Image: Grace Gay for Research Professional News
The science minister is pushing a plan to support regional research and drive levelling up
Since it was first articulated in the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto under Boris Johnson, ‘levelling up’ has become a mantra for the government. Research and innovation have been touted as key tools in the push to boost underperforming regional economies and reduce economic imbalances. The policy has been enshrined in the name of a government department and even supported by opposition politicians in the Labour Party.
Levelling up has outlasted two prime ministers and could easily outlive a third. But what the levelling-up agenda means on the ground for Britain’s research sector has not always been clear. The answer may lie in ‘clusters’—aggregations of R&D-intensive businesses working in the same areas, both geographically and in terms of their products.
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