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The Diamond Light Source building on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus outside Didcot

The ÂÜÀòÉç consistently makes the case for public investment in research and development (R&D) through contacts with decision-makers, in partnership with others in the sector and through membership of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE). We emphasise the importance of ambitious, long-term approaches, of investing in a range of research and innovation, including curiosity-driven research and scale-up. This complements and forms a part of ongoing policy work on Shaping the future of chemistry in higher education.

In December 2025, UK Research and Innovation) UKRI set out how it will spend its £38.6bn funding allocation over the Spending Review period (2026/27 to 2029/30), aligning to three priority areas set out by Government:   curiosity-driven, foundational research, strategic government and societal priorities and innovative companies. This will be underpinned by investment to strengthen R&D by enabling essential capabilities, including talent, infrastructure, institutes and facilities. More detail can be found in .

One concern arising from the UKRI allocations was the impact on the Science and Technology Facilities Council budget, crucial for many large-scale scientific facilities. We are listening to the concerns of RSC members about the potential impacts on access to vital infrastructure, along with broader concerns about the impacts on projects funded across various UKRI research councils (our Chemistry in UK higher education data pack shows that the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is the most significant funder of chemistry research in universities, this is also reflected in our approach). Member views and experience are helping to shape our approach and representations around research and innovation funding.

Chemistry and large-scale facilities

Large-scale facilities such as Diamond Light Source, the Central Laser Facility and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source are a critical element of the UK’s national infrastructure and capability, attracting collaboration and enabling excellent science. They provide crucial experimental capabilities that are fundamental to a wide range of chemistry, including materials, catalysis, energy and life sciences. They provide unparalleled capability to understand and optimise chemical structures, properties, and processes. These facilities enable both fundamental research and application-focused work that cannot be undertaken in the smaller or mid-scale laboratory settings vital for other chemistry research. We hear that demand for large-scale facilities is already extremely high, with beamtime oversubscribed and instruments often running at full capacity.

Research supported by these facilities underpins areas such as clean energy, advanced manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, helping to translate chemical science research into practical applications and supporting fundamental and applied research alongside collaboration between academia and industry. Major application areas include: 

• Clean energy (e.g. battery materials, fuel cells, hydrogen storage systems)
• Advanced materials (e.g. material performance and reliability)
• Pharmaceuticals and life sciences (e.g. molecular structure and drug development)
• Catalysis and industrial processes (e.g. efficiency and sustainability improvements)

This infrastructure enables testing of materials in a range of conditions, reducing failure at scale. It enables real-time study of what is happening inside a system while it is operating to advance understanding of how detailed structure and changes translate into overall performance. For example, using the , chemists were able to observe metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) at the atomic scale during reactions. This is important for improved design and production of materials which can make vital contributions towards climate and energy goals, for example through improved storage of fuels like hydrogen and ammonia, and the capture and storage of pollutants such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. The 2024 RSC Dalton Horizon Prize recognised this research.

It also enables chemists to carefully test how reliably AI can speed up discovery. The 2025 RSC Materials Chemistry Horizon Prize recognises research which used imaging experiments at the for the development of chemistry-aware artificial intelligence software applied to data-driven materials discovery. This team of scientists was able to experimentally validate AI predictions using imaging experiments on real materials, significantly shortening the time needed to bring novel materials to market.

What we are doing

We are emphasising to UKRI and Government the critical importance of chemistry research, skills and knowledge nationally and locally, from economic growth to skilled jobs to national resilience. Research and innovation funding is one vital enabler of this. We recognise there are many calls on the public finances, whilst showing the societal and economic benefits of the range of excellent chemistry research in the UK and highlighting the role of large-scale facilities, alongside other chemistry infrastructure, facilities, talent and skills.

We are reflecting the concerns we hear from members about access to facilities and the vulnerability of their specialist talent pipeline alongside the potential impacts on research projects, collaborations, research translation and careers. If vital large-scale facilities are closed, the time and cost of reopening them is very considerable, as is often the case with scientific infrastructure (such as facilities for HE and FE teaching of chemistry).

We have joined with other UK scientific societies through the Science Council, through this and representations around the UKRI changes. The statement reinforces the importance of stability and continuity in research funding and calls for thoughtful, consultative development, assessment and implementation of changes.

If you have further views or experiences to share, please get in touch with [email protected]. The UKRI changes are ongoing and with your input and evidence, we can help shape them to enable good disciplinary health for chemistry.