Welcome to this week’s Research Agenda. We’re asking whether the Burnham government is still committed to making a new Silicon Valley in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor – or whether its regional growth priorities now lie elsewhere.

Plus: Geraint Rees and James Coe unpack the importance of advance market commitments, while Haldane digs into criticism of UKRI at Labour party conference. On our news pages, MI5 raises research security concerns, Universities UK goes looking for more private investment in innovation, and solar radiation management gets its moment in the sun.

Michael Salmon, Editor

michael@researchagenda.news

The self-reinforcing dynamics of agglomeration

The OxCam growth corridor is a golden opportunity, former science minister Patrick Vallance has argued – one that the country “cannot afford to miss”. Last week’s Labour party conference was the launch venue for a new report for the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board, which emphasised how much transformation is needed for the region to genuinely compete with the world’s most productive innovation clusters.

Balancing international aspirations with regional realities is a topic of live debate in Europe as well. Last week’s mammoth European Commission report on the continent’s research and innovation system went full throttle on the need for the EU to compete with the US and China in strategic technologies. But it was at its most convincing when it explored the national and regional imbalances on the innovation map, warning of the “self-reinforcing dynamics of agglomeration” which can ensue when trying to concentrate resources in the pursuit of international competitiveness.

Back in the UK, for all the talk of joining up Cambridge and Oxford, it is notable that the innovation partnership government and funders have been keen to talk about is the one between Cambridge and Manchester. The new Collaboration for a Sustainable Future funding opportunity from Research England is probably the closest thing we’ve had so far to a proper policy lever aimed at making the research system more collaborative – the government’s stated goal – and applicants are “strongly advised” to draw inspiration from the Cambridge-Manchester model.

It’s clear that OxCam is not the only geography in town, and that – on paper at least – the “growth in every postcode” mantra would appear an awkward fit with Golden Triangle boosterism. Equally, setting up simple binaries does no-one any favours: the UK will need world-leading clusters and thriving regional hubs to keep its research and innovation system healthy and productive. But the issue of where the government directs scarce investment and policy attention often ends up as a question of politics rather than strategy.

Money alone won’t fix the UK’s innovation problems

Advance market commitments are a way for the government to give innovators confidence in future demand.

Geraint Rees  ·  Vice Provost for Research, Innovation and Global Engagement, UCL

James Coe  ·  Associate Editor, Research Agenda

The week on the wire – every item reported in full on the site.

The British Science Association has been contracted by UKRI to deliver a package of work representing a UK-wide celebration of research and innovation. This follows a tender earlier this year – the six-year programme is intended to engage the public, particularly young people, with research and innovation.

Innovate UK has announced the finalists for this year’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership awards. The winners will be revealed in December.

The European Commission has allocated an additional €500 million to the current Horizon Europe programme, split between two funding calls – the first on nature-positive economy and society, and the second targeted at the “innovation to investment journey”. The Commission also published two reports on the progress of the current programme and its attractiveness to new participants.

The Martingale Foundation and Public First published research on the UK STEM postgraduate landscape, with a particular focus on the PhD “progression gap” for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Natural Environment Research Council has published council meeting minutes for June 2026.

The Government Office for Science has updated its infographic mapping the scientific advice landscape across government to reflect recent changes in the machinery of government.

Worth your time from Wonkhe and across the wider community.

Emeritus, honorary, and visiting professors are an untapped resource  Roger Watson, Kenneth Eaton and Anne-Maria Brennan · Wonkhe

Behind MI5’s warning to British universities  UK-China Transparency

On the devolution of research, development and innovation funding  Richard Jones · Soft Machines

‘China shock 2.0’ and Europe’s industrial future  James Kynge · Chatham House

Where research policy made the news this week.

The Times   Gordon Brown and Andy Burnham’s plan for an ‘innovation nation’

Financial Times   Is AI supercharging science?

PoliticsHome   Professor Brian Cox left hopeful by ‘excellent’ Burnham conference speech

The Times   Oxford ‘sovereign’ lab to design NHS cancer treatments

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