This briefing covers key findings for governments and politicians from CaSE’s Discovery Decade 2022-23 public attitudes study, which comprised four nationally-representative surveys polling a total of 18,000 people, and 14 focus groups. It includes statistics and the opinions of focus group participants, and identifies four key points:

• National government is thought to fund and carry out a lot of R&D
• People across the political spectrum want more political focus on R&D
• People struggle to see the benefits of R&D and want more detail on the rationale, risks and rewards
• Political messaging doesn’t always resonate with the public – but place is an important way to connect