Building a stronger future: Research, innovation and growth

The strength of UK research and innovation. Please click for larger version.

Outstanding research and innovation advance our economic, social and cultural well-being as well as our health, and will be central to developing a sustainable future.

The UK has a world-leading research base, which provides the foundation for new ideas and discoveries, and fuels economic growth and the creation of high-value jobs.

However, the UK’s leadership in research cannot be taken for granted. UK investment in research is failing to keep pace with other leading nations and risks eroding the capacity to attract and retain the very best researchers from the UK and overseas.

To ensure that the UK can exploit all that its excellent research and innovation base has to offer and remain an economic powerhouse, it must keep investing in and building an environment in which research will prosper and ideas will flourish.

Top ten OECD investors in research and innovation – How does the UK compare?. Please click for larger version.

The Royal Society together with our sister academies, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy and the Royal Academy of Engineering, sets out a vision for the next Government in the statement 'Building a stronger future'.

• Place research and innovation at the heart of plans for long-term economic growth
• Secure prosperity by strengthening public investment in research and innovation
• Meet demand for research skills through a flexible and diverse workforce
• Strengthen policy by embedding expert advice across Government

The Academies speak for UK research and innovation across the full range of the natural, engineering, medical and social sciences, and the humanities. 

If you want to know more about the work of the Royal Society, please contact science.policy@royalsociety.org