India and the UK together are a force for global good

The Director of UK Research and Innovation, India reflects on h

er experience with the organisation over the past decade and outlines the growing opportunities for partnerships between the UK and India.

Highlights:

• UKRI was created in 2018 as a public funder of research and innovation in universities and businesses.

• The Indo-UK research and innovation partnership has been steadily one of transformation, changing lives for people globally.

• In 2019, Indo-UK research and innovation opportunities and partnerships worth a commitment of over £15 million, matched by Government of India collaborators have been undertaken.

I became Director of UK Research and Innovation's India Office in May this year. It is the best job in the world, though not one I imagined would exist as a child. I get to spend my time with researchers and innovators learning about their amazing ideas and the global opportunities and challenges they want to address. I then work with others interested in solving those challenges, progressing those opportunities, funding research, or building international partnerships and we work together to find ways of turning ideas into reality.

The UK is a research superpower. We are globally ranked first or second in all research fields. This is thanks to our extraordinarily strong research organisations (this year the UK has three universities in the global top 10, with Oxford and Cambridge, respectively, in the top two spots) and our approach to funding research and innovation. We decide on which projects to fund based on the quality of the project proposals submitted, and we and also fund the broader university system based on the quality of the projects undertaken in the past. That means the best ideas are funded, no matter where a researcher is based, and where there have been breakthroughs in the past or emerging ideas or be developed, our universities have on-going funding to support and sustain them. Our government has repeatedly confirmed its commitment to doubling our research funding, taking us from 1.7 per cent GDP to 2.4 per cent GDP investment in research and innovation.

UKRI was created in 2018 and is the UK's public funder of research and innovation in universities and businesses. In the UK, our annual budget is £7 billion, and we use that in our work with businesses, charities, government and research organisations to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish.

We are committed to ensuring the UK is one of the best places in the world for research and innovation. But we know that ideas and imagination are not tied by national borders and that the best research on, and most innovative solutions to, global challenges come when we can bring the best minds from around the world together. For that reason, UKRI has four international offices to facilitate engagement with our key partners: Europe, North America, China and India.

Our office in India was established a decade before UKRI was created. We were originally set it up to support the UK Research Councils partnership with India, so our transformation into UKRI India has a solid base. We have been based in the British High Commission since 2008, and that enables close working with the rest of the British Government and the British Council here in India.

We have an office in India because we recognise the strength of our shared cultural and historical ties, and because we know that India is fast emerging as a knowledge superpower. We pride ourselves on the relationship we have worked with funders here in India to build. We work in genuine partnership, selecting areas of shared interest and where we have complementary skill sets or approaches, taking decisions on who should be funded, and allocating funding jointly. That means that the Indo-UK research and innovation partnership is transformative, changing lives for people globally. To recycle an old phrase: together we are a force for global good.

Since our establishment back in 2008, we have seen our support for the Indo-UK partnership rise from around £1 million to over £310 million. The opportunities for new connections are endless and that is truly exciting. According to Elsevier, co-produced Indo-UK research publications are more highly cited than either the Indian or UK publications on their own and are more highly cited than Indian collaborations with the US, Germany or Japan. Together, we are an intellectual force to be reckoned with.

And this is what makes my job so exciting. I get to work with the researchers, innovators and the fantastic funding support system here in India to generate new partnerships, turn bright ideas into a reality and to jointly tackle global challenges and opportunities.

So, what connects migration and diasporas, nuclear energy, comms start-ups, innovation in extreme photonics, museums, clean air innovation, antimicrobial resistance in manufacturing waste, and cross border trade In the last six months alone, my team has facilitated Indo-UK research and innovation opportunities and partnerships in all of these areas. In total, these initiatives amount to a UK commitment of over £15 million, matched by our Government of India collaborators.

Rebecca Fairbairn is Director at UKRI India.