The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said long‑term funding will back research and development across several sectors, including clean energy and health. The allocations form part of an £86 billion package for science and technology R&D announced during the spending review in June, the department said.

Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall visited IBM’s London office on Wednesday to view facilities, including a robotic dog and a quantum computer, the DSIT added. IBM is working with publicly funded researchers to explore how AI and high‑performance computing can help discover new medicines and accelerate breakthroughs in clean energy, the department said.

Ms Kendall said: “£55 billion investment into research and development that we are announcing today, a record level, is absolutely critical to growing the economy and creating more good jobs.” She added: “We know that for every pound of public money that goes into R&D, you get double the amount from the private sector. We also know that businesses that get R&D funding, on average, grow by around 20% more and expand their workforce by about 20%.” The allocations cover the spending review period to 2029/30 and include more than £1.4 billion for the Met Office to support climate science and more than £900 million for the UK’s National Academies. A further boost of more than £550 million has been allocated to the National Measurement System, and £240 million to the AI Safety Institute, which assesses AI impacts and mitigates risk. The DSIT noted that previous beneficiaries of UKRI funding include Oxford Nanopore, developing the world’s first pandemic early warning system, and Cobalt Light Systems, which provides airport liquid screening technology.