Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
UKRI hosted a virtual town hall on Tuesday 24 March, where CEO Professor Sir Ian Chapman outlined our upcoming five-year strategy and new mission – to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth.
Ian was joined by Professor Dame Jessica Corner (Executive Chair of Research England) and Stian Westlake (Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council) for a question and answer session.
The discussions explored UKRI’s strategic direction, covering topics ranging from the balance between curiosity driven research and government priorities, to practical questions on processes and grant timelines. Panellists highlighted both strengths and areas for improvement across the research and innovation system. They encouraged the community to continue offering constructive ideas to help shape future developments.
Thank you to all those across the research and innovation community who joined us and asked insightful questions. This Townhall forms part of a wider series of engagement UKRI is delivering on the upcoming Strategy, to seek views from across the community: ukri.org/who-we-are/our-vision-and-strategy/updates-on-our-2026-strategy-and-budget/engagement-on-ukris-new-strategy
00:00 - UKRI strategy overview
07:39 - Curiosity -driven research
12:25 – UKRI call deadlines
14:57 – Place-based funding
20:10 – Early Career Researchers
21:25 – Interdisciplinary working
25:06 – Application processes
27:37 – Support for start-ups
29:19 – Technology adoption
32:26 – STFC budgets
35:03 – Equality, diversity and inclusion
43:48 – Culture change
46:32 – International collaboration
49:16 – National infrastructure
54:26 – UKRI quarterly updates
...........................................................................................................................
We are UK Research and Innovation, the UK's largest public funder of research and innovation. If you're a UK tax payer, your contributions help fund the work we showcase on our channel. And if you liked this video, follow us on these channels:
Medium: medium.com/@UKRI
Instagram: instagram.com/weareukri
Facebook: facebook.com/weareUKRI
YouTube: youtube.com/c/UKResearchandInnovation
Or sign up for our weekly newsletter public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKRI/subscriber/new?topic_id=UKRI_newsletter
UKRI hosted a virtual town hall on Tuesday 24 March, where CEO Professor Sir Ian Chapman outlined our upcoming five-year strategy and new mission – to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth.
Ian was joined by Professor Dame Jessica Corner (Executive Chair of Research England) and Stian Westlake (Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council) for a question and answer session.
The discussions explored UKRI’s strategic direction, covering topics ranging from the balance between curiosity driven research and government priorities, to practical questions on processes and grant timelines. Panellists highlighted both strengths and areas for improvement across the research and innovation system. They encouraged the community to continue offering constructive ideas to help shape future developments.
Thank you to all those across the research and innovation community who joined us and asked insightful questions. This Townhall forms part of a wider series of engagement UKRI is delivering on the upcoming Strategy, to seek views from across the community: ukri.org/who-we-are/our-vision-and-strategy/updates-on-our-2026-strategy-and-budget/engagement-on-ukris-new-strategy
00:00 - UKRI strategy overview
07:39 - Curiosity -driven research
12:25 – UKRI call deadlines
14:57 – Place-based funding
20:10 – Early Career Researchers
21:25 – Interdisciplinary working
25:06 – Application processes
27:37 – Support for start-ups
29:19 – Technology adoption
32:26 – STFC budgets
35:03 – Equality, diversity and inclusion
43:48 – Culture change
46:32 – International collaboration
49:16 – National infrastructure
54:26 – UKRI quarterly updates
...........................................................................................................................
We are UK Research and Innovation, the UK's largest public funder of research and innovation. If you're a UK tax payer, your contributions help fund the work we showcase on our channel. And if you liked this video, follow us on these channels:
Medium: medium.com/@UKRI
Instagram: instagram.com/weareukri
Facebook: facebook.com/weareUKRI
YouTube: youtube.com/c/UKResearchandInnovation
Or sign up for our weekly newsletter public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKRI/subscriber/new?topic_id=UKRI_newsletter
