In the midst of significant public sector funding challenges, it’s all too easy for investment in research to be seen as a “nice to have” rather than an “essential”.
But we know that it is essential – new knowledge and new inventions benefit everyone in the long term – successful “blue skies” research in universities spills over into benefits for businesses, industry and the whole economy. Research and innovation create wealth and give rise to the industries of the future. The technologies that will support the transition to net zero, big data and artificial intelligence are all moving out of research departments to create real investment and real jobs in the industries of tomorrow.
As a community, we need to be better able to demonstrate what we know to policy-makers and the public. A key finding from the public attitudes survey carried out for the Campaign for Science and Engineering’s Discovery Decade project was that universities’ role in the R&D system is not clear to the public. The survey also revealed that public support for R&D investment is fragile, and opinions readily shift when R&D is framed in competition with other pressing priorities. In an era of funding challenges and elections ahead, we need better evidence for why R&D investment is critical.
