Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to fund and promote UK (a) science and innovation and (b) universities through its support to multilateral partnerships.

The UK's overseas Science & Innovation Network has 129 officers in over 65 locations who identify opportunities to build, support and nurture international collaboration between UK institutions and overseas academia, industry, government, and multilaterals.

UK universities are funded directly by the FCDO in line with government procurement rules, including through open competition. In financial year 2020/21, the latest year for which figures are available, 108 UK research institutions were in receipt of FCDO R&D funding. This funding supports universities and innovators across the whole of the UK to undertake research and form international partnerships.