The strategy will reinforce government priorities such as AI, quantum technologies, clean energy, regional growth and innovation-led productivity, with UKRI seeking to reform its processes and systems to be more agile and efficient.

The strategy specifically promises to have supported more than 20,000 new doctoral studentships across the UK and used partner co-investment to grow doctoral capabilities in priority areas.

Other key aspects of the strategy include reducing grant processing times for applicants by at least 50%, including testing innovations at scale, such as by distributed peer review.

The UKRI AI strategy, the new national supercomputing service in Edinburgh and the UK Compute Roadmap are also targets.

Professor Sir Ian Chapman, chief executive at UKRI, said: “One of the UK’s biggest assets is the quality of our research and innovation. With more than £9bn to invest each year, we have a unique opportunity to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth across the UK.

“Over the next five years, UKRI will show a clear line from our mission to our money, backing the curiosity-driven research that sparks transformative ideas, supporting the innovative companies that will become tomorrow’s industry giants, and strengthening the foundations of the R&I system.”

Science minister Lord Vallance said: “Research funding transforms lives, unlocks growth, and creates new jobs, and a clear strategy to ensure we can deliver maximum impact for the British public is vital.

That means supporting the curiosity-driven research that can lead to tomorrow’s biggest breakthroughs and new ideas, while focusing now on technologies like AI, quantum, life sciences and clean energy, which are at the heart of our Industrial Strategy and will shape our economy over the coming years.”