UKRI Board Visit Spotlights Birmingham’s Role in UK Research and Innovation
The University of Birmingham welcomed the UKRI Board to campus for a visit that highlighted the University’s role in shaping the UK’s research future.
On Tuesday 16 September, the University of Birmingham welcomed the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Board to campus. The visit spotlighted the University’s role in shaping the UK’s research future.
Starting with lunch and a tour of the School of Engineering's Maker Space, the visit included a showcase of the University’s world-leading research expertise and collaboration and a city centre reception with business leaders, innovators and fellow academic institutions.
Of the visit, Professor Rachel O’Reilly MBE, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer, said: “The University is focused on meeting its 2030 research ambitions and it has been brilliant to welcome the UKRI Board to the University to really highlight the breadth of our research expertise and our role in catalysing research and innovation-led prosperity and growth.”
During the afternoon research showcase, UKRI Board members, including CEO Professor Sir Ian Chapman, split off into groups to learn first-hand how University of Birmingham research and collaboration is improving people’s lives and bolster key growth areas for the UK economy and the UK’s science leadership. This included:
- Our national leadership around material science including the University’s long-running collaboration with Rolls-Royce, the Birmingham Centre for Strategic and Critical Materials, and our long-standing expertise in building the future of fusion energy in the UK.
- Our contribution to regional, research-led collaboration through CreaTech Frontiers and the West Midlands Health Technologies Accelerator.
- How funding across the full research lifecycle helps the University to take our medicine and health research in genomics, from bench to bedside via application, clinical trials and spin-outs.
The University is focused on meeting its 2030 research ambitions and it has been brilliant to welcome the UKRI Board to the University to really highlight the breadth of our research expertise and our role in catalysing research and innovation-led prosperity and growth.
Sir Andrew Mackenzie, Chair of UKRI, commented: “Visits like these are invaluable. They allow us to bring to life the discussions we have around the Board table. I am really pleased we have been able to visit the University of Birmingham, who have given us a strong showing of Birmingham and the West Midlands’ role in making the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030.”
Visits like these are invaluable. They allow us to bring to life the discussions we have around the Board table. I am really pleased we have been able to visit the University of Birmingham, who have given us a strong showing of Birmingham and the West Midlands’ role in making the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030.
The University of Birmingham continues to attract record volumes of research funding, with year-on-year growth in research awards for the third year running.
Notes for editors
Notes for editors
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.