Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to deploy funding for public research and development in Northern Ireland.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to working closely with the Devolved Administrations to realise the ambitions of the Science and Technology Framework and to ensure it works for the whole of the UK.
Businesses and universities across the UK are eligible to apply for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding. As of June 2023, over 190 UKRI funded projects with a combined value of over £143 million were led by award holders in Northern Ireland.
Additionally, core funding for university research, is a devolved matter and Northern Ireland universities receive core research funding from the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to increase the levels of private research and development investment in Northern Ireland.
Answered by George Freeman
We are committed to building on record public investment in research and development to increase private investment across the country, including in Northern Ireland. For example, since we published the Innovation Strategy, Innovate UK has introduced an online Innovation Hub and expanded its EDGE support scheme to help innovative businesses across the UK grow.
Northern Ireland received £47.5 million UKRI funding in 2020-21. We also support the Digital Catapult in Belfast to help innovative businesses grow, and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships funded by Innovate UK and Invest NI are helping local universities and businesses to upskill and enhance their investment potential.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to (a) identify and (b) promote investment opportunities in UK strategic priority areas for (i) research and (ii) development.
Answered by George Freeman
The Science and Technology Framework sets out a vision for our research and development (R&D) investment to match the scale of our ambition, and to catalyse the private sector to do the same.
We are working closely with the Department for Business and Trade to identify and promote UK innovation strengths and investment opportunities globally, including through the GREAT campaign. The interactive digital tool we will publish in the autumn, mapping the UK’s innovation clusters, will be a crucial next step in helping us showcase UK strengths to attract private investment.