UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
History and role UKRI was created following a report by Sir Paul Nurse, the president of the Royal Society, who recommended the merger in order to increase integrative cross-disciplinary research.
UKRI was established on 1 April 2018 by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. It brought together the seven research councils and two additional bodies, Innovate UK and Research England. Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) was an arm's 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.
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.
Councils CouncilFormationWebsiteBudget (FY2024/25)Arts and Humanities Research Council2005AHRC website£77 millionBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council1994BBSRC website£322 millionEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council1994EPSRC website£641 millionEconomic and Social Research Council1965ESRC website£134 millionMedical Research Council1913MRC website£604 millionNatural Environment Research Council1965NERC website£320 millionScience and Technology Facilities Council2007STFC website£608 millionInnovate UK2007Innovate UK£919 millionResearch England2018Research England£2006 million
See also Advanced Research and Invention Agency National Institute for Health and Care Research, another major UK research funding source.
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