Prof Joanna Chataway and Dr Sarah Main at the HoC Science and Technology Committee

The committee is meeting with a range of stakeholders to discuss the subject in more detail. Themes for this session included exploring the context of the Government’s commitment to reaching 2.4% of GDP being spent on R&D by 2027, and the creation of UKRI as an opportunity for planning how this can be achieved. The Committee will also explore international comparisons of R&D spending, the regional distribution of investment, and how R&D can be aligned with social and economic goals.

Three sets of panels were the first to provide evidence over two and half hours, starting with CaSE Director, and Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP) Honorary Professor, Dr Sarah Main and concluding with Professor Joanna Chataway, Head of Department at STEaPP. 

Sarah Main appeared alongside Sir Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute, Kristen Bound, Executive Director of Research and Analysis at NESTA, and Professor James Wilsdon, professor of research policy at Sheffield University.

Joanna Chataway was in the final panel representing her expertise and background in science policy alongside Professor Paul Nightingale, Professor of Strategy at University of Sussex. Reflecting on the event, Joanna commented, “New commitments to increase UK R&D offer an exciting opportunity to support academic institutions, industry and others in developing science and innovation agendas that meet critical social, environmental and economic need. It is time to be ambitious and it was great to have the opportunity to be part of the Select Committee’s deliberations”. Whilst Dr Main expressed that, "At a time when the Government has set a target to approximately double the UK's research and development activity over ten to fifteen years, it is important that Parliament scrutinises why and how that is done. I believe that the Government should set a clear vision for what the target is intended to achieve and to guide delivery of the target and its outputs. Furthermore, that setting a long-term budget for the public portion of the target will allow for the best possible stewardship of public money and will enable discussion and purposeful decisions on any shifts in balance of funding."

You can watch the entire evidence session from the committee here. Dr Main appears at the beginning of the session, and Professor Jo Chataway’s panel starts at time 11.22:33. You can also read the full transcript here.

UCL have already submitted evidence to the committee, and that can be viewed here.