英国宣布10亿英镑地方研发资助 地方领导人首获专门研发资金
英国首相10月9日宣布一项地方研发资助新政：未来四年，英国研究与创新署（UKRI）将投入10亿英镑，支持各地高增长创新集群发展。地方领导人将首次获得专门的研发资金支配权，以便按本地产业特点布局科研投入。
同日宣布的还有一笔3,300万英镑专项资金，投入以温莎女爵士（Dame Barbara Windsor）命名的失智症目标计划，并成立“BARBARA 联盟”推进相关研究；联盟伙伴包括制药企业百时美施贵宝（Bristol Myers Squibb）、葛兰素史克（GSK）以及盖茨风险投资（Gates Ventures）等机构。
新政在前首相戈登·布朗（Gordon Brown）召集的“Innovation Nation”峰会上发布。UKRI 首席执行官伊恩·查普曼（Ian Chapman）对计划表示欢迎，称地方主导的研发投入有助于把科研优势转化为区域经济增长与就业。
英国政府近年来推动“均衡发展”议程，试图改变科研经费过度集中于伦敦及“金三角”（伦敦—牛津—剑桥）的格局。这笔资金的具体分配办法与首批受益集群名单，预计将由 UKRI 陆续公布。
来源：UKPulse 汇总的官方发布信息。
UK Announces £1bn for Regional R&D Clusters in Innovation Funding Push
The Prime Minister announced a new regional research and development settlement on 9 October: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will invest £1 billion over four years to support high-growth innovation clusters across the country. For the first time, local leaders will receive dedicated R&D funding to direct according to their areas' industrial strengths.
Also announced was £33 million for a dementia initiative named after Dame Barbara Windsor, with the creation of the BARBARA alliance to drive the research. Partners include the pharmaceutical companies Bristol Myers Squibb and GSK, and Gates Ventures.
The package was unveiled at the 'Innovation Nation' summit convened by former prime minister Gordon Brown. Ian Chapman, chief executive of UKRI, welcomed the plan, saying locally led R&D investment would help turn research excellence into regional growth and jobs.
Successive UK governments have sought to rebalance research funding away from London and the Oxford–Cambridge–London 'golden triangle'. UKRI is expected to publish the allocation method and the first beneficiary clusters in due course.
Source: UKPulse summary of the official announcement.
图片来源：一名科研人员在实验室工作，Stanford ENERGY 摄，CC BY 2.5（Wikimedia Commons）
