British Academy welcomes the launch of UKRI

In response to the launch of UKRI (UK Research & Innovation), the British Academy’s Vice-President, Professor Roger Kain CBE FBA, said:

“The UK has a world-leading research base – with less than 1% of the world’s population, we produce 16% of the world’s most highly cited research papers. As the national voice for the humanities and social sciences, the British Academy looks forward to working with UKRI and others to ensure UK research remains at the cutting edge.

“The establishment of UKRI represents a great opportunity to encourage researchers to look at problems in new ways, and to help build new inter-disciplinary alliances with the potential to dig deep into the complex issues facing society today.”

“We also look forward to contributing to the review of how best to distribute funding between the various streams that now fall to UKRI and of how to invest effectively in the many infrastructures that are essential to the UK’s leading research.”

*Statistics from Building a Stronger Future, a joint report by all national academies on research, innovation and growth.