The amount of research that takes place in UK universities is vast.
There were 157 universities that took part in the REF 2021 exercise. There were 76,000 staff submitted through REF, and 185,000 research outputs submitted. Even this does not represent the total amount of research taking place across the UK.
The UK Government is (at the time of writing) committed to investing £22bn of public funding in research and development – so there is more research to come. A 2020 study by the Intellectual Property Office found that international collaborations are growing, business partnerships are increasing, and of the 947 spinouts incorporated during the period 2000 to 2016, 59 per cent have been incorporated since 2011. Put simply, there is an ever growing number of people, partnerships, and – with a bit of luck – pounds, going into research.
