Global collaboration

The UK competes for R&D investment in a global market – some 58% of private R&D investment comes from overseas companies. To achieve the Government’s aspirations for research, the UK will need to attract greater investment from and partnerships with multinational firms.

R&D represents a major market opportunity for the UK. The top 1,000 R&D intensive businesses in the world spent over $781bn on R&D in 2017 alone.  The UK is already competitive in terms of attracting a share of this investment into the UK, however competition is rising and the UK has stated a clear ambition to become a global science superpower.

Our R&D Taskforce recommended that the UK must act like a competitor to attract a greater share of global R&D investment. We are developing a number of proposals to support this, including calling for an R&D Foreign Direct Investment Strategy and new Global Collaboration Fund that encourages universities to collaborate and pool their strengths to attract investment from businesses in the UK and overseas.

Other Areas of Focus

R&D Taskforce

The UK Government has placed R&D and innovation at the heart of its Plan for Growth and its global ambitions. Collaboration between universities and businesses are central to achieving its aspirations.

Learn more

Joined up business focussed offer

Research and innovation are affected by many different factors – from the availability of skills, datasets, buildings and laboratories, to regulation, tax and funding. The UK needs a combined offer to drive business investment in R&D.

Learn more

Impact of Covid-19

There is growing evidence that Covid-19 has impacted business innovation activities and on the ability of universities to contribute to innovation.

Learn more

Enhancing Knowledge Exchange

Knowledge Exchange (KE) is at the heart of university-business collaboration. Through KE, academic ideas and research are shared and external perspectives and experiences are contributed. The KE process both maximises the impact of academic work and enhances it through exposure to new sources of information.

Learn more