UK sixth for R&D spending, merged Antarctic survey, charities launch funding portal…

This week in UK&I in brief: UK sixth among G7 countries for R&D spending; Staff may leave merged Antarctic survey; Dementia charities launch funding portal; Scrapping UK census hits social science, say MPs; Climate science faces growing distrust; Irish spin-out to focus on healthcare technology.

UK sixth among G7 countries for R&D spending

In 2010, the UK was in sixth place among the G7 nations ranked by percentage of GDP spent on R&D, according to figures published by the UK’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Only Italy, with an investment in R&D of 1.26 per cent of GDP, was behind the UK. The data, from the Science, Engineering and Technology Statistics report published annually by BIS, show that the UK staked 1.76 per cent of GDP on R&D in 2010.