The scheme is part of the government’s £500m Research & Development Missions Accelerator Programme, and aims to bring together researchers with communities, policing and frontline practitioners to combat crimes affecting people’s daily lives.

The five schemes include a project to fill evidence gaps to help with the prevention of and intervention in violence against women and girls, centred on people’s lived experiences, and identifying and enhancing protective factors for children and young people.

Work on knife crime will seek to improve the methods and analytical tools available to identify and manage knife carriers that pose a high risk for the public, including understanding behavioural indicators for knife carrying and technology-based detection.

Other projects will include developing an AI-led national crime map for England and Wales, building confidence and trust in policing and boosting confidence in the justice system.

Community-led pilots will run across multiple areas, shaped by people with lived experience, frontline practitioners, local authorities and voluntary organisations, UKRI said.

Gill Attrill, challenge director: Safer Streets mission at UKRI, said: “By combining lived experience and community insight with academic rigour, industry innovation, philanthropic investment, the skills and commitment of our police and community services we have a unique opportunity to make a difference.

“There will be no simple solutions, but a collective effort will be the key to making a step-change in reducing violence against women and girls, knife crime and anti-social behaviour and in building greater confidence and trust in our police and justice system.”

Science minister Lord Vallance said: “We have an extraordinary research community in the UK, and this programme is about harnessing their innovation and expertise, backing them with dedicated government funding, to help tackle these crimes and the problems they create in people’s daily lives.

“By using world‑class research to find new solutions to reducing crime we can build safer streets and stronger communities right across the country.”

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, added: “Communities deserve to feel safe in the places they live and work, and this programme will strengthen the evidence and tools available to policing to prevent harm more effectively.

“By working with partners across policing, research and communities, we can translate innovation into practical approaches that reduce violence, safeguard those most at risk and support safer, more confident communities.”