The Innovation Accelerator (IA) programme focuses on locally-led innovation that drives economic growth and technological advancement across three key UK regions: Glasgow City Region Greater Manchester West Midlands The IA programme is led by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Building on existing £100 million investment This extension funding builds on the £100 million already invested into the programme. The pilot is co-designed with city regions and takes a fresh approach to accelerate innovation and support them to become globally competitive research and development powerhouses. Glasgow City Region In…
Author: UKRI
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The gender pay gap is a measure across all jobs in UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), not of the difference in pay between males and females for doing the same job. UKRI’s mean gender pay gap (GPG) has narrowed by 0.6 percentage points since 2022.The figures show that in 2024, UKRI’s mean gender pay gap was 9.0%, 1.3 percentage points higher than the UK national GPG, which stood at 7.7% in 2023. In other words, for every £1 that males earned, on average females earned 91p. However, the most recent data has shown a widening by 0.7 percentage points in…
Tech entrepreneur and business leader Tom Adeyoola brings a wealth of experience spanning technology, investment, entrepreneurship and digital transformation. As co-founder of Extend Ventures, he has worked with Innovate UK to improve diversity in grant funding and support underrepresented entrepreneurs. He also serves on the steering board of The Startup Coalition, advocating for high-growth tech businesses across the UK. Whilst on the board at Channel 4, he focused on digital transformation and championed innovation funding in the creative industries. He has also been a driving force in exploring the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the economy, from education to public…
How new technologies are improving many aspects of our world from plastics recycling to food production and consumption, to transport and communication are highlighted in a new collection of projects funded by UKRI. The technologies are all supported through UKRI’s Technology Missions Fund which is investing over £320 million in: artificial intelligence (AI) quantum technologies engineering biology future telecommunications Tackling global challenges The online brochure has a series of videos and case studies. They explain the impacts and outcomes of the mission-led research and development investments to help tackle our global challenges across health and the environment, while growing the…
From more timely dementia diagnoses to helping people with dementia live more independently, these investments are being announced on the day of the World Dementia Council Summit, which is championing the role of innovation to deliver change through health systems. Science Minister Lord Vallance said: Dementia is one of the biggest challenges to health and social care of our time. This £8 million funding will support researchers across the UK to take on that challenge, harnessing technology to improve the quality of life for those living with the disease. Helping people with Dementia to get more timely diagnoses, and to…
When setting our strategic innovation challenges, Innovate UK and Ofgem engage with subject matter experts from: third party innovators the regulator academia network companies policymakers industry This gives us a robust, transparent, and well-informed process for challenge identification and prioritisation. Feedback from stakeholders this year was that direction setting should be more specific and longer term. Therefore, Innovate UK and Ofgem are setting seven specific challenges for the next two years, moving away from annual challenge setting. Challenge setting The challenge setting process is used to share knowledge, build evidence and consensus across the energy system around the most pressing…
This is the first study to use this approach. It has allowed doctors at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, to offer the patients surgery to cure their condition. 7T MRI scanners Medical Research Council (MRC) funding supported this study, including funding for 7T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. 7T MRI scanners operate using a seven Tesla magnetic field, more than double the strength of previous 3T scanners. Previously, 7T MRI scanners have suffered from signal blackspots in crucial parts of the brain. But in research published in Epilepsia, researchers in Cambridge and Paris have used a technique that overcomes this problem. Focal…
Researchers developing connectivity technologies capable of the enormous speed, capacity and security needed to make the most of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), will receive a share of at least £15 million. For example, work on how new types of fibre optics could transmit data at far higher volumes than current tech allows. Future telecoms research The funding will support the three future communications research hubs to continue their cutting-edge research and development (R&D), as well as a unique UK-wide experimentation platform for future telecoms research. This includes: solving how next-generation telecoms technologies can deliver the infrastructure needed by…
Further information The ten successful projects are as follows. QUDITS2 Partners include: Vector Photonics (lead) Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult Phlux Technology University of Bristol Project QUDITS2 is developing a hardware demonstrator platform to showcase the viability of quantum communication systems using qudits, units that can store and process information beyond 0s and 1s. Following on from the successful Innovate UK funded QUDITS feasibility study, the consortium will develop a demonstrator using commercially available novel photonics technologies from the UK supply chain, able to operate at optical communications wavelengths. Packaging advancements for quantum networks (PAGNet) Partners include: Alter Technology Tuv Nord…
The projects form part of the Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Programme (SMMIP), delivered in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care. SMMIP aims to transform the UK’s medicines manufacturing sector by driving innovation, adoption, investment and collaboration. The programme will focus on developing disruptive technologies to optimise production efficiency, minimise waste and reduce emissions, aligning with global sustainability goals. Collaboration for a sustainable future The SMMIP is funded as part of the wider 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth Investment Programme. It is a new joint government-industry programme to strengthen the UK’s global competitiveness…