New report: Trends in engineering research
Trends in Engineering Research presents a bibliometric analysis of the UK’s engineering research outputs. The Royal Academy of Engineering commissioned Digital Science and Technopolis to provide insights into the strengths, quality and impact of UK engineering research from 2007 to 2021. The report presents comprehensive data on the UK’s strengths, gaps and trends in engineering research and also poses key questions on the health of the engineering research sector, its contribution to a safer and more resilient UK.
As the Academy runs an extensive programme of grants and prizes for engineers at every career stage in the UK, we are also part of the UK’s research and innovation ecosystem. We strive to be a funder of best practice.
The Academy has three main strands of activity concerning research and innovation ecosystems:
Regularly advising government and the civil service on matters relating to research, development, and innovation funding. Explore investing.
We strive to be a funder of best practice and are involved in a number of initiatives to improve research culture. Explore research culture.
The Academy and its Enterprise Hub have taken an active interest in how these incentives support R&D-intensive SMEs and business R&D in general. Find out about our tax relief work.
Investing in R&D is investing in the future. R&D and innovation underpins our industries, creates new jobs and provides solutions to improve our health, wealth, security and environment.
What we do
The Innovation Analysis and Public Affairs team regularly advices government and the civil service on matters relating to research, development, and innovation funding. We convene the whole-Academy responses and contributions to financial events such as government budgets and other fiscal statements. We also liaise with its equivalents in the other National Academies to agree of areas of shared policy regarding how the UK should best fund R&D and Innovation
Business Perspectives
The people at the centre of businesses’ decisions around R&D are chief technology officers, chief engineers, and in some businesses, chief executives. They are the ones that make the case for R&D within the business and direct it, including where it is done and how it is used to drive business success. Our business perspectives series explores how and why businesses make R&D investment decisions, and which aspects of the current UK environment encourage or discourage further R&D and innovation.
How much is invested currently?
The most recent update from government, announced at Autumn Statement 2022, is that we’re close to meeting the target of 2.4% of GDP invested in R&D. This is in part due to methodological improvements to how the national statistics are compiled. The Chancellor also confirmed an increase in public funding for R&D to £20 billion by 2024/25.
R&D investment 2021/22
Budgeted amount for 2024/25
2026/27 spending commitment
The UK government sets targets for R&D investment and reports on its performance through a range of national statistics. We track these targets and statistics, and present them in an easy to understand format in our explainer
Where are we now?
- The Government has committed to investing £22 billion in R&D by 2026-27 as part of a target of 2.4% of GDP by 2027, and 3% in the longer-term.
- The UK National Academies produced a report on the current R&D investment and explains the importance of the 3% target for the UK and what can influence its delivery.
Research culture
As the Academy runs an extensive programme of grants and prizes for engineers at every career stage in the UK, we are also part of the UK’s research and innovation ecosystem. We strive to be a funder of best practice and are involved in a number of initiatives to improve research culture. Research culture encompasses the behaviours, values, expectations, attitudes, and norms of our research communities.
Research statements and responses
Briefing: Radical Innovation – a blueprint for a new UK research and technology funding agency
The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), is the latest major funder to join the UK’s research and innovation ecosystem, officially launched in in August 2022. Ahead of the creation of ARIA, we produced a briefing setting out a blueprint for an agency the supports radical innovation. It provides insights from the engineering community on how an Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)-style agency could bring most value to the UK.
This briefing is based on discussions by our Fellows and a wider network of associated and partners of the Royal Academy of Engineering, including participants in ARPA and similar programmes.
R&D tax reliefs
Tax incentives, including R&D tax reliefs, have long been recognised by engineering businesses as important measures to support business R&D investment in the UK. R&D tax reliefs can encourage large multinational companies to invest in R&D in the UK, as they decrease the relative cost of the work. While, for small companies, the tax reliefs can promote R&D investment by increasing cash flow to respond to opportunities as they arise.
Recent governments have taken an interest in reforming the UK’s current tax relief system for R&D, with the most recent changes taking place as part of Budget 2023. The Academy and its Enterprise Hub have taken an active interest in how these incentives support R&D-intensive SMEs and business R&D in general.