R&D and Innovation

How well do we understand the role of SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy) in UK R&D and innovation? How do we better measure what we value and value what we measure? The British Academy’s ongoing programme on R&D and innovation is building an evidence-base for better understanding the full-breadth of R&D and innovation activity in the UK economy, including the contributions of SHAPE disciplines alongside STEM. This includes our 'Understanding SHAPE in R&D' project, which highlights and outlines five policy goals to combat key evidence-gaps between policy and practice.

Developing long-term learning for policymakers on maintaining a stable and prosperous relationship between industry and R&D is a central tenet of the Academy’s ongoing work on R&D and innovation. There is an increased need to understand that the role that R&D plays in productivity and prosperity, as well as responses to global crises, be they economic or medical. As the UK seeks to better invest in R&D and innovation, we harness the SHAPE disciplines in the answering of critical questions: what should an R&D intensive economy look like? Who does it need, and who does it serve? In what ways does the UK research base, across all disciplines, offer economic benefits for the UK?

The British Academy and the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) are collaborating to provide up-to-date, robust and creative analyses of the economic returns of the UK research base, generating a better understanding of the relationship between research, innovation and productivity growth, and contributing to strengthening the evidence base for the development of policies to support and promote innovation.

The culmination of long-term research conducted by the Academy, 'Understanding SHAPE in R&D' highlights several key issues, not least the exclusion of SHAPE R&D from official statistics, and the possible impact of this exclusion on our understanding of the full breadth of the evidence base related to R&D.