Reimagining R&D
Reimagining R&D seeks to imagine a future we’d like to see for the UK R&D sector, and identify the steps needed today, and in the years to come, to get there. The work draws on the breadth of CaSE’s membership, the R&D sector, and public opinion.
New and emerging trends in the global and domestic landscape are likely to impact the UK R&D system in the future. Changes to the geopolitical context, the impacts of climate change, technological development, and the public legitimacy of R&D, to name a few, present both challenges and opportunities for R&D.
How do we take advantage in an era of increasingly automated discovery? How do we collaborate in an increasingly geopolitically fragmented world? How do we secure public legitimacy of R&D in the face of deteriorating trust? What will these trends mean for funding, skills and infrastructure?
For four decades CaSE has championed R&D through our policy advocacy. Our 40th anniversary next year provides a timely moment for us to consider questions such as these, and what R&D system we want and need as a society.
Research System
We work with our members and the R&D community to elevate the contribution and functioning of the wider research system. This includes work on research infrastructure and institutes, support for innovation and the regional dimension of R&D.
ExploreApril 2026
Reimagining R&D: What future does the sector want for UK R&D?
As both the global and national picture for research and development (R&D) continues to change, this work sets out to explore what the future might hold in the coming decades. CaSE wants to use this opportunity to consider how we position ourselves as a sector and reimagine UK R&D to remain relevant and resilient in a changed and changing world.
This work sets out the sector’s vision for the future of the R&D system in the UK in 2045. The overarching questions this work considers is:
What kind of R&D system do we want and need over the coming decades? What needs to be different from today?
September 2025
Reimagining R&D: Exploring tomorrow and beyond
As CaSE turns 40, we are looking ahead and exploring what the future holds for R&D in the UK. Policy Manager Camilla d’Angelo introduces CaSE’s new piece of work on ‘Reimagining R&D’.