Research Councils' £225m boost to tackle global issues

Scientists from across the UK and developing countries worldwide have joined forces to address global issues.

More than £200m has been invested by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) into the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) to support 37 interdisciplinary projects. These will aim to tackle challenges in areas such as health, technology, the economy and the environment.

Professor Sir Mark Walport, Chief Executive Designate of UK Research and Innovation, said: “In the same way that facing these global challenges requires a multi-national response, finding the solutions to them requires researchers from many disciplines to work together. The Global Challenges Research Fund makes that possible, and means that the UK’s world-leading researchers are able to get on with the job of working with each other and partners across the globe to make the world and society more sustainable.”

The different projects will include almost 70 partner countries across the globe and will take place over four years. Each project is a collaboration between institutions in developing countries and the UK, with the hope that the partnerships will continue after the project's end. The GCRF is a £1.5bn fund announced by the Government in late 2015, specifically developed to stimulate research on the challenges faced by developing countries.