Lessons from UK Arpa should also apply to ‘bureaucratic’ UKRI

Science and Technology Committee urges review of how UKRI can operate with less red tape

An inquiry on plans for a new Arpa-style funding agency provides important “learning opportunities” for the UK’s “bureaucratic” research and innovation system, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has said.

The committee’s inquiry identified a number of perceived gaps in the existing research and innovation system, including risk aversion, difficulty securing funding, limited strategic focus, limited commercialisation and translation of research, and limited scope for interdisciplinarity.