The highlighted projects cover the full spectrum of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) activities, from arts and humanities to engineering and astrophysics, from universities and businesses of all sizes, across the UK and beyond.
They demonstrate the power of research and innovation to improve lives and livelihoods and to capture the public imagination.
UKRI Chief Executive Ottoline Leyser said:
These twelve examples show the power of UKRI’s investment to improve lives and livelihoods across the UK and beyond.
From the world’s first malaria vaccination programme, to discovering long-lost shipwrecks and detecting deadly cancers in less invasive ways, they show how UK taxpayers’ money can support people to work together to explore the unknown, tackle challenges, grow businesses, and improve public services.
But these are just a small sample of the thousands of UKRI-funded projects that deliver positive impacts on peoples’ lives. I am proud to lead an organisation that empowers people to change the world for the better.
The stories
Scientists discover penguin colonies from space
Scientists from British Antarctic Survey have discovered four previously unknown emperor penguin breeding sites.
Changing sea ice conditions along Antarctica’s coastline have forced several emperor colonies to move in search of more stable sea ice to breed on. Some known colonies have already moved 30 to 40km to new breeding grounds.
Scientists searched for these new sites using satellites and, in the process, discovered colonies which had never been recorded before.
World’s first routine malaria vaccination programme rolled out with help from scientists in the UK
January 2024 saw the rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine, RTS,S, in Cameroon with over 6.6 million children expected to receive the vaccine in 20 African countries over the next two years.
The start of routine RTS,S vaccinations for malaria, organised by Gavi, World Health Organization and UNICEF, has only been possible following decades of work by researchers in Africa working with international partners.
In a bid to strengthen global health efforts and move closer to eradicating malaria, researchers at the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have worked alongside local communities and volunteers since 1997 to research, develop and successfully implement the vaccine.
Scientists developing ‘lollipops’ that could help diagnose cancer
Scientists at the University of Birmingham are developing ‘flavoured lollipops’ that may be able to determine whether someone has mouth cancer without using painful and invasive methods.
At present, diagnosing mouth cancer can involve putting a flexible camera on the end of a tube through the nose or mouth and taking a biopsy for testing. This procedure is invasive, and can be painful and time-consuming, requiring the specialist skills of an endoscopist.
Researchers say that their lollipop could be a quicker and kinder alternative that could be used in primary care setting, like GP surgeries. The work is supported by funding from Cancer Research UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
University of Bristol switches on UK’s most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer
Isambard-AI, a UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure programme via EPSRC named after pioneering British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, will be 10 times more powerful than the UK’s current fastest supercomputer when it opens.
It is one of two new machines being built to drive breakthroughs in:
- robotics
- data analytics
- fusion energy
- healthcare
- climate research
The machine will be used by organisations such as the UK’s AI Safety Institute for AI research from this month.
UK’s first facility for testing satellites opens
The UK’s first dedicated facility for testing large satellites, the National Satellite Test Facility (NSTF), officially opened earlier this year.
Operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) RAL Space, the NSTF is designed to ensure that satellites, which are up to seven tonnes in weight and the size of a minibus, can withstand launch and the harsh conditions of space.
At the facility, satellites undergo a series of extreme tests, including violent shaking to mimic launch conditions and exposure to extreme temperatures inside the UK’s largest space test chamber.
These rigorous evaluations confirm a satellite’s durability in Earth’s orbit and beyond, while also ensuring the reliability of critical communication systems.
With over £100 million invested in the NSTF, the UK is strengthening its position as a global leader in satellite manufacturing and advancing its national space strategy.
Discovery of the wreck of HMS Stephen Furness
Thanks to the Unpath’d Waters project, researchers were able to remotely discover the location of the wreck of a warship that was lost after it was sunk during World War One. The project is part of the Towards a National Collection (TaNC) programme, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council,
They did this by drawing together information from more than 70 institutions freely available online, a process made possible by the TaNC programme. The programme aims to remove barriers between different collections and create a ‘unified, virtual, national collection’.
National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre
Cultured meat, insect-based proteins and proteins made by fermentation could soon be a sustainable and nutritious part of our diets, thanks to new UKRI funding, through the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Innovate UK.
Animal agriculture is estimated to produce up to a fifth of planet-warming emissions, and some sources, such as the UN Environment Programme, estimate meat consumption alone could grow up to 50% by 2050.
Plant-based proteins, such as soy and peas, and lab-grown meats have the potential to be excellent alternative sources of protein that typically have a lower carbon footprint and are less resource-intensive.
London underground hosts tests for quantum sensor that could replace GPS
Researchers at Imperial College London are developing a quantum sensor to accurately pinpoint locations underground and underwater, where satellite signals are blocked.
Using a stainless steel vacuum chamber, rubidium atoms and lasers cooled to near absolute zero, the device measures changes in position through quantum mechanics.
Tested on the London Underground, this project aims to create a reliable, standalone navigation tool, backed by UKRI as part of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme.
First map of every neuron in an adult fly brain
The first wiring diagram of every neuron in an adult fly brain and the 50 million connections between them has been produced for a fruit fly.
This landmark achievement has been conducted by a large international collaboration of scientists, called the FlyWire Consortium, including researchers from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) is formally opened
The NQCC is a new national laboratory dedicated to accelerating the development of quantum computing for the UK.
It will ensure that the UK remains internationally competitive in a critical and transformative technology set to underpin future economic prosperity and national resilience.
Quantum computers operate in a fundamentally different way to conventional digital computers, based on harnessing effects that exist at the level of atoms, electrons and photons.
Its calculations involve encoding and processing information by controlling quantum states, relying on the uniquely quantum phenomena of superposition and entanglement.
Quantum computers have the potential to:
- optimise energy distribution in power grids by improving efficiency and reliability
- accelerate drug discovery
- predict climate patterns more accurately through advanced data analysis
- improve use of AI in fields such as medical diagnostics and fraud detection
Mental health training for managers
The Economic and Social Research Council-funded research at the University of Nottingham’s School of Health Sciences found that mental health training for line managers could save companies millions of pounds in lost sick days every year.
The research showed that companies already offering managers this training experienced better customer service, improved employee retention and recruitment, and reduced long-term sickness absence.
These findings could show how we can reduce the cost of poor mental health to British employers, currently estimated at around £51 billion per year.
Developing ‘breakthrough’ zero-emission concrete
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a method of recycling cement to produce ultra-low emission concrete at scale, which could be key in the drive to net zero.
Their work found that using recycled cement when recycling steel can:
- reduce the need for carbon-intensive lime flux to make new steel
- reduce wasted cement
- result in an output material that can be used to make new concrete
Although cement accounts for only a small proportion of concrete, it is responsible for almost 90% of concrete emissions and is one of the single biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, accounting for up to 8% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
The project received a £3 million funding boost from Innovate UK and EPSRC. It aims to help the UK achieve its net zero targets, reshape construction’s carbon footprint and make it possible to build more homes with a lower environmental impact.
Top image: The National Satellite Test Facility. Credit: STFC
