strategic delivery plan research england

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• Health and social care
• Research and innovation in health and social care
• The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery: 2022 to 2025 implementation plan
• Department of Health & Social Care

The Future of Clinical Research Delivery: 2022 to 2025 implementation plan

Published 30 June 2022

© Crown copyright 2022

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-of-uk-clinical-research-delivery-2022-to-2025-implementation-plan/the-future-of-clinical-research-delivery-2022-to-2025-implementation-plan

Ministerial foreword

In 2021 we, the UK and devolved governments, set out our vision for the future of clinical research delivery. Saving and Improving Lives: The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery lays out our ambition to create a world-leading UK clinical research environment that is more efficient, more effective and more resilient, with research delivery embedded across the NHS. We also set out our plans for 2021 to 2022 , as the first steps in delivering on the vision.

A digitally enabled, pro-innovation and people-centred clinical research environment is key to realising our ambitions to make the UK a world-leading hub for life sciences that delivers improved health outcomes for our citizens and attracts investment from all over the world. We will harness the explosion in innovative technologies to benefit patient outcomes and make a tangible difference to people’s lives across the UK. Clinical research is crucial to these efforts, as the lynchpin to driving improvements in healthcare.

As we emerge from the shadow of the pandemic and look to the future, we will work together to ensure that the UK is seen to be one of the best places in the world to deliver cutting-edge clinical research. We are working hard both to recover research delivery in the NHS and to use this moment as a catalyst for transformation, building increased resilience and embedding innovative practice as we go. The cross-sector partnerships built through the UK Clinical Research Recovery, Resilience and Growth ( RRG ) programme provide the strong foundations we need to succeed, drawing on expertise and support from industry, academia, charities, patients and the public, regulators, funders and the NHS.

Our vision was clear on the importance of unleashing the true potential of clinical research across the UK, addressing long-standing health inequalities and improving the lives of us all. We, the UK and devolved governments, are excited to set out the next stages as we look to turn our vision into a reality and build a clinical research system of the future.

Lord Kamall of Edmonton in the London Borough of Enfield Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences Department of Health and Social Care

Robin Swann Minister for Health Northern Ireland Executive

Eluned Morgan Minister for Health and Social Services Welsh Government

Humza Yousaf Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Scottish Government

Executive summary

In March 2021, we published our bold and ambitious 10 year vision: Saving and Improving Lives: The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery . This was followed in June 2021 by The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery: 2021 to 2022 implementation plan setting out the steps we would take to progress the vision in 2021 to 2022.

This phase 2 plan summarises the progress that we have made so far and the actions that we will take over the next 3 years, from 2022 to 2025, ensuring we make the progress necessary to achieve our vision in full by 2031.

This plan has been developed by the cross-sector UK Clinical Research RRG Programme in consultation with stakeholders from across the clinical research ecosystem. Our plan is centred around the 5 overarching themes identified in the vision:

• a sustainable and supported research workforce to ensure that healthcare staff of all backgrounds and roles are given the right support to deliver clinical research as an essential part of care
• clinical research embedded in the NHS so that research is increasingly seen as an essential part of healthcare to generate evidence about effective diagnosis, treatment and prevention
• people-centred research to make it easier for patients, service users and members of the public across the UK to access research and be involved in the design of research, and to have the opportunity to participate
• streamlined, efficient and innovative research so that the UK is seen as one of the best places in the world to conduct cutting-edge clinical research, driving innovation in healthcare
• research enabled by data and digital tools to ensure the best use of resources, leveraging the strength of UK health data assets to allow for more high-quality research to be delivered

We have made significant progress over the past year – a new combined review process has led to halving of approval times for new Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products (CTIMPs) since January 2022 compared to previous separate applications, streamlining the route through the regulatory journey for researchers, the world-leading £200 million data for research and development programme has been announced to invest in health data infrastructure in England with devolved administrations aligning and strengthening their infrastructure; and a new UK-wide professional accreditation scheme for Clinical Research Practitioners ( CRP ) has been launched to help double the size of this important workforce in the future.

However, the recovery of research delivery following the pandemic remains challenging. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England are taking firm action to address this, with the support of the devolved administrations, through the ‘Research Reset’ programme. We are committed not only to returning to pre-pandemic levels of performance, but to using this as an opportunity to reform and catalyse the transformation needed to create the flourishing, responsive and resilient system set out in our vision.

The phase 2 plan is aligned with funding confirmed through the government spending review for April 2022 to March 2025 and includes up to £150 million of additional funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research ( NIHR ) and £25 million additional funding from RRG partners across the UK, complementing up to £200 million in England for the data for research and development programme announced in March 2022 and demonstrating the government’s ongoing commitment to delivering on the UK’s potential as a global life sciences superpower. This funding will enable RRG partners to:

• recover the UK’s capacity to deliver research through DHSC and NHS England’s Research Reset programme, and aligned work in the devolved administrations, aiming for 80% of all open studies on the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) portfolio to be delivering to time and target by June 2023
• ensure we can recognise and support our expert workforce, and develop robust workforce plans, providing the basis for strategic investment in capacity development to support achievement of our vision in full
• broaden responsibility and accountability for research across the NHS, and improve measurement, visibility and recognition of those supporting the delivery of clinical research studies
• achieve a sector-wide, sustained shift in how studies are designed and delivered so that inclusive, practicable and accessible research is delivered with and for the people with the greatest need and in ways that enable us to tackle the greatest challenges facing the NHS
• streamline processes, strengthen our regulatory environment and ensure faster approval, set-up and delivery of studies with more predictability and less variation, as well as make it easier to understand and access the UK’s clinical research offer, thereby utilising the unique opportunity to develop a more flexible and improved regulatory model for clinical research outside the EU and improving our attractiveness as a leading destination to conduct cutting edge and global multi-centre clinical studies
• invest in the infrastructure and tools needed to implement people-centred, innovative data and digitally-enabled methods and increase partnership working across the health data ecosystem to ensure people across the whole of the UK can benefit from these approaches

The RRG programme will oversee the delivery of this plan, continuing to work in partnership with stakeholders across the sector and regularly revisiting the original vision to consider any further actions that will be needed to deliver it in full. In doing so, we will ensure that the NHS is able to tackle the healthcare challenges of the future and people across the UK and around the world will benefit from better health outcomes.

Further information about the RRG programme, including our delivery partners and governance , are available on the dedicated Recovery Resilience and Growth website . Detailed summaries of our progress to date and our future plans will be published on the site on an ongoing basis, providing a central point of information and updates about the programme and our progress towards achievement of the vision. You can also sign up to receive regular email updates on our progress.

UK-wide approach

Health policy is a devolved responsibility, where each of the UK administrations has distinct ownership over implementation. However, we are committed to delivering on a vision with a UK-wide reach and in pursuit of a common goal: to create a seamless and interoperable service across the UK to support clinical research delivery, shaping the future of healthcare and improving people’s lives.

We are therefore further strengthening a joined-up system, where sponsors of both commercial and non-commercial research can easily deliver studies across the UK and people can more easily participate. To ensure compatible and consistent ways of working across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland many commitments in this plan are focused on UK-wide implementation. Organisations such as MHRA ( Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ) and systems such as IRAS ( Integrated Research Application System ) have a UK-wide reach and their actions will have impacts across the country. In some instances, actions are being led by a specific organisation on behalf of the UK, while others will be delivered through UK partnerships – recognising the different legislative and delivery contexts across the UK government and devolved administrations.

The needs of UK citizens and our health research system are broad and diverse. We are committed to maintaining a rich and balanced portfolio of studies in rare and common diseases, ranging from complex, intensive studies in small, highly targeted populations to pragmatic population health research in large cohorts, using a range of methodologies and methods as appropriate to the research questions.

Our vision focuses specifically on the future of UK clinical research delivery. Other types of research, including social care and public health research, are vitally important to provide the evidence necessary to support policy making and service delivery in these areas. Many partners involved in the RRG programme support this broader programme of research activity and other work programmes are underway to enable their development. We expect that many of the improvements we make in the clinical research environment will have benefits for other kinds of research and will work across our organisations and with wider groups of stakeholders to ensure the lessons are shared.

Research reset

As we recover from the pandemic, clinical research delivery is facing unprecedented challenges and there is an urgent need to reset the UK’s research portfolio so we can build for a stronger future.

The number of studies in the NHS is now higher than ever before. This is accounted for by the additional COVID-19 studies, other research that has remained on the portfolio from before the pandemic and has been paused or delayed, together with new studies being funded and coming into the system. In addition, the number of studies in set up is now much higher than pre-pandemic, further increasing the workload for NHS R&D offices and research delivery teams. This is taking place in the context of the recovery of wider NHS services and resourcing the high number of studies is challenging. Throughout this, the resilience of the workforce has been remarkable.

Recovery of the UK’s capacity to deliver clinical research is essential if we are to deliver the ambitions set out in this phase 2 plan. Indeed, many of the challenges the vision seeks to address have been exacerbated by the pandemic, so Research Reset and reform go hand in hand.

Since summer 2020, all delivery partners across the sector have been working to restore the diverse and balanced portfolio of studies which were impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While this has had some positive impact, it has not resulted in the restoration of activity across all studies that were underway before the pandemic. We are taking further action through the Research Reset programme to build back a thriving, sustainable and diverse research and development portfolio within the NHS.

Our objective in implementing Research Reset is to give as many studies as possible the chance of completing and yielding results, generating the evidence needed to improve care and sustain our health system. However, this will require closure of studies that are not viable in the current context to free delivery resources in the system for those studies that can deliver. Lessons must also be learned to reform and increase the resilience of our research system. As part of this we have asked funders and research sponsors to review their active studies to assess the viability of delivering these within the capacity available.

Our aim is for 80% of all open studies on the NIHR CRN portfolio to be delivering to time and target by June 2023. We will take an agile approach to the Research Reset programme, continuously assessing whether further action is required with the input of stakeholders across the sector including patients and the public.

The devolved governments support this approach and we are working together across the UK to ensure synergistic arrangements are in place to promote the smooth delivery of cross-border studies. Each devolved administration will also review possible new eligibility criteria for national delivery support to ensure deliverability within available resources is feasible.

A sustainable and supported research workforce

The UK clinical research workforce has been fundamental to our collective success to date and will be critical to the achievement of our vision in the future. Healthcare and research staff of all backgrounds must be offered rewarding, challenging and exciting careers within clinical research, so that the most talented people can be brought into clinical research, including research delivery and R&D management, as a life-long career. This will help to bolster the capacity of the clinical research system and support a motivated and sustainable workforce. Collectively, we can realise the potential of UK clinical research to improve outcomes for people across the country, sustain our NHS and improve the economy.

Progress over the past 12 months:

• in England, to support the drive to recover the portfolio, DHSC provided over £30 million of additional funding via the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) in the 2021 to 2022 financial year to increase research delivery capacity, especially in community settings and with a key focus on achieving flexibility and agility in the workforce. The Welsh Government provided £1.7 million to support additional capacity in order to achieve the recovery of non-COVID-19 research, including development of research capacity outside of hospital settings. £3 million of funding from the Department of Health in Northern Ireland has been provided to support the work of a Taskforce established to address clinical research recovery in Northern Ireland
• the NIHR , working with the devolved administrations, launched a UK census for nurses and midwives working in clinical research in order to understand the true size of this workforce. Data was also sought on location, speciality and banding or grade. It was able to identify that there are at least 7,469 research nurses and midwives across the UK and Ireland working at every level and within all areas of healthcare. This census demonstrates the breadth and depth of nurse and midwife involvement in research across the healthcare sector
• in June 2021, NIHR on behalf of the UK launched a new UK-wide professional accreditation scheme for Clinical Research Practitioners ( CRP ) as part of efforts to double the number of this important workforce over the next few years. Over 1,000 members have already signed up to the CRP directory
• NIHR also launched the UK wide Associate Principal Investigator Scheme, which aims to make research a routine part of clinical training so doctors, nurses and allied health professions can become the principle investigators of the future. Over 1,000 health and care professionals had registered for the scheme by April 2022
• in February 2022, Wales published a vision for research career pathways that outlines recommendations to improve support and encourage more health and social care professionals to embark on research careers

Phase 2 commitments

To continue this progress and build towards a sustainable and supported research workforce, we will ensure we can retain and recognise our expert staff and develop robust workforce plans to provide the basis for strategic investment in capacity development:

• the RRG Programme will lead the development of a cross-sector research workforce plan to support implementation of our vision in full. Developed over 2022 to 2023, this plan will guide additional investment in our workforce from 2024
• RRG  partners will ensure workforce plans developed by key healthcare organisations include research requirements, particularly noting the knowledge and skills needed across the wider workforce to deliver research as an essential part of high-quality care. This will include the NHS People Plan , coordinating with Health Education England and DHSC, and equivalent plans in the devolved administrations
• NHS England, working with its partners is developing a comprehensive, long-term NHS workforce plan. This will include consideration of research requirements to support the delivery of high-quality care
• Health Education and Improvement Wales, working closely with Welsh Government and the NHS, will develop plans to support and facilitate the nursing, midwifery, allied healthcare professionals and health sciences professions in embracing research as part of their roles and career pathways. Through the development of competency and skills frameworks, Health and Care Research Wales is working to support the inclusion of research delivery roles
• NIHR will provide investment to support NHS R&D transformation, increase research capacity including nurses, midwives and allied healthcare professionals, and provide more opportunities for rewarding careers in research
• the  RRG  partners will expand the package of training programmes for the research workforce including through the RCP- NIHR  Credentialing Scheme, the  NIHR  Associate PI scheme, the  NIHR  Nurse and Midwife Leaders Programme, an NHS England programme for executive nurses in Trusts and Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), and a research matron’s toolkit
• NIHR  and the devolved administrations will invest in learning and support for researchers, so that they are equipped with the expertise and cultural competency to design and deliver people-centred studies to meet the needs of patients, service users and the public, including those from underserved communities and groups not traditionally served by research
• in support for NHS R&D transformation, Wales will invest in a new Health and Care Research Wales Faculty, which will include increased investment in the NHS Research Time scheme to help develop the next generation of principal and chief investigators in the NHS alongside enhanced mentorship schemes

Clinical research delivery embedded in the NHS

Our aim is to create a step change in the delivery of clinical research in the NHS, so that research is increasingly seen as an essential part of healthcare. Making research an intrinsic part of clinical care means that patients and service users can expect to have access to the most cutting-edge treatments and technologies. We want the NHS to actively participate in generating evidence about effective diagnosis, prevention and treatment through research. By acknowledging the important role of the whole of the healthcare workforce in clinical research delivery, we can ensure everyone is empowered to get involved in research and further boost overall capacity for research in the NHS and wider health system. Measuring clinical research will also support NHS leaders to drive behaviour change and incentivise more engagement in research activity. Finally, ensuring clinical research is embedded within the NHS will be essential in giving the UK the capacity to grow in an increasingly competitive global market.

Progress in Phase 1:

the UK Research and Development (UKRD) and NHS R&D Forum, with NIHR , developed the ‘Best Patient Care, Clinical Research and You’ online guide that aims to help busy non-research staff become more aware of the impact of research in their trust

the General Medical Council (GMC) published its position statement Normalising Research - Promoting Research for all Doctors

the Allied Health Professions’ Research and Innovation Strategy was published, addressing the key areas which impact research and innovation across all health professions in England

the NHS Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for England published the strategic plan for research for nurses. The plan aims to create a people-centred research environment that empowers nurses to lead, participate in and deliver clinical research that is fully embedded in practice and professional decision making

together with existing strategies in the devolved administrations, we are continuing the development of UK-wide support for the key professional groups

In order to more deeply embed clinical research in the NHS, we will take action to broaden responsibility and accountability for research across the NHS, and improve measurement, visibility and recognition of those supporting the delivery of clinical research studies. The role of healthcare leaders and professionals will be vital in this:

NHS England and the devolved administrations will each develop clear and tangible plans to work towards embedding responsibility and accountability for research in healthcare delivery

• NHS England and the devolved administrations will use existing legal duties and planning frameworks to promote and facilitate research. Each administration will develop assurance frameworks and use existing channels such as annual reports and joint forward plans to help cement the importance of research as a core duty. In England this will include the implementation of the Health and Care Act . Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), NHS England and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will all have enhanced duties to report on how they are promoting and facilitating research. NHS England will also lead development of a research framework for ICBs to help them understand and fulfil the minimum expectations around research that the Health and Care Act sets. This will herald a significant shift in how research is considered within the NHS and drive a greater responsibility for more research activity across all sites. In Wales, we will explore opportunities provided through the development of the NHS Executive in Wales to strengthen the national oversight of NHS research
• we will work across the UK administrations to introduce new metrics and measures to increase the visibility and recognition for undertaking and supporting clinical research across NHS organisations
• NIHR , working in partnership with NHS England and the devolved governments, like the Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE), will continue to enhance the UK Be Part of Research platform through collaboration with other existing registries. National digital channels (for example the NHS App or NHS website) will feed into the Be Part of Research platform

The RRG programme will ensure strategic co-ordination of this work across the UK clinical research ecosystem, supporting progress and ensuring alignment of initiatives, as well as identifying key areas where we can go further in the next 3 years.

People-centred research 

The vision set out our ambition for more people-centred research, designed to make it easier for patients, service users and members of the public to access research of relevance to them and be involved in its design. To achieve this, delivery of research in community, primary care and virtual settings needs to increase, with delivery designed around the needs of the people participating in it. Alongside this, we will ensure we maintain our world-leading specialist research infrastructure, which provides opportunities for people to access early-phase studies, complex therapies and devices.

• delivering studies such as PANORAMIC and IBS-RELIEVE has demonstrated the UK’s growing ability to harness technology and conduct studies virtually and in the community
• HRA and MHRA, in collaboration with NHS Research Scotland, Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (the equivalent to the NHS in Northern Ireland), and Health and Social Care Research Wales, have published UK-wide guidance on the set up of interventional research to enable research to be delivered across organisational boundaries and to help take research to where people might find it easier to take part, for example using hub and spoke models
• the NIHR led UK Working Group on Remote Trial Delivery published a report in June, which discussed the challenges and opportunities in remote trial delivery and provided guidance for researchers
• the NIHR Race Equality Framework was piloted by industry. This self-assessment tool helps organisations to improve racial equality in health and care research
• partners across the UK are working together to ensure patient and public involvement in research in a variety of ways including through regulation, ethics, payment for public contributors and development of new public engagement strategies. This includes the publication of a shared commitment to public involvement in research to ensure involvement is built into study design, delivery, and dissemination
• in Northern Ireland the Clinical Research Recovery Resilience and Growth Taskforce implementation plan includes a patient and public engagement and involvement sub-group, which is focused on the development of patient and public centred priorities, and an innovation sub-group planning approaches to innovative and people-centred trial design
• in Wales, the ‘Discover your Role’ programme is underway, with a co-created action plan to ensure that people are at the heart of new developments in research
• the NHS Research Scotland patient and public involvement workshop series completed and reported in September 2021. Findings from the workshops and the Scottish Patient Public Involvement Survey are informing work to support greater visibility and connectivity, increased diversity and representation, and a review of the current mechanisms for pre-award funding
• RRG partners have partnered with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) registry to make it easy for researchers to fulfil their transparency responsibilities. Trial registration is the first step to ensuring research transparency from the outset, and from 2022 the HRA began automatic registration of clinical research with ISRCTN , taking the burden away from research sponsors and researchers

Our aim will be to achieve a sector-wide, sustained shift in how studies are designed and delivered so that inclusive, practicable and accessible research is delivered with and for the people with the greatest need and in ways that enable us to tackle the greatest challenges facing the NHS. The UK’s ability to deliver diverse trials and studies will also give us a competitive advantage on the global stage, attracting researchers from around the world to base their studies here:

• the HRA is leading a cross-sector project , co-produced with public contributors, to collect evidence about how high quality, people-centred clinical research is done well: finding out what matters most, what ‘good’ looks like and what might be making it difficult. It will make recommendations to help improve the way clinical research happens in the UK and disseminate information about actions and resources developed by partners
• NIHR will invest in the development of skills and tools for innovative trial delivery, increasing the confidence and ability of our researchers to design and deliver studies in people-centred ways
• NHS England will launch a toolkit that could be used by researchers across the UK to help them engage more effectively with selected underserved communities. NIHR will also promote increased use of the resources developed by the NIHR INCLUDE project project which enable researchers to increase inclusion of underserved communities in their research
• NIHR and NHS Digital will develop mechanisms to monitor the diversity of people participating in NIHR Clinical Research Network portfolio studies in England in order that we can understand where improvement is needed and what action will be most effective.
• in England, the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative will invest in demand signalling (the process of identifying, prioritising and articulating the most important research questions) and horizon scanning (the process of identifying and better understanding emerging transformational technologies of potential benefit to the NHS and our communities) to improve identification of the most needed treatments and technologies and rapidly bring these into clinical use
• in Scotland, SHIP is leading the new Scottish Health and Industry Partnership Demand Signalling Plan. This new framework will support identification and decision making around key strategic challenges and operational pressures to accelerate NHS Scotland Re-mobilisation, Recovery and Re-design, aligning with delivery of the NHS Recovery Plan 2021 to 2026, and the Life Science Vision healthcare missions
• medical research charities play an important role in supporting people-centred research, utilising their contacts with patients and communities, and prioritising their needs when setting a research agenda. The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) will be working with NIHR and NHS England to formalise this work – and will share findings once developed across the UK

The RRG programme will ensure strategic co-ordination of this work across the UK clinical research ecosystem, supporting progress and ensuring alignment of initiatives, as well as identifying key areas where we can go further within the next 3 years.

Work is also underway to improve access to research through digitised recruitment as detailed in the section on research delivery enabled by data and digital tools.

Streamlined, efficient and innovative research 

Facilitating research to happen quickly and predictably will not only bolster our economy and status as a life sciences superpower, but will also drive innovation, which translates into improved care. We have the opportunity to develop a more flexible and improved regulatory model for clinical research outside the EU in the best interests of patients and the public, and since the publication of the vision we have been building towards our aims of supporting a more streamlined, efficient, and effective clinical research environment.

Progress in phase 1:

• in a new approach to licensing and regulation implemented by the MHRA, NICE, the All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre (AWTTC) and the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), over 100 innovation passports have been issued through the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP), to robustly and safely support the path to market of the most innovative, transformative treatments
• the combined review from the MHRA and the UK Research Ethics Service, in collaboration with the HRA facilitates speedier set up for clinical research trials by requiring applicants to only make a single application for both Clinical Trial Authorisation (CTA) and Research Ethics Committee (REC) approval. Since January 2022, all new Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products (CTIMPS) in the UK have been benefiting from the combined review, halving the approval time compared with separate applications over the period 2018 to 2021
• the range of model UK contracts agreed with industry and the NHS has been expanded including the first UK-wide model Clinical Investigations Agreement (UK mCIA) for research in medical devices, and the first Model Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement (mCDA) for use by companies with potential NHS sites has also been launched
• the MHRA ran a public consultation on proposals for legislative changes for clinical research. The proposals aim to promote patient and public involvement in clinical research, increase the diversity of participants, streamline clinical research approvals, enable innovation, and enhance clinical research transparency. The consultation sought the views of the wider public, clinical research participants, researchers, developers, manufacturers, sponsors, investigators, and healthcare professionals to help shape this important future legislation and over 2,000 responses were received
• NHS England published refreshed guidance on Excess Treatment Costs (ETCs), expanding the framework to include studies where Clinical Commissioning Groups are the commissioner for the service where the study takes place and setting out the provider types which can utilise the national payment system in England. From April 2022 the provider thresholds for ETCs has been reduced, meaning that the number of providers who receive ETCs will increase

In our next phase of work, we will streamline processes, further strengthen our regulatory environment and ensure faster approval, set-up and delivery of studies with more predictability and less variation. Significant emphasis will be placed on reducing unwarranted variation in ways of working across sites and other research infrastructure, so that conducting clinical research in the UK is high quality, predictable and reliable. This will be particularly important for commercial contract research as speed and predictability is key to the UK’s competitiveness and our ability to attract global multi-centre research studies into the NHS.

The UK is globally recognised for its scientific expertise and dedicated research infrastructure. However, the devolved healthcare systems and competition between organisations has created a complex landscape which is difficult to navigate and creates barriers for researchers and companies. We will work across the UK clinical research system to ensure it is easier to understand and is attractive as a leading destination to conduct cutting edge clinical studies.

To improve research approvals and strengthen our regulatory frameworks:

• a single UK approval service will replace HRA and HCRW Approval and equivalent process in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and site permission and confirmation processes across the UK
• MHRA will work with HRA in continuing the development of IRAS to streamline health technology and medicines research, and HRA will explore whether it is viable to embed a fast-track ethics review as part of combined review
• HRA will lead UK-wide work to further expand the suite of model agreements, including decentralised and other innovative delivery models as well as particular fields of innovative products such as Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products
• following public consultation on proposals for legislative changes for clinical research, the MHRA is now carefully analysing the responses received, preparing a Government response and developing secondary legislation to improve and strengthen our clinical research legislation
• MHRA will support risk-proportionate trial conduct and monitoring, including through Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidance and pragmatic investigator guidance, and will work with HRA to develop guidance on use of in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) in clinical research
• MHRA and HRA will also establish a comprehensive stakeholder reference group to assist with guidance generation on new legislation and ensure there is a common understanding of regulatory requirements that will enhance the UK’s international attractiveness as a place to conduct multinational trials

To improve study set-up:

• learning lessons from delivering COVID-19 research, we will enhance our early feedback service offer via the NIHR CRN to support study design that is optimised for delivery and explore how we can further match research delivery demand to capacity across the UK
• we will implement the UK-wide National Contract Value Review (NCVR), with the aim of expediting the costing elements of the contracting process across NHS Trusts to ensure costing does not delay study set-up. From 1 April 2022, the NCVR will begin to replace the current time-consuming process whereby each NHS organisation negotiates with each commercial sponsor for every study in order to agree bespoke contract value. The programme will be monitored throughout implementation to ensure lessons can be learnt and the process improved to ensure it achieves its aims. The existing single cost and contract review model in Scotland and across the NIHR Patient Recruitment Centres in England will integrate with NCVR as it develops, supporting more effective UK alignment and efficiency
• the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) Network, with support from MHRA and HRA, will complete their pilot to set up Phase I oncology trials within 80 days of IRAS submission. Learning from this programme will be shared to enable improved set-up performance in other specialities
• RRG programme partners will identify and establish mechanisms to achieve efficient costing and contracting across other parts of the health system, supporting and enabling an increase in decentralised study designs and research taking place in primary care and community settings.
• DHSC and NHS England will lead a review of their current Excess Treatment Costs (ETC) process in England to review experiences of the policy and t explore how best we can support non-commercial research in the NHS

To make the UK offer easier to navigate:

• understand UK capabilities to deliver their study at all stages of the protocol development and delivery pathway
• connect with the right part of the system to help them at the right time
• access the network of expertise and resources available to create a package of support to deliver studies efficiently
• MHRA, NICE, AWTTC and SMC will work with partners across the UK to develop ILAP as an effective route into the UK research system, particularly through the development of a support toolkit
• the further development of IRAS will also provide navigation and signposting through the research journey, directing applicants to relevant guidance and advice. Through interfaces with other systems it will reduce burden and duplication

Research delivery enabled by data and digital tools

The UK’s health data offering is one of our global strengths due to our national health systems and cradle-to-grave healthcare records. Investing in data and digital tools, and making ethical use of them to support clinical research, for example by making it easier to recruit and follow-up participants, increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the clinical research process. These tools also increase the resilience and sustainability of the healthcare system and reduce the burden on the NHS workforce.

• the data strategy for health and social care in England was published in June 2022
• up to £200 million committed to support NHS-led health research (subject to business case) was announced on 2 March 2022 to invest in health data infrastructure to support research and development in England, with parallel activity in the devolved governments

the NHS-Galleri trial demonstrated the potential for the use of healthcare data to support rapid, large scale recruitment to and delivery of clinical studies in the NHS. The Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), led by NHS England, coordinated the design and set up of a 2 part, real-world demonstration project involving clinical data capture from NHS Digital and NIHR , and was a demonstrator for the ‘Find, Recruit and Follow-up’ service and NHS DigiTrials. The trial has already passed the halfway point in their recruitment of participants, with over 100,000 enrolled following the launch in autumn 2021

• each delivery partner funded as part of year one of the ‘Find Recruit and Follow-up’ service launched Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) of their services including: NHS DigiTrials, which has successfully facilitated 28 active trials through its service with a further 8 in application and 12 in pre-application; NIHR CRN launched its early stage ‘concierge’ service, with 2 companies and 4 data service providers as early users; and HRA, which agreed an approach to review by the Confidentiality Advisory Group which will enable more efficient study set up in future. In addition, the MHRA Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) has launched SPRINT (Speedy Recruitment into Trials ), a data-enabled research service that facilitates rapid feasibility and patient recruitment into industry sponsored phase 2 to 4 trials across the UK
• making use of real-world data (RWD) in and for clinical research is now a reality, supported by MHRA’s published guidance . This is the start of a series of guidelines to provide general points to consider for sponsors planning to conduct clinical research using RWD to support regulatory decision making

The next 3 years will see a revolution in how we use data across the health system. We will go further in utilising innovative data-driven methods and digital tools to transform the way we design, manage and deliver people-centred clinical research studies across the whole of the UK. We will achieve this by increasing the use of data and digital tools in recruitment and follow up, and by improving access to data via Trusted Research Environments (TREs: a type of Secure Data Environment, secure spaces where approved researchers can access rich, linked datasets) and through increased partnership working across the UK health data ecosystem.

We are very clear that the opportunity to use health data must be done in a way which is secure and trusted by members of the public, so governance and oversight processes must be both as efficient as possible and transparent, robust and trustworthy. Public trust and understanding of how data is being used to support research continues to be critical in developing appropriate activities. We will be working together to consider how to implement recommendations from the Goldacre Review , and ensuring that all work is supported by comprehensive public involvement and engagement activity.

To improve study planning, recruitment and follow-up:

• the Find, Recruit and Follow-up service will work across the 4 administrations to consider how activity can be expanded to include SAIL, Scottish Health Research Register, data infrastructure in Northern Ireland, NIHR BioResource and other key national data infrastructure, increasing opportunities for people to quickly and easily access research of relevance to them
• NHS DigiTrials and CPRD (via MHRA) will enable a significant increase in the scale of identification of people who match the eligibility criteria for specific studies in order that they can be given the opportunity to participate in research. They will also support increased use of routine healthcare data to streamline reporting of follow-up data, increasing predictability and releasing delivery capacity in the NHS
• in England, the Data for R&D Programme will invest in health data infrastructure for research and development, supported by comprehensive PPI and engagement throughout the programme, including embedded within its governance
• NIHR will invest in data and digital platforms such as Be Part of Research and NIHR BioResource, and provide the tools and support necessary to deliver virtual and decentralised studies. Increased interoperability between regulatory, NHS and NIHR platforms will enable further streamlining of processes for researchers
• in Wales, a digital recruitment programme will be developed through partnership between Health and Care Research Wales, SAIL Databank and the NHS Wales National Data Resource programme, to develop services that utilise data resources to drive research delivery. An Expert Working Group has been established to guide on the development of this ‘data for research’ programme. A pilot service has been funded to use SAIL data to provide rapid intelligence to aid placement of research trials in Wales to support most effective recruitment
• in Scotland, scoping work and stakeholder engagement is informing plans for developments to support increased use of NHS data and digital technology to accelerate clinical trial delivery, and for further development of the Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE) to support recruitment to health research studies. We will continue to support the already established regional NHS Scotland controlled data safe havens (Trusted Research Environments) and their collaboration with the newly established Research Data Scotland to support use of data in research. We will also look for opportunities to support research and innovation as part of the forthcoming Scottish Government Data Strategy for Health and Social Care
• in Northern Ireland, the RRG Taskforce data and digital sub-group will lead work to prepare the NI data infrastructure to support digitally-enabled trials and participate in UK-wide initiatives such as the ‘Find, Recruit and Follow-up’ service.

To improve access to data and TREs:

• over the next 3 years NHS England will build upon foundational investments made in 2021 and 2022 in an interoperable network of TREs. At a national level, we will expand the scale, scope and capacity of the NHS Digital TRE to enable more users to have timely and secure access to a range of national datasets. At a regional level, we will develop a small network of regional ‘Sub National TREs’ in England, each covering a population of more than 5 million citizens and enabling access to near real time, multimodal data particularly amenable to the development of AI algorithms
• the Data for R&D Programme within NHS England will expand the ability for researchers to access a range of rich linked genomic datasets, creating linkages across the various health data systems so that genomic data can be used to support innovation and patients and service users can benefit from the provision of innovative genomic healthcare. The Genome UK Implementation Coordination Group Data Working Group will lead work looking to link genomic datasets from across the UK, and federate these where appropriate, as set out in the Genome UK: shared commitments for UK-wide implementation 2022 to 2025
• in Scotland, we will continue to support the already established regional NHS controlled TREs and their collaboration with the newly established Research Data Scotland to support use of data in research
• in Wales, we will continue to invest and grow the internationally recognised expertise and TRE available via the SAIL Databank, offering national population coverage and secure access to billions of person-based records
• in Northern Ireland, the Honest Broker Service and the more recently established Northern Ireland TRE will be supported to further develop secure access to data for research. This will sit alongside a sustained public dialogue and progression of the enactment of secondary uses legislation to facilitate data access for research in Northern Ireland.

Connecting these developments into a coherent UK offer will bring added benefit, therefore to unite plans:

• the RRG programme will ensure strategic co-ordination of this work across the UK clinical research ecosystem, supporting progress and ensuring alignment of initiatives, as well as identifying key areas where we can go further within the next 3 years to take steps towards fully realising our overarching vision
• an RRG data and digital subgroup will be established to enhance collaboration across the sector and ensure people across the whole of the UK benefit from research delivered using data and/or digitally-enabled approaches

Governance, detailed plans and ongoing updates

The UK Clinical Research RRG programme will oversee the delivery of this plan, continuing to work in partnership with stakeholders across the sector and regularly revisit the original vision to consider any further actions needed to deliver on the 10 year vision. In doing so, we will ensure that the NHS is able to tackle the healthcare challenges of the future enabling people across the UK and around the world to benefit from better health outcomes.

Given the scope of the work and the fast pace of change in clinical research, we will keep the specifics of this plan under review via the RRG programme and adapt delivery as needed. This flexibility will allow us to meet emerging challenges and ensure that the outcomes are aligned to the most pressing issues to realise our shared ambitions.

Progress will be measured by the RRG Programme Board and the Ministerially-chaired Oversight Group, ensuring we are delivering on the commitments set out in this plan and that they are having the intended impact on the UK clinical research system. Specific measures for success will be published on the RRG website later in 2022.

We will publish a Phase 3 plan in 2025 to 2026 to align with the next government spending review period. The Phase 3 plan will showcase our progress and lay out the next steps needed to ensure the vision is delivered.

Achievement of our plan will require action across the whole sector, but by building on the foundations of collaboration and partnership that we have created through RRG programme we can collectively work through current challenges and see this vision become a reality.

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Research England sets out goals in new £8bn development plan

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Funder highlights plans to review strategic institutional research funding and support innovation

Research England has set out its plans to secure the financial sustainability of the UK’s research system and review its own research funding as part of its Strategic Delivery Plan to 2025.

In the plan, which outlines the national funder’s ambitions for 2022-25, Research England pledges to “create and sustain the conditions for a healthy, dynamic, diverse and inclusive research and knowledge-exchange system” across five streams: people and careers; places; ideas; innovation; and impacts.

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UKRI Delivery Plans

UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) strategic delivery plans set out the part each council will play in delivering the wider UKRI mission and vision published in their five-year  strategy . These strategic delivery plans sit alongside the UKRI corporate plan and provide the long-term vision for UKRI and detail on how they will deliver this over the medium and near-term.

Two-Page Summaries of 2022 to 2025 UKRI Delivery Plans

• AHRC Delivery Plan Summary
• BBSRC Delivery Plan Summary
• EPSRC Delivery Plan Summary
• ESRC Delivery Plan Summary
• MRC Delivery Plan Summary
• NERC Delivery Plan Summary
• STFC Delivery Plan Summary
• Innovate UK Strategic Delivery Plan Summary

2022 to 2025 Delivery Plans

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Arts and Humanities Research Council strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

Economic and Social Research Council

Economic and Social Research Council strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

Innovate UK

Innovate UK strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

Medical Research Council

Medical Research Council strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

Natural Environment Research Council

Natural Environment Research Council strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

Research England

Research England delivery plan 2019 (PDF, 4.9MB)

Science and Technology Facilities Council

Science and Technology Facilities Council strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

UK Research and Innovation

UK Research and Innovation delivery plan 2019 (PDF, 4MB)

20.500.12592/9x0c5j

BBSRC Strategic Delivery Plan 2022-2025

$refs.text.clientHeight" x-on:resize.window="isTruncated = $refs.text.scrollHeight > $refs.text.clientHeight" > In the coming years, rapid advances in bioscience discovery and innovation will be essential for driving the changes needed to maintain the health and wellbeing of people and animals, and to protect and transform our economy, society and environment. [...] Collaboration continues to be central to our plans, and I look forward to working across UKRI and with The role that the UK bioscience community played our many partners and stakeholders across the in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, wider research and innovation system in delivering from rapid genome sequencing to track the our shared ambitions. [...] BBSRC is of course not the only funder of UK bioscience; there are significant public, private and third-sector funders, domestically and globally, In the coming years, rapid advances in bioscience with whom we must work to ensure joined up and discovery and innovation will be essential for driving the changes needed to maintain the health and wellbeing of people and animals, and to protect and tr. [...] inclusive teams with the right balance of skills identify and instigate targeted training and roles to deliver on complex multi disciplinary, investments, investing up to £5 million per year cross-sector and international research and to support new, strategic and interdisciplinary pilot ways to embed sector, disciplinary and innovation challenges and advance the frontiers approaches to bioscien. [...] and stimulate new bioscience ‘innovation zones’ in boost innovation activity across and between areas such as the North of England and South West BBSRC-funded national research and innovation Our Institute Strategy sets out our vision and England, driving UK economic growth with regional campuses, enabling the development of wider approach to working in partnership with the and local benefits. Pages 35 Published in United Kingdom

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Developing research and knowledge exchange in England

Author 1 's' : '')>, jessica corner, executive chair.

Jessica Corner is Executive Chair of Research England, part of UK Research and Innovation

• knowledge exchange
• research england

Today Research England is setting out a vision and work programme to create and sustain the conditions for a healthy, dynamic, diverse, and inclusive research and knowledge exchange system in higher education.

One of my first priorities on joining the organisation was to engage with as many stakeholders as possible and this has helped to shape and inform our plan.

I knew that Research England was a widely-respected organisation critical to delivering the dual support funding mechanisms. Our quality related research funding (QR) provides balance and stability to universities in England, alongside competitive funding awarded by UKRI and a wide range of other funders from charities to businesses.

Our Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) for knowledge exchange and commercialisation supports interaction with business and other users of research and development. However, what was immediately apparent to me in my early interactions across many organisations, was the regard held for Research England’s role; not just what it does, but how it does it. I believe this is founded in a deep commitment to working in partnership, an approach that will be key to successful delivery of our work.

Your research partner

To be able to fulfil Research England’s mission we must be committed to working in partnership to understand what is working well, where changes are needed, and where opportunities lie. It is by combining partnership working with a deep knowledge and understanding of the research and knowledge exchange landscape and universities’ role in it that enables Research England to act as a custodian of this unique system.

Working with others, Research England can foster a vibrant and world-leading research and innovation system underpinned by an extraordinary and diverse range of institutions and organisations that collectively comprise one of the UK’s greatest assets.

Every day, millions of people across the country reap the benefits of research and knowledge exchange in universities, but more can be done to ensure these societal and economic benefits reach more people and that universities play an even greater role in supporting and driving them. The incentives we offer need to foster greater collaboration with different sectors and between institutions, leverage substantial private investment into research and development and step change commercialisation, business scale up and productivity. We need to build capacity and capability, and to do this we need to create an environment that nurtures and grows the research and innovation base and supports translation, while also building contemporary research cultures that create the best possible environment for researchers.

There is a breadth of excellent research activity demonstrated through the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF); we must continue to evolve not just the exercise, but our understanding of what a healthy, thriving research system looks like and how the right assessment model facilitates this. Working in partnership with the Scottish Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland, with the International Advisory Group and with universities, the Future Research Assessment Programme we will do just that.

What’s in the plan?

Our Strategic Delivery Plan sets out the commitments that we intend to deliver and the ambitious work programme to fulfil these across the Spending Review period.

In the plan we confirm our commitment to continue to support institutions with funding to promote healthy research culture, participatory research and public engagement, to undertake a fundamental review of the principles behind strategic institutional funding and our method of allocation, its transparency, as well as review the state of research infrastructure in universities.

We plan to continue our work to improve the metrics we use for the Knowledge Exchange Framework and for evaluating universities’ commercialization activities establishing a national capability for commercialization, impact and metrics and to provide funding of £60m to support projects to propel these activities forward with a national conference in 2024.

By 2025, Research England will distribute roughly £8bn funding to the sector – a substantial uplift but also at a time where there are real pressures on sustainability. The fiscal challenges have not dampened a clear determination by universities to be part of the solution to local, national, and global issues that affect us all. It is important that we can articulate those challenges and provide strong evidence of the impact made by our universities. We intend to identify ways in which we can do this more systematically, while also removing, where we can, unnecessary bureaucracy in the system.

I look forward to working with colleagues and partners to deliver our ambition.

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ESRC strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025

This foreword was written by Professor Alison Park, the Interim Executive Chair at the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), in September 2022.

We live in a world of uncertainty that is shaped by global challenges, ranging from climate change and the threat of new pandemics, to the consequences of major shifts in geopolitical relationships and the transformative impact of new technologies.

Responding to these challenges requires a deep understanding of human behaviour, of how we live, work and make critical life choices, and of what fuels innovation and growth.

Economic, social and behavioural research provides this understanding. It has the power to build a better future, and to create a more sustainable, stable and inclusive world.

The UK’s world-leading social science research base is well placed to understand and address the challenges facing society, and to chart the route to a better future.

ESRC’s role is to harness the immense power of our many disciplines, from economics, management and psychology, to sociology, politics and anthropology. This is to enable change and real-world impact that improves outcomes for individuals, levels up society, and boosts the economy both across the UK and beyond.

Never has there been a time when science is discussed so often and by so many, across all walks of life. There is also recognition of the need for exceptional data-driven social science, enabling decision makers to understand and predict, for example, how individuals and groups interact with public services or use new technologies.

Our community of social scientists is in an excellent position to respond to the need for rigorous, innovative and impactful research. The UK has some of the most talented researchers in the world, often working within interdisciplinary teams, and supported by a globally recognised portfolio of datasets, services, and methodological advances and innovations.

The social sciences can offer an increasingly sophisticated array of tools and techniques to unravel and analyse the most complex, seemingly intractable, challenges.

This strategic delivery plan sets out ESRC’s ambitions for social science and our role in contributing to both the successful delivery of UKRI’s 5-year strategy and the government’s commitment to increase research and development spend to 2.4% by 2027. It describes how we will build on our strengths, sustaining the UK’s excellence in social, behavioural and economic research.

To achieve our ambitions, we will continue to support the health of all our disciplines, maintaining a high-quality and diverse talent pipeline and a resilient, modern and innovative data infrastructure.

We will fuel both curiosity-driven research and strategic programmes that build new knowledge and address the most pressing societal challenges, whether local, national or international in scale and scope.

A key theme running through our plan is an emphasis on connectivity and partnerships, both across UKRI and with other national and international funders and stakeholders.

The plan also highlights our ambition to optimise engagement and impact, and to connect the rich evidence we are generating to policymakers, public sector practitioners, businesses and third sector organisations.

ESRC’s mission is to harness the power of social science to drive change that makes a difference to all our lives, improving outcomes for individuals, society and the economy. Supporting our community is fundamental to achieving this ambition and I look forward to working with you all in the future.

What we will achieve

Our vision and purpose is to create a more prosperous, healthy, sustainable and secure society.

Economic, social and behavioural research provides an integrated approach to understanding how society interacts at every level, from the individual to whole systems, and from the local to the global. Our research is designed to make a difference.

It provides the evidence and independent expert insight necessary to understand how society and the economy are changing, how aspirations can be realised, and how people, households, communities, businesses and governments can work to create positive change.

Our plan describes the role we will play in the successful delivery of UKRI’s objectives, building on the UK’s reputation as a global centre of excellence in social, behavioural and economic research.

It describes our ambitions and actions across UKRI’s 6 strategic objectives over the next 3 years (2022 to 2025). Our plan sets out how we will advance these objectives for the social sciences, and deliver against government and National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) priorities, guided by UKRI’s 4 principles for change: diversity, resilience, connectivity and engagement.

We will embed these principles across all our work to drive change, and create the conditions for an outstanding research and innovation system.

Our strategic objectives

These objectives provide the framework for how we will achieve our vision and realise our principles through the following.

World-class people and careers

Sustaining a world-class, diverse and inclusive social science research base that supports talent across the entire research career through:

• talent, skills and leadership
• equality, diversity and inclusion

World-class places

Enabling social science to flourish in all places across and beyond the UK, delivering research, data and partnerships through:

• research institutes and centres
• data infrastructure
• international collaboration
• impact and engagement
• place-based initiatives

World-class ideas

Capturing and catalysing diverse and excellent ideas across all disciplines, schemes and research career stages, creating new scientific knowledge and real-world impact through:

• research grants
• research methods
• horizon scanning

World-class innovation

Providing a powerful evidence base which drives innovation across different organisations, sectors and regions to achieve UK-wide growth and prosperity through:

• innovation research and evidence
• commercialisation
• knowledge exchange

World-class impacts

Ensuring that the full power of UK social science is brought to bear in tackling the most pressing global, national and local challenges through new strategic priorities in:

• net zero, environment, biodiversity and climate change
• digital society
• health and social care
• security, risk and resilience
• understanding behaviour

A world-class organisation

Building an inclusive and diverse workforce empowered to deliver sector-wide leadership by catalysing new ways of working and bringing people together.

Objective 1: world-class people and careers

The UK is a global leader in social science research, second only to the US in terms of publication output and outstripping the US, China and Germany when it comes to research impact.

ESRC-supported research is shown to have been more highly cited than any other national social science funder in the G20.

This success depends on well-trained and highly skilled people with a diversity of knowledge, expertise and experience. To further realise the potential of the social sciences, we will build and sustain a talent pipeline that supports diverse career pathways and powers the best research across the full breadth of our disciplines.

To succeed, we will need to nurture and attract talent wherever it may be found, both within and beyond the UK, to fully harness creativity, work across disciplines, capture a wide array of ideas and understand multiple perspectives.

Talent, skills and leadership

We aim to sustain a world-class, diverse and inclusive research base that supports talent across the entire research career, building the skills needed to lead large interdisciplinary, cross-sector and international projects, and to maximise the value of our data resources.

Researchers at all career stages need cutting-edge skills to push forward the frontiers of social science across the UK, and to excel in an increasingly interconnected, digitised, data-rich environment.

Advanced methodological training and leadership capabilities are essential to meet the future needs of the academic community and of practitioners in the public, business and third sectors.

We have a critical role to play in enhancing the breadth and diversity of the UK social science research base.

We are therefore committed to working in partnership across UKRI as part of a collective approach to people, culture and talent to develop a New Deal for Postgraduate Research.

• launch a new postgraduate training strategy in response to the findings of our Review of the PhD in the Social Sciences to ensure the UK PhD remains globally competitive and offers enhanced graduate employability
• launch a £250 million UK-wide, open competition to fund a network of Doctoral Training Partnerships in the social sciences
• take a whole career perspective in supporting data-driven research with additional studentships to capitalise on the value of the rich data generated by our data infrastructures
• promote the continuing professional development of researchers through our guidance and policies, and by investing in new pilot initiatives to strengthen leadership capabilities at the mid-career stage
• invest up to £28 million in early career research through our postdoctoral fellowships to support flexible, dynamic careers

New skills for data-intensive social science

In the last decade, there has been an explosion in the volume and variety of data available for social science research. This ranges from ESRC’s own transformative programme in administrative data linkage ( Administrative Data Research UK ), through to unstructured commercial data and the digital footprints we all leave behind through our daily lives.

We will create a national capability which facilitates the safe and secure realisation of the potential contained within these rich datasets by investing in PhD training and skills development, targeted studentship and fellowship programmes, including our data science fellowship initiative with the Cabinet Office.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We aim to embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in all we do, working in collaboration across the research and innovation sector to promote inclusive research cultures where diverse talent is valued and supported, and to generate research evidence that informs policy and practice.

The UKRI EDI strategy sets out our ambition for an inclusive research and innovation system, by everyone, for everyone. We will help to champion this within the social sciences using our role as a leader, investor and employer to catalyse, influence and make change.

We can go beyond this, however: social science research is uniquely placed to help us understand the systemic issues of inequality across the sector and to generate insights into how they can be addressed.

• launch an ‘EDI Caucus’, a network of expert advisors, which will work across UKRI and the British Academy to support the UKRI EDI strategy by creating an interdisciplinary evidence base on diversity and inclusion
• implement an EDI action plan setting out our short-, medium- and long-term actions as a leader, investor and employer
• collaborate with the Academy of Social Sciences to embed good EDI practices across our disciplines

Flexible, globally competitive doctoral training

We are the largest single funder of social and economic research training in the UK, currently supporting around 2,700 studentships through 16 Doctoral Training Partnerships and Centres for Doctoral Training, spanning 73 universities.

It is critical that the UK offers flexible and globally competitive doctoral training to meet the evolving demands of the UK social science research base and the wider needs of policymakers and practitioners across all sectors.

We have always played a national leadership role in driving up standards in doctoral provision, regularly reviewing the content and structure of training to ensure that students are equipped with a wide array of the most up-to-date skills and experiences to realise their potential, whatever their chosen career path.

In response to our review of social science doctoral training, we will continue to innovate by:

• extending the length of ESRC doctoral training from 3 to 3.5 years
• designing more bespoke training packages for individuals
• offering a new placement scheme to all students to create greater fluidity across different sectors and research environments

Objective 2: world-class places

The enduring strength of UK social science is founded on world-class universities and institutes distributed across all our 4 nations. Based on citation analysis , 6 of the top 10 social science universities in Europe and 3 of the top 10 in the world are based in the UK. ESRC’s global centres of excellence are backed by internationally renowned data facilities and infrastructure.

It is critical that we continue to support the conditions which enable world-leading social science to flourish across the UK. We will do so by providing opportunities to sustain and connect existing research excellence while creating the potential for diversity and new growth.

Fundamental to success is investment in the development of cutting-edge data facilities, data infrastructure and national capabilities.

Our ambition is to enable partnerships and collaboration which are local, national and international in their reach, and which bring together researchers, policymakers and innovators to maximise impact and help to level up society across the UK.

Research institutes and centres

ESRC has a long tradition of helping to build and sustain world-class institutes. Our ambition is to support the long-term resilience and sustainability of a world-leading social science research base by strategic investment in both existing and new institutes and research centres across the UK.

We invest in globally recognised centres of excellence, including the Institute for Fiscal Studies , the Institute for Social and Economic Research , the Centre for Economic Performance , the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data , and The Productivity Institute . This sustained investment has created a resilient and stable environment in which to:

• incubate talent and leadership
• forge trusted partnerships
• work with other disciplines
• connect to key policymakers and practitioners
• create critical national capability

By expanding this infrastructure, we can continue to tackle new and unfolding societal challenges. We can then also connect and cluster major centres of excellence at both a local and national level to optimise scientific discovery and impact.

• extend our investment in institutes to sustain long-term national, globally-recognised research infrastructure and maximise the impact of social science
• partner with research organisations to embed our national network of research centres into the social science research landscape, helping ESRC-supported research to address local, national and global issues
• run a further round of our research centres competition, investing at least £36 million, to nurture new cutting-edge social science and address important societal challenges at scale

Case study: long-term investment for academic excellence and policy impact

ESRC has supported the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CPP) , based within the Institute for Fiscal Studies, for over 3 decades.

Researchers at CPP have helped shape the design of key economic policies including:

• CPP analysis on the impacts of junk food was central to the government’s obesity strategy and the NHS long-term plan, providing evidence on the design of alcohol and soda taxes
• research on in-and-out of work transfers was used as a primary source of evidence by HM Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions to reform tax credits
• rapid work on the unequal impact of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown on educational attainment provided key evidence in shaping the government’s decision to prioritise reopening of schools before other restrictions were lifted

Data and infrastructure

ESRC-supported infrastructure has underpinned key scientific breakthroughs such as:

• the identification of the health impacts of smoking during pregnancy
• the early warning signs of adolescent self-harm
• the scarring effects of long-term unemployment
• how to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty

Without such infrastructures, critical research like this would not be possible, or it would take longer and cost more owing to the need to collect new data.

Recognising the unique role ESRC has in building and sustaining the UK’s world-class social science data infrastructure, we have an annual investment of over £50 million in data collection, curation, access and data services.

Through our plans, we will further develop our support for this crucial and influential infrastructure to enable robust research that addresses major societal challenges that we face now and in the future.

We will ensure that our investment in data infrastructure continues to represent and serve the needs of people and places across the UK. For example, our £100 million investment in the ground-breaking Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK) programme funds major data hubs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that are creating new, linked administrative data assets, and funding policy relevant research.

By continuing to invest in our major national data collections, such as our longitudinal studies, we will innovate to unlock the untapped value of additional public and wider data assets. This includes harnessing the power of emerging digital forms of data and linking datasets in novel ways to reveal new policy insights and to support businesses.

This drive to expand the UK social science data infrastructure will be supported by further investment in modern, integrated data services and facilities, such as the UK Data Service , providing researchers with the best possible access for analysis and evidence generation.

• boost investment in ADR UK, expanding our innovative programme of linked administrative datasets on key public policy issues, and collaborate with the Cabinet Office to facilitate the use of administrative data in evaluating the impact of government policies and programmes
• launch rounds 16 to 18 of data collection for Understanding Society , our longitudinal study tracking the lives of 25,000 UK households
• launch a pioneering new ‘Smart Data Research UK’ infrastructure, which will transform access to and analysis of new data types and sources, including internet and social media data, geo- spatial data, commercial and transactional data, and sensor and image data
• lay the groundwork for a new Early Life Cohort study, informed by a major feasibility study

Better data for better policies across the UK

The administrative data collected by public services contains huge untapped potential to provide decision makers with the evidence they need to inform key policy questions.

ADR UK is a flagship data-sharing partnership with UK government departments, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the devolved administrations, which is revolutionising the way policymakers and researchers access the UK’s wealth of public sector data.

By linking de-identified administrative data, ADR UK has created a new way of gathering insights into how our society and economy functions. This enables researchers to reveal how different parts of our lives impact on one another.

By linking health and education data, we can better understand outcomes from a national, down to a local authority level, giving more depth to policy decisions. When administrative data is linked to other sources of data, such as surveys and longitudinal studies, the possibilities expand even further.

For example, Data First is an innovative initiative led by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and funded by ADR UK that links existing data from across the justice system for the first time, to build a much better understanding of which MoJ policies and services are most effective.

Ultimately, Data First aims to support a better quality and more cost-effective justice system for everyone in the UK.

International collaboration

Many of the biggest questions facing society are global in their reach and are best tackled through international collaboration. UK social science is deeply embedded in the global research ecosystem, and has played a leading role in connecting and coalescing international research teams and consortia around major transnational challenges.

It is vital ESRC acts to sustain the UK’s reputation as a centre of excellence in social science by connecting the best minds, talent and infrastructure across the world.

Over 75% of all proposals to recent international multilateral calls in which we have participated have involved UK applicants, and over 80% of successful projects include a UK-based investigator, which is more than any other participating country.

Through programmes such as the Global Challenges Research and Newton Funds, and consortia such as NORFACE and the Transatlantic Platform (T-AP) , we have expanded and created partnerships at scale from Africa and Asia, to Europe and the Americas.

Working with other international funders and global partners, we will continue to play a key role in building and leveraging these relationships through large-scale multilateral strategic programmes and researcher-led international projects. We will fund the creation of new datasets, and provide UK researchers with access to the best international data resources and facilities.

• fund discovery-led international research through a further round of the Open Research Area scheme and our international co-investigator policy
• invest in major international strategic initiatives to support our own priorities, working through multilateral platforms such as NORFACE and T-AP
• continue our commitment to working in partnership with low and middle-income countries through such programmes as the Raising Learning Outcomes initiative, a collaboration between ESRC and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• support the continued development of major international data infrastructure projects, such as the European Social Survey

Connecting the power of global social science

T-AP is a unique interdisciplinary global consortium which brings together funding agencies from Europe and South and North America. The platform has incredible reach, spanning 25 countries and connecting over half of the world’s total social science research capacity.

With more than £22 million of investment over the last 6 years, T-AP has launched 3 major multinational programmes, with the most recent in direct response to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Recovery, Resilience and Renewal initiative is bringing together researchers from 25 countries to provide critical evidence on the medium- and longer-term global effects of the pandemic, thereby supporting the UN’s ambitions as set out in its Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery .

UK investigators are working on 14 of the 19 projects funded under the initiative, more than any other nation.

Impact and engagement

We are an international leader in maximising impact from social science research and we aim to optimise the impact of our research, data and people by deepening links and partnerships with policymakers, businesses and third sector organisations across the UK.

We played a founding role in establishing the UK government’s What Works Network of evidence centres, which translate research into evidence for policy and practice.

We introduced Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAA), which enable research organisations to design and deliver responsive knowledge exchange activities with local policymakers, innovators, businesses, other practitioners and the public.

More recently, we have initiated ‘people flow’ schemes, bringing the expertise and knowledge of social scientists directly into central government and the devolved administrations through our Policy Fellowship Programme.

Our major research centres and grants, alongside our investment in data infrastructure, have led to:

• environmental, educational and monetary policy changes
• improved the life chances of some of the most vulnerable in society
• informed the government’s response to COVID-19

Creating a national infrastructure that seeks to optimise engagement and impact remains fundamental to ESRC’s mission. Our aim is to systematically deepen our partnerships with national and local policymakers, and convene new relationships with innovators and third sector organisations.

• expand our support for policymakers in areas such as the cost-of-living crisis, levelling up and climate change through knowledge exchange programmes, new placement and fellowship schemes, and via our Actionable Insights Seminar series working in partnership with government Social Research and Policy Professions
• maximise the use of evidence in policy and practice through a refresh of our What Works Centres, and deliver flexible, agile responses to evidence needs through our International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), Economics Observatory (ECO) and UK in a Changing  Europe (UKICE)
• continue to work in close partnership with UK government departments and the devolved administrations to create policy-relevant linked administrative datasets for research use, and build UK-wide capability and capacity to address and inform policy priorities
• maximise the impact of social science research in policy, third sector organisations and across businesses through a new impact acceleration account (IAA) competition
• climate and environment
• international affairs and defence
• parliament, public administration and constitution, through the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

The need for sustained investment in data infrastructure to meet policy needs

Our longitudinal studies collect detailed data on the lives of people and households over their entire life course, and have been a fundamental evidence source for policymakers for decades.

Long-term investment in longitudinal studies has also been vital in meeting unforeseen and urgent policy needs. Our flagship study, Understanding Society , has been regularly collecting data from 25,000 UK households for almost 15 years.

It was able to rapidly pivot its activities during the pandemic to expose the highly uneven vaccine uptake amongst different ethnic groups across the UK population. This evidence was used by the SAGE committee to support its strategies to reduce vaccine hesitancy.

Understanding Society datasets also provided evidence underpinning government interventions such as:

• the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
• the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme
• COVID-19 additional welfare payments, which supported the poorest working households in the UK

Place-based solutions

The UK faces major place-based challenges, including reducing inequality, driving local economic growth and productivity, and responding to net zero.

These are unambiguously social science challenges where high-quality insight and evidence can power the development of responsive and diverse place-based solutions, with the potential to make a real difference to both people’s lives and the places and communities they live in.

The UK government’s Levelling Up White Paper (GOV.UK) creates a need to make connections across multiple policy areas, and to understand the development needs and social resources of different regions.

By working in partnership with academia and policymakers (national, devolved and local) and engaging innovators and public and third sector practitioners, we will support and inform place-based policy and decision making.

Our approach will involve investing in people and collaborations at a local level, in infrastructure that supports the local translation of research, evidence and data, and in place-focused research.

It is our ambition to embed place considerations across a wider range of our work by encouraging a greater number of our programmes to consider spatial dimensions in their research and impact activities.

• address local challenges by facilitating collaboration and connections between local policy stakeholders, academics and innovators, by launching Local Policy Innovation Partnerships, with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Innovate UK, and continuing to support the Regional Productivity Forums run by The Productivity Institute
• invest in major place-based What Works Centres such as the Wales Centre for Public Policy co-funded by the Welsh government, and the Centre for Local Economic Growth
• build new datasets, data services and analytical capability which provide an evidence base upon which to understand and find solutions to local challenges
• implement UKRI place toolkit to support embedding place considerations across a wider range of our work
• inform policy interventions on levelling up by working in partnership with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on its short- and long-term evidence needs

Connecting talent with government policymakers

Our Policy Fellowship Programme, launched in 2022, is designed to accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge methods and research in national decision-making.

A cohort of 24 academics, embedded in 11 departments across the UK (including central government and the devolved nations), are spending a year working in real time on policy challenges of national importance, including reducing inequalities, net zero, and national security.

In addition, our programme of Actionable Insights Seminars, delivered in partnership with the Government Social Research Profession for the Government Analysis Function and the Policy Profession, is providing time-critical evidence to help address pressing policy challenges such as energy and food security, levelling up and climate change.

The first set of seminars, which focused on COVID-19, attracted over 2,500 attendees in total.

Objective 3: world-class ideas

ESRC-supported research captures and catalyses diverse and excellent ideas across all disciplines, schemes and research career stages, creating new scientific knowledge and real-world impact.

We remain committed to a balanced portfolio that includes fundamental, curiosity driven research as well as strategically focused programmes.

This breadth is critical to drawing upon the full talents and creativity of the social science research base, to sustaining the diversity, long-term vibrancy and resilience of our disciplines, and to connecting with a broad swathe of the UK’s universities and institutes.

This balance ensures we reach out and capture a rich and diverse array of great ideas, covering both blue skies and applied research, alongside new conceptual thinking and novel methodological approaches.

We will embrace high risk, high reward research to help inspire breakthrough social science.

We will offer opportunities for curiosity-driven research across all career types, from our postdoctoral fellowship and early career researcher schemes through to our large grants and centres competitions.

It is our ambition to draw systematically upon the ideas and inspiration of the social science research base to help shape our thinking on long-term societal challenges now and for the future. This will be enhanced by ambitious inter- and multidisciplinary approaches, including working across UKRI to pilot a new interdisciplinary responsive mode funding scheme.

• catalyse new ideas and creativity in discovery research by investing over £40 million a year in our research grants, new investigator grants and Secondary Data Analysis Initiative schemes
• invest in research and sustainability by launching a new £10 million (roughly) round of our large grants scheme
• push forward the frontiers of methodological research through a new collaborative research initiative
• continue to horizon scan for long-term, global and societal challenges, and innovative ways to tackle them

Case study: integrating newcomers and vulnerable migrants

There are over 280 million migrants across the world, representing 3.6% of the global population, with numbers accelerating in recent years.

Many migrants are displaced by conflict or natural disasters or seek a better life to support themselves and their families. In partnership with the Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity, the ESRC-funded Centre on Migration, Policy and Society has developed ground-breaking research into integration theory and municipal initiatives, which is informing policy and practice across more than 60 European cities and beyond.

Programme findings prompted the European Commission to commit for the first time to a dedicated EU strategy aimed at finding solutions for long-term irregular migration status.

Case study: big impact ideas

The ESRC Decision Maker Panel supplies time-critical data on business confidence and operating conditions to the Bank of England and UK government.

Around 10,000 chief executives and chief financial officers from a representative sample of UK businesses are surveyed each month about current business conditions and future expectations. Data from the Decision Maker Panel informed the full spectrum of HM Treasury’s COVID-19 support schemes, from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to business grants, and supported monetary policy responses to COVID-19 and rising inflation.

Originating as a proof-of-concept grant supported by the University of Nottingham’s ESRC-funded Impact Acceleration Account, the Decision Maker Panel was awarded larger-scale funding through our responsive mode scheme.

Objective 4: world-class innovation

Innovation lies at the heart of the UK’s recovery and return to full economic growth and prosperity. Successful innovation is a socio-technical challenge, meaning that social science has a vital role to play in every stage of the innovation lifecycle, providing critical insights into what works, where and why.

We want our supported research to provide a powerful evidence base that identifies the optimal conditions for this innovation.

Only by adoption and diffusion of ideas and people across different firms, sectors and regions, and by driving development in policy and practice can we improve productivity, scale-up businesses and create new jobs, and maximise the potential of all parts of the UK.

Our role is to invest in new research that evidences how to remove barriers and create the best conditions for a thriving innovation ecosystem.

We will concentrate our work on understanding key innovation drivers such as finance and business models, labour markets and skills, consumer behaviour, supply chains and regulation.

To support this ambition, we will seek to better connect the social science research base to business by driving pioneering new approaches to knowledge mobilisation, including commercialisation.

We will work closely with Innovate UK and other partners to maximise impact.

• build a powerful evidence base around what works in innovation through over £40 million of investments, including The Productivity Institute and the Programme on Innovation and Diffusion
• invest in Local Policy and Innovation Partnerships, in partnership with AHRC and Innovate UK, to translate research insights into practical measures for boosting productivity and scaling up businesses
• fund a new UKRI Innovation and Research Caucus , collaborating with Innovate UK, to support the whole of UKRI in its innovation policies and decision making
• accelerate the adoption of innovative business practices in the business and financial services sectors by investing over £3 million in partnership with Innovate UK
• catalyse new approaches to exploiting the direct value of social science for commercialisation and knowledge exchange, in partnership with Innovate UK

Case study: creating partnerships to support microbusinesses

Productivity from Below, an ESRC-funded collaboration between researchers (from the universities of Aston, Birmingham and Warwick), innovators and civil society partners, has helped to grow and create ethnic minority microbusinesses in the Midlands.

The partnership began before the onset of COVID-19 but pivoted its support during the pandemic to launch a business leaders’ group to help retailers access government emergency funding.

The project has continued to provide evidence-based practical business support, such as an entrepreneurship development programme and wider commercial advice, and has enabled peer learning between ethnic minority microbusinesses.

The partnership has helped to secure access to small grants with a combined value of over £3 million and has supported over a thousand entrepreneurs who are women or migrants.

Case study: commercialising social science

There is considerable potential to use the knowledge and skills created by social science research to develop commercial products and services. For example, the Galatean Risk and Safety Tool (GRiST) provides a web-based decision support system that enables mental health and social care professionals to better understand the risk of serious incidents such as suicide, self-harm and harm to others, and how to assess and manage these risks effectively.

Developed with support from ESRC and other parts of UKRI by social and computer scientists at Aston University and the University of Warwick over a period of 17 years, GRiST has recently spun out into its own company, eGRiST Ltd.

It is used by thousands of mental health and social care professionals in care trusts across the UK. eGRiST Ltd is still expanding, having received sponsorship from a range of sources, including the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

Solving the productivity puzzle, driving innovation and growth

Unravelling the complex factors that have left UK productivity lagging behind other leading industrialised nations remains critical to the nation’s future growth and prosperity.

Our flagship £30 million Productivity Institute brings together over 40 world-leading experts across many disciplines, from economics and management science to engineering and environmental science, who work directly with national, regional and local stakeholders to pinpoint the causes of productivity stagnation across many parts of the UK.

The Institute’s approach puts the importance of place at the heart of its analysis of productivity performance, and seeks impact by building relationships between researchers, businesses and other stakeholders.

Meanwhile, the Programme on Innovation and Diffusion (POID) is focused on how innovation is created and spread across the economy. POID will undertake the World Management Survey in 2022 to 2023, creating the largest transnational longitudinal survey of management practices in the world.

Objective 5: world-class impacts

Our aim is to ensure that the full power of UK social science is brought to bear in tackling the most pressing global, national and local challenges.

As part of UKRI, we have identified 5 key strategic themes for future collaborative working:

• building a green future
• securing better health, ageing and wellbeing
• tackling infections
• building a secure and resilient world
• creating opportunities, improving outcomes

All 5 have deep social, economic and political components, and will only be understood and addressed through a deep knowledge of human behaviour.

Within ESRC, we are committed to working across UKRI and with a wide range of stakeholders to maximise the value and reach of these programmes.

These cross-cutting UKRI themes connect clearly with 5 priority areas that will shape ESRC’s strategic research investment over the coming years. Each requires urgent action if we are to create a more sustainable, stable and equitable future.

Our first 4 priorities are connected and underpinned by a critical fifth priority, understanding behaviour, which shapes and informs how we respond to these challenges:

ESRC’s programme of strategic research will be driven by these 5 priorities. They will marshall the breadth of the social science research base, harnessing its power in novel interdisciplinary ways and drawing on the full range of our data infrastructure assets.

It will be vital to connect beyond the boundaries of social science, drawing on the complementary strengths of the broader UK science base to generate fresh concepts and perspectives, novel data and methods, and new national capability.

We will put policymakers and practitioners at the heart of all these programmes, from co-producing their design through to ensuring real-world impact.

Priority 1: net zero, environment, biodiversity and climate change

Population and economic growth over the past century have been unprecedented. The world’s population is expected to increase by a further 2 billion people in the next 30 years, putting even more pressure on land use, water supply and the demand for currently carbon-intensive services such as energy, transport and housing.

The UK government has set a clear direction in its Net Zero Strategy for steps to be taken by this country in responding to the challenge of controlling carbon emissions, and social science has a major contribution to make in supporting those actions.

We will fund research that:

• generates the evidence needed to build resilience to environmental damage and climate change
• drives a successful social and economic transition to a net zero society and a sustainable and biodiverse environment
• informs sustainable growth and desirable social outcomes

Delivering these ambitions will require major changes in the behaviour of people, firms and governments around the world. We will work across UKRI to develop and contribute to UKRI’s ‘building a green future’ strategic theme.

• connect existing research findings on climate change to policymakers and practitioners, and identify the demand for new evidence, led by our interdisciplinary environment leadership team
• invest in ambitious new interdisciplinary programmes on climate change mitigation and adaptation, including a new programme on energy demand reduction with EPSRC, as well as the economics of climate change
• work with international partners to launch a major multidisciplinary programme on finding solutions to climate change, including through the International Initiative for Research on Climate Change (IIRCC)

Priority 2: digital society

The increasingly rapid advance of technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing is transforming the world in which we live. New technologies are providing huge benefits across the economy and society.

However, they also have the potential to cause damage and division, ranging from online bullying, mass deskilling and job loss through to fake news and threats to the foundations of the democratic process and national security.

Digital skills and access to technology are also increasingly required to access public services and employment, which is serving to widen a ‘digital divide’ in society and runs the risk of exacerbating inequalities.

Our role is to ensure that social science guides the adoption of new technologies, charting a path which identifies and amplifies their positive societal outcomes while exposing and mitigating potential harmful effects.

This will involve collaborating with a wide range of disciplines across the science base and combining fundamental research with public-facing and public-policy-oriented work.

• explore people’s relationships with digital technologies and inform public understanding and decision making in the public and business sectors by investing in a £5 million programme led by an interdisciplinary network of researchers
• invest £3.75 million in a new European programme with AHRC on digital transformations ( CHANSE ), exploring how digital innovations affect, and are affected by, economic, social and cultural change
• launch a new education research programme, up to £6 million, focused on the impact of technology on teaching and learning in schools, and further build on our investment in research on the impact of digital work and remote working
• further understanding of the societal outcomes of different potential ‘digital futures’ shaped by cutting-edge technologies such as AI, robotics and virtual reality by investing in research of these areas

The uses of technology in education

How technology is used in teaching and learning shapes the impact it can make. ESRC’s new £6 million Education Research Programme will invest in understanding the uses of technology in teaching and learning. Key themes include:

• the use of digital technologies to support learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and any longer-term implications
• approaches to teaching in a digitally connected world
• how to teach young people to use technology effectively, safely and responsibly
• the impact of digital inequalities on pupils, and ways to mitigate them

Projects are taking a comparative approach across the 4 UK nations to find new ways of working collaboratively with practitioners, policymakers and other stakeholders.

Priority 3: health and social care

Individual characteristics and the broader social context shape everyone’s health and wellbeing. Educational background, the homes and neighbourhoods in which we live, what we eat, the jobs we do, and our access to services and support, all affect our physical and mental health.

The wider environmental context plays a key part too: many factors vary across regions and local areas, and the subsequent differences in health outcomes have widely varying impacts on local economies.

Increasingly, the changing climate is also directly impacting health, and we know that infectious diseases are more likely to emerge or spread under certain environmental conditions.

Research evidence can be used to prevent ill health, to tackle its impacts and to maximise the support that people from all backgrounds receive, wherever they live.

COVID-19 shone a light on the entrenched nature of inequalities in health and highlighted the intense pressure on the social care system.

ESRC will support the use of evidence in social care to unlock the opportunities that research and innovation can offer to improve delivery of services, and drive improvements in health and social care.

Our long-term investment in data infrastructure, including ADR UK , and new underpinning behavioural research capacity supports the delivery of these ambitions.

We will work collaboratively across UKRI to support and develop the health and social care elements of the UKRI ‘securing better health, ageing and wellbeing’, and ‘creating opportunities, improving outcomes’ strategic themes.

• strengthen social care research and evidence infrastructure through our ongoing major investments in the Centre for Care and the UK Centre for Evidence Implementation in Adult Social Care (IMPACT)
• accelerate insights and innovations from the UK’s wealth of social and biomedical longitudinal population studies by commissioning Population Research UK in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC), a £9 million data infrastructure investment
• launch a major £450,000 programme of food system research trials to transform the evidence base for addressing place-based inequalities in healthy diets, in partnership with 6 government departments and agencies (including Defra and the Cabinet Office)

Priority 4: security, risk and resilience

It is vital that we advance understanding of the shifting geopolitical order and the UK’s evolving role within it, providing evidence to help create a more stable, resilient and secure global future.

Both the COVID-19 pandemic and recent global conflicts have exposed the highly interconnected and interdependent world in which we live and have demonstrated how events can escalate quickly into major international social, political and economic crises.

Future disasters cannot be avoided, and neither can shifts and shocks to the international geopolitical landscape or the economic system.

The UK needs to build societal and global resilience to these shocks, playing a leading role in maintaining a secure international order and managing impacts across the world.

ESRC’s role is to improve understanding of the complex, and often interacting, risks that fuel social, political and economic instability and uncertainty. Our supported research will provide new evidence to anticipate, manage and reduce future threats, improving local, national and international resilience.

Delivering our ambitions will require cross-UKRI collaboration as well as partnerships spanning government and a wide range of international agencies. This will include developing and contributing to UKRI’s ‘building a secure and resilient world’ strategic theme.

• invest in research that aims to improve human security, supporting work that builds resilience to withstand, adapt to, and recover from acute or chronic shocks
• expand our research programme and knowledge exchange and fellowship activities that focus on the UK’s international role in a post-EU Exit, post-pandemic world
• develop new policy-facing research on global trade to support the UK’s development of, and capabilities for, new international trading partnerships

Policy advice in an uncertain and unstable world

Amidst growing geopolitical uncertainty, the UK must continue to navigate the political and economic implications of exiting the EU and address new foreign policy challenges.

We will extend the evidence we can offer on key foreign policy risks and opportunities by renewing our £4.5 million investment in the highly acclaimed UK in a Changing Europe platform.

Since 2015, this has been widely acknowledged as a major source of independent, impartial and robust evidence on the EU referendum.

To support the platform, we will fund a new cohort of academic fellows who will be charged with bringing their expertise to bear on the evolving geopolitical and economic shifts, shocks and challenges which face the UK and the rest of the world.

Case study: tackling the challenges of adult social care across the UK

Finding effective approaches and policies to delivering high-quality but affordable social care has been an enduring challenge for governments across the UK. IMPACT (Improving Adult Care Together) is a £15 million centre for improving adult social care, funded in partnership with the Health Foundation.

The centre will draw on knowledge gained from different types of research and the experience of service users, their carers and practitioners working in the sector. It will work across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to support innovation within social care practice and policy, taking account of different policy contexts in the 4 nations as well as sharing learning across the UK.

Priority 5: understanding behaviour

Understanding human behaviour is fundamental to each of the 4 preceding priorities and how we respond to major global challenges, from how society most effectively responds to climate change through to how we harness positive impacts and mitigate harm from new technologies, merging trends or new markets.

There is substantial demand for behavioural research from policymakers, practitioners and industry leaders across the UK and globally. This comes at a time when scientific and technological developments, for example in data science and methods, provide exciting possibilities for advancing research in this field.

Behavioural research was critical to the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with new collaborations and advisory structures supporting evidence-based decision making in government.

Our ambition is to build on this legacy and create a lasting national capability for behavioural research which informs policy and practice and directly addresses the toughest policy challenges that we face nationally. This will involve bringing together the wide range of disciplines which study human behaviour, working closely with the public, policymakers and other practitioners.

• establish a new £15 million national capability in behavioural research, building a critical mass of researchers to convene and catalyse new fundamental and applied research using a wide range of data and cutting-edge methods
• strengthen the talent pipeline for the future by creating a new £5.5 million interdisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training in behavioural research
• invest in a behavioural research programme that addresses core policy challenges in line with UKRI strategic themes such as net zero, security and health.

Case study: using AI to understand human behaviour

ESRC’s data infrastructure investments enable councils across UKRI to support research on human behaviour. Our Millennium Cohort Study , which follows the lives of 19,000 young people, was recently used by MRC-funded researchers at the University of Cambridge to understand the early warning signs of self-harm in adolescents.

Using machine learning techniques, the team were able to detect risk factors, such as emotional regulation difficulties, risk-taking behaviours, and poor sleep, up to a decade before respondents reported self-harming.

These findings offer health and education professionals an expanded window of opportunity to support at-risk young people before problems escalate.

Case study: how prison design can support offender rehabilitation

ESRC-funded research on the role of prison design in offender rehabilitation has transformed the architecture and design of prisons across 5 countries.

Researchers at the University of Bath have supported architectural firms, prison services and ministries of justice to adopt insights into trauma-sensitive design practices that improve prisoner mental health and behaviour, including creating outdoor family visiting spaces and using reinforced glass rather than bars in windows.

9 new prisons and 12 refurbishment projects across England, Wales, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand have been commissioned using these design principles.

Objective 6: a world-class organisation

ESRC’s role is to support world-class social, behavioural and economic research.

Working across UKRI, we are committed to being an efficient, innovative, resilient and agile organisation. In the next 3 years, we will deliver our ambitions in the most effective ways and within our agreed operating expenditure budget.

By becoming more outcomes-focused, we will ensure our investments and collaborations deliver maximum impact with minimum bureaucracy.

To ensure the researchers we support can focus their time on what they do best, we will reduce the burden on applicants for our funding, only collecting necessary and proportionate information through simplified and better systems.

We aim to build an inclusive and diverse workforce empowered to deliver sector-wide leadership by catalysing new ways of working and bringing people together.

We will invest in and empower our talented people to collaborate and thrive. We will do so through close working across UKRI, with the research and innovation community and with all sectors, to improve standards, maximise the impact of our investments and deliver change.

We will seize the opportunity to build a more diverse and inclusive research community, and to embed environmental sustainability across everything we do.

To empower talented people to collaborate and thrive, we will:

• develop and implement an ESRC People Priority Plan to support an inclusive culture and diverse workforce, improving performance management, creating an agile and efficient workforce, and improving opportunities for career development
• implement an ESRC EDI Action Plan as part of UKRI’s EDI strategy and objectives, and covering our role as a leader, funder and employer
• upskill UKRI staff in policy engagement though the joint ESRC and government Policy Profession ‘Think Policy’ programme

To make UKRI an efficient, effective and agile organisation, we will:

• review and streamline our operations, governance and stakeholder engagement to ensure that they interface seamlessly with UKRI’s new operating model
• support delivery of a single funding service, through the Simpler, Better Funding programme and a new Enterprise Resource Management system through the Services for HR, Accounting, Reporting and Procurement (SHARP) programme
• respond to all the relevant Grant Review recommendations through our wider Reforming our Business and Operating Model organisational change programmes by continuing to streamline our systems, simplify and improve policies and processes, and reduce the administrative burdens on our communities, staff and partners
• continue to pilot innovative ways of working to reduce bureaucracy

To catalyse change and impact through partnership and leadership, we will:

• increase engagement and dialogue with diverse stakeholders to sustain a resilient, trusted and world-leading research base
• showcase social science impacts and successes through our annual Celebrating Impact Prize and impact engagement campaigns on place, climate change and sustainability, the post-pandemic future of the UK, and social sciences and innovation
• improve the sustainability of our operations as part of UKRI’s environmental sustainability strategy

Evidence for action on equality, diversity and inclusion

ESRC, in partnership with AHRC, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Innovate UK and the British Academy, is investing around £4 million over the next 3 years to establish a new equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) Caucus to harness academic expertise and research evidence to advance EDI in research and innovation.

The EDI Caucus will be an interdisciplinary network of academics funded to provide research insights that inform policy and practice on equality, diversity and inclusion.

By reviewing, synthesising and generating new evidence, the Caucus will support decision making within UKRI and the British Academy, and across the wider research and innovation sector.

The Caucus will be agile and flexible, enabling its funders and the wider sector to access rapid advice and evidence briefings when needed.

‘Think Policy’ programme

As part of our cross-UKRI training offer, ESRC has launched a Think Policy seminar series featuring prominent speakers who bring to life how decision makers in government engage with research and academic expertise.

Attended by over 500 staff, the virtual seminars have been designed to support UKRI with policy engagement activity.

Topics include the Chief Scientific Adviser network, Parliament, policy and strategy, and the government analytical professions.

ESRC will extend the series to feature the work of devolved administrations and local government.

The figures provided in this table are in line with the 2022 to 2023 and 2024 to 2025 budget allocations for UK Research and Innovation.

These are broken down by our budgeting and reporting categories, and exclude funding for:

• official development assistance (ODA)
• financial transactions
• BEIS managed programmes

Figures are indicative and may vary over the course of the 3-year period due to budget adjustments made as a part of on-going financial management and planning processes to maximise the use of our total funding.

From 2022 to 2023, UKRI talent investments are managed collectively across the research councils. The funding for collective talent activities outlined in this delivery plan are accounted for in the broader collective talent funding line included in our corporate plan.

Further infrastructure allocations to councils may be made during the spending review period from the Infrastructure Fund, Digital Research Infrastructure Programme and Carbon Zero Fund Programme.

Further allocations may be made during the spending review period. This excludes wave 1 preliminary activities where spend was in 2021 to 2022 only. Allocations include contingency, which may be returned if unused.

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Strategic Delivery Plans

• Download Strategy pdf

What are Strategic Delivery Plans?

Strategic Delivery Plans (SDPs) are plans aligned to the University of Nottingham Strategy which identify how values, goals, enablers and cross-cutting issues will be taken forward. We have developed these to ensure that our strategy becomes a lived reality.

The strategy is also embedded within the university’s annual Business Planning Round and the Appraisal and Development Conversation (ADC), as well as through many other events and activities.

Summary of Strategic Delivery Plans

Each SDP sets out the strategic priorities for that area and has an accompanying action plan outlining how those priorities will be achieved within set timeframes.

A summary of the priorities within each SDP can be downloaded below:

The full Strategic Delivery Plan for each area can be found by clicking on the buttons below:

Research Strategic Delivery Plan 2022-2027 (pdf)

Knowledge exchange strategic delivery plan (pdf), education & student experience strategic delivery plan (pdf), global engagement strategic delivery plan (pdf), civic strategic delivery plan (pdf), functional delivery and influencing plans.

The full Functional Delivery and Influencing Plans that support our strategic aims can be found by clicking on the buttons below:

Environmental Sustainability (pdf)

Digital (pdf), people and culture (pdf), estates and facilities (pdf).

For any further information on the SDPs and their implementation please contact Planning, Performance & Strategic Change .

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Chief Midwifery Officer for England’s strategic plan for research

NHS England has published its Chief Midwifery Officer for England’s strategic plan for research . This strategic plan sets out a framework for developing and investing in research activity across the NHS in partnership with others.

The vision for maternity and neonatal services is to provide safer and more personalised care for women and their families across England. The plan builds on the landmark Better births review , the Neonatal critical care review , and the Three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services . In this way it supports the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan commitments to halve the number of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries by 2025, and the Core20PLUS5 intention to reduce healthcare inequalities at a local and system level.

Research is recognised for its importance in healthcare; it is one of the main drivers in providing evidence-based improved treatment and care. In general, NHS trusts that are highly research active have better outcomes for patients across their services, even if individual patients are not part of research. This requires a sustainable and supported research workforce – which offers rewarding opportunities and exciting careers for all healthcare and research staff of all professional backgrounds. It also requires boosting areas of high research need and historical under-investment in groups such as midwives.

This Chief Midwifery Officer for England’s strategic plan for research supports NHS England commitments to improve care and aligns with Making research matter: Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for England’s strategic plan for research . It has been developed working in partnership with the CNO Research team, the Innovation, Research and Life Sciences Group at NHS England and the National Institute of Health Research. This plan aligns with and supports plans to increase research in the NHS and complements ambitions set out in the Department of Health and Social Care’s vision for research – to make ‘research everybody’s business’.