UCL has received the most UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding of any higher education institution for the second year in a row.
New UKRI figures show the competitive funding decisions made by its nine constituent councils between April 1 2019 and March 31 2020.
UCL secured 198 research and innovation grants and fellowships over that time, at a value of more than £138 million. This includes 39 fellowships worth more than £28 million and 159 research and innovation grants worth more than £110 million.
Among projects recently funded by UKRI is the £3.2m ’Virus Watch’ study led by Professor Andrew Hayward (UCL Epidemiology & Health Care), which was launched to monitor the spread of COVID-19 across England.
This week, UKRI announced additional investment in new research projects investigating COVID-19 and ethnicity, and UCL academics Dr Robert Aldridge (UCL Institute of Health Informatics), Professor Chris McManus and Dr Katherine Woolf (both UCL Medical School) and Professor Hayward will play key roles in three new initiatives.
Professor David Price, UCL Vice-Provost (Research), said: "Our researchers have once again been the UK’s most successful in terms of grant and fellowship awards competitively won from UKRI, as they were in 2018-19. It’s a stunning achievement, reflecting the brilliance of their research proposals and the excellent support provided by their professional services colleagues.
"The success in gaining fellowships is a stand-out feature. In particular our UK-leading success rates in Future Leaders Fellowships demonstrates the importance we place on developing the next generation of research leaders."
UK Research and Innovation is the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK.
With a combined budget of more than £7 billion, it brings together the seven Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England.
It works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish.
The new data provides for the first time a single overview of all competitive funding decisions made by UKRI’s nine councils.
UKRI has also launched a new interactive dashboard to explore researchfish outputs, including knowledge generation, collaborations, intellectual property, engagement activities and further funding.