The UK is famous for its work in science: exploring the boundaries of biology, medicine, astronomy and physics for the benefit of all. The UK is home to over seventy Nobel prizes in science and some of the finest research facilities in the world. As well as creating new knowledge in the form of research results, British academics also contribute to innovation by: creating new instrumentation and methods; assisting with technological problem-solving; generating new firms; supplying skilled graduates; keeping industry up-to-date; providing advice and information, and building corporate image.

New knowledge and research results

One third of the human genome map - ‘one of the greatest scientific milestones of our lifetime’ - has been produced in the UK, at the Sanger Centre in Cambridgeshire.

New problem-solving techniques

The Kew Millennium Seed Bank project aims to address the loss of the Earth's biodiversity by securing the future of all of the UK’s native flowering plants and saving over 24,000 plant species from extinction worldwide.

New instrumentation and methods

Around 1,600 scientists use ISIS, the world's brightest pulsed source of neutrons and muons, at Oxford's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Generating new firms, Southampton Photonics grew out of Southampton University's Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) which has been developing technologies such as optical fibres and lasers for thirty-five years.

New knowledge and skilled graduates

Dundee’s School of Life Sciences is one of the largest biomedical research communities in the UK.