Does STI policy need a strategic brain?

When UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) was created in 2017, one of its boldest ambitions was to provide a “strategic brain” for the UK’s R&D system: a heightened capacity to understand where and how public investment could deliver the greatest return.

Since then, there has been growing interest, in the UK and globally, in the specifics of how research is funded - a movement that encompasses metascience and innovation studies, the creation of new types of funding organisations, and a redoubled focus on improving investment processes.

As Lord Vallance outlined in his recent speech at Metascience 2025, there is a growing appreciation across government of the value of metascientific evidence and data to inform decision-making, and to target support for ‘critical technologies’ like AI and quantum.

With budgets tightening, and with a new Chief Executive, Sir Ian Chapman, now at the helm of UKRI, this is a moment to think afresh about how the UK R&D system delivers on the possibilities of a “strategic brain”.

Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of UKRI's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), is a longstanding advocate for strengthening the quality and uptake of evidence in R&D policymaking. Join us at 17:00 on Tuesday 30 September to hear Stian outline his vision for an expanded evidence and analytic function across UKRI (expanding on his recent article here), and how this could support the UK research base to unlock more of its potential.

This event will be chaired by James Wilsdon, Professor of Research Policy at STEaPP, UCL and Executive Director, Research on Research Institute (RoRI). There will also be a response to Stian’s talk from Molly Morgan-Jones, Director of Policy at the British Academy and Sarah Chaytor, Director of Research Strategy & Policy at UCL.

The seminar will be followed by a drinks reception from 18:30 to 19:15. Places are limited so please book in advance to reserve your seat!

Flashpoints & faultlines in science, technology, engineering & public policy: a STEaPP seminar series

This event forms part of a STEaPP-UCL series on "Flashpoints & faultlines in science, technology, engineering & public policy”.

Science, technology and engineering policy has never been more important, nor more contested. This year, UCL’s Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP) will be holding a series of seminars under the umbrella theme of ‘Flashpoints & faultlines in science, technology, engineering and public policy’. These are designed to provoke and stimulate fresh lines of thought, debate and research within the department, across UCL and beyond.

All staff and students in STEaPP are warmly invited to participate, as are colleagues from across UCL with an interest in these topics. The series is being convened by Geoff Mulgan and James Wilsdon, and is being organised with the support of the Research on Research Institute (RoRI), based within STEaPP.

The seminars are held in person as an opportunity to strengthen collaborative links across STEaPP and wider UCL. Talks will be recorded and posted online afterwards.