TThe research sector has been a consistent, if sometimes under-appreciated, British success story, with numerous examples of breakthroughs that have changed 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 laureate discovery of graphene by researchers at the University of Manchester. Graphene has completely reshaped many research areas, including materials science and condensed matter physics, extending far beyond 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 research – an important aspect of our dual-support research funding system, which often led to unexpected commercial gains. In more recent times, this has led to game-changing work such as advances in clean technology, renewable materials and especially the Covid vaccine. And these are just the examples that make headlines.
Research and innovation at universities, and their associated infrastructure and commercialization opportunities, make huge contributions to regional prosperity across the UK. Here in Manchester, the university’s former North Campus is being transformed with Bruntwood SciTech into “Sister”, a £1.7 billion innovation district. We have also newly introduced Unit M, which will help the university further catalyze business development and industrial clusters in the region.
Across the UK, research commercialization 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 require support with long-term, stable and robust funding, which now appears to be under threat. At a time when government is laser-focused on growth, regionally and nationally, protecting research and development (R&D) funding is a crucial piece of the puzzle to creating the right environment for economic resilience over the next decade and beyond to build.
If the government follows through on the rumored budget squeeze in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, it is 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 take. of research they can support, and who can fund them to continue doing it. UK universities typically leverage over £1 billion in R&D investment from UK charities each year, and over £5.6 billion 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 one million 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 work with us in the UK because of the exceptional quality of our R&D base.
However, this may change as our competitors rush to invest more in growth-supporting R&D. South Korea’s investment level is already almost double that of the UK, so we need to be aware of the risk that the UK is starting to fall behind its world leadership position. We all understand the challenging fiscal environment in which we operate, and it is inevitable that the government will have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions.
But if they can commit to supporting R&D for the long term, it will bring fruitful rewards. R&D is an investment, not a cost. This is recognized as a much higher rate of return than the average for capital investment across government spending lines (every £1 of Higher Education Innovation Fund investment in research-intensive universities returns £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 to the UK.
The prospect of cuts at the level put forward last week – up to £1 billion, and fears that UK Research and Innovation will be left with no grant funding to offer next year – is deeply worrying and will do real damage to our research . and innovation ecosystem. Simply put, if the government takes steps to cut off the flow of R&D funding now, they can’t just turn the tap back on in a few years and expect to see the same results.
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Prof Sir Andre Geim, from the University of Manchester, is the winner of the 2010 Nobel price in physicsand Prof Dame Nancy Rothwell is formerly president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester
