Research Councils UK, sometimes known as RCUK, was a non-departmental public body that coordinated science policy in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2018. It was an umbrella organisation that coordinated the seven separate research councils ...

and two additional bodies,

Innovate UK Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the UK Res ...

and

Research England Research England is a part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) that oversees the functions of UKRI in relation to university research and knowledge transfer in England. This includes: * providing funding to English universities for rese ...

. 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 The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...

. Research England is responsible for the

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is ...

, or REF, and is developing a new knowledge exchange framework, KEF.

References

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External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded 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

History and role

Research councils

See also

References

Sources

External links