Open to the world

For example, the UK has an impressive number of winners for the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, with over 30 scientists – almost one in six – either being British or undertaking their prize winning work at British institutions since the prize began in 1901. The only scientist to win this prize twice – Frederick Sanger – was British and his work on proteins helped bring a genetic revolution in biology and medicine. Millions of people with diabetes around the world owe their lives to his work uncovering the basic structure of insulin. For a nation the size of ours we punch well above our weight, and achievements like those of Sanger show us what can be done when we have confidence, drive and ambition.

Since becoming Science Minister, I have been listening to views from the research community on important and far-reaching issues. I am determined to continue listening to the views of everyone, from my constituents, to students in our universities, to the ground-breaking scientists in labs. I am determined to listen to as many voices as possible to ensure our world leading science sector continues to go from strength to strength.

To get the best possible results from our future we need to be bold. We need to be confident and we need to believe we are the best at what we do. I am proud that this government is being bold. We are investing in key goals to boost innovation across the UK through our ambitious Industrial Strategy. We have set out a number of grand challenges: areas of societal, global importance where we believe technology and innovation can help us solve some of the most pressing problems facing the world.

To drive this change, we have also committed to encourage investment in research and development (R&D). We know we need to be ambitious if we want to lead the world in science and innovation. The government has already set clear targets as a sign of our aspiration in other fields. We show our commitment to our country’s security by spending the NATO target 2% of GDP on defence. We show our commitment to our international obligations by spending the UN aid target of 0.7% of GDP. And now, in the Industrial Strategy White Paper, we are signalling our commitment to the future of our country and the world through our goal to increase UK R&D spending to 2.4%.

As a global society we know there are many challenges we face. To tackle these challenges effectively, we will need to continue working together with exceptional global talent. British science is at its best when we collaborate closely with other countries, and welcome researchers to the UK, enabling brilliant and inventive minds from around the world to tackle the biggest challenges.

To this end, we are working to deepen our research and innovation ties to other countries. We have already reached ground-breaking agreements with the US and China, and welcome our strong partnership with the EU. Indeed, it will be in all of our interests to enable our existing bonds across research and innovation to continue to thrive as all parties benefit from our collaborative approach.

As we exit the EU, I – along with my predecessors – have consistently encouraged our research community to continue engaging with European research programmes. The first phase of negotiations in December envisaged that UK entities participating in European Union programmes will be unaffected by the UK’s withdrawal from the Union for the entire lifetime of projects. I fully encourage UK researchers, businesses and universities to keep applying.

Recently, I have had positive and constructive conversations with the EU, where I have emphasised that the UK will remain “open to the world”. I will continue striving to ensure our strong research and innovation relationship with the EU continues after Brexit.

I am deeply conscious of the importance of Horizon 2020 and future framework programmes to research in the UK, and the huge benefits we have reaped from participation in all areas of the programme, such as the European Research Council. Looking beyond the implementation period that has been recently agreed with EU negotiating teams, the Prime Minister has made clear that we are working hard to secure a far-reaching science and innovation agreement with the EU after Brexit.

Together with the whole of the science community we need to look to the future. We need to seize the opportunities in front of us and make Britain a 21st Century scientific and technological powerhouse, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with the Royal Society of Chemistry and others to make the very best of these exciting times ahead.