On Monday, 24 November 2025, leading figures from UK research, industry and government convened at the Innovation for Growth Summit in London, hosted by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in the Science Museum. The event marked a major strategic shift: UKRI, under its recently appointed Chief Executive Professor Sir Ian Chapman, committed to a more “choiceful” investment approach, targeting areas where the UK can lead globally, backing scale-ups, and aligning research with national priorities such as clean energy, health, national security and advanced technologies.
Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, gave opening remarks on the critical role of science, technology and innovation in growing the UK economy. She announced a record level of R&D funding, including £38.6 Bn for UKRI projects over the next five years.
The Cockcroft Institute (CI) was represented at the summit by our own Professor Carsten P Welsch, attending in his capacity as a Council member of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and by our close collaborator Dr Steve Wells, Chief Technology Officer of Adaptix, who took part in a high-profile panel discussion alongside industry and investment leaders, underscoring the value of accelerator-based technologies for UK industry and healthcare.
The new UKRI strategy centres on investing in breakthrough technologies with strong potential for societal and economic impact. The Cockcroft Institute’s long-standing expertise in accelerator science and engineering, beam instrumentation, medical accelerators and AI are all extremely promising technologies.
CI Director, Professor Stewart Boogert said: “With our world-leading accelerator research and strong track record in translating fundamental science into real-world technologies, the Cockcroft Institute is an excellent fit for this renewed UKRI agenda. We are ready to deliver innovations in collaboration with UK industry that improve health, energy and security.”
Professor Welsch added: “Innovation is the engine of progress – and accelerators are one of the UK’s most powerful assets in science and technology. As UKRI pivots toward impact-driven investment, accelerator science will play a key role in driving future breakthroughs across medicine, clean energy, and materials.”
With UKRI committing a record level of funding to targeted R&D, business scale-up and foundational curiosity-driven research through to 2030, the CI is well positioned to lead world-class R&D into medical applications, more sustainable accelerators and advanced technologies such as cryogenics and AI.