Background to the report

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is responsible for “positioning the UK at the forefront of global scientific and technological advancement” and believes six ‘frontier technologies’ will have a particularly important role in stimulating economic growth.

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Availability of research infrastructure – facilities used by scientists and industry to conduct research such as laboratories, specialised equipment, and supercomputers – will be critical in determining how rapidly the sector grows. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental public body sponsored by DSIT, spent £1.1 billion on infrastructure to support research and innovation in 2024-25.

Building, maintaining, and upgrading research infrastructure comes at large cost, requiring strategic decision-making to ensure that most crucial research infrastructure is accessible within the budget available. Our 2016 study examining spending on research infrastructure found that government had not used good quality information to inform investment decisions. We recommended a more structured and strategic process for deciding what to fund.

Since then, UKRI has made changes to how it manages spending on infrastructure, including publishing a roadmap outlining its understanding of the research and innovation infrastructure landscape. DSIT was established in 2023 to bring a more dedicated focus to supporting research and innovation within government. 

Scope of the report

This study examines how effectively DSIT and UKRI work together to develop and operate research infrastructure that meets the needs of government, researchers and industry. It looks at:

  • how well DSIT understands the research infrastructure landscape
  • how DSIT and UKRI determine what infrastructure to fund
  • whether DSIT and UKRI are working effectively to deliver the research infrastructure the UK needs
  • whether existing research infrastructure assets are being used in a way which achieves the best possible outcomes

Video summary

Watch Charles Nancarrow, the report’s director, summarise our findings.

Conclusions

Academic and private sector researchers depend on publicly financed research infrastructure to make scientific advances and develop innovative products and solutions to global problems.

Since we last reported, DSIT has started providing a clearer direction on the technologies it believes are particularly strategically important to the UK, and its expectations about how much money UKRI should spend supporting the government’s policy priorities.

UKRI has also introduced a more consistent and professional approach to funding research infrastructure, for example ensuring all projects have strong investment cases, meaning these projects have made, and will continue to make, significant contributions to global science.

DSIT and UKRI have also shown that the UK government can take action quickly in particularly fast-moving and strategically important areas.

While UKRI and DSIT now have a clearer understanding of future infrastructure requirements than they had previously, UKRI can still do more to manage its research infrastructure as a portfolio – including balancing acquisition of new capabilities with maintenance and renewal of existing infrastructure – some of which can no longer be used for its intended purpose.

There is also scope for UKRI to improve the value for money of its infrastructure projects by ensuring they adhere more closely to good practice, particularly around addressing over–optimism at early stages of project delivery.

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Publication details

Press release

View press release (13 Mar 2026)

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