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Council for Science and Technology: meeting minutes, December 2025

Published 27 January 2026

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-for-science-and-technology-meeting-minutes-december-2025/council-for-science-and-technology-meeting-minutes-december-2025

Attendees

  • John Browne (Chair)

  • Angela McLean (Chair)

  • Julia Black

  • Mark Enzer

  • Jim Hall

  • Ted Hayden

  • Matthew Henty

  • Alexandra Jones

  • Priya Lakhani

  • Avid Larizadeh Duggan

  • John Lazar

  • Nick McKeown

  • Andrew Morris

  • Paul Nurse

  • Leo Rees

  • Nigel Shadbolt

  • Richard Slater

  • Dave Smith

  • Susan Smith

  • Paul Taylor

  • Jane Williams

  • Hattie Willoughby

Apologies

  • Lynn Gladden

  • Saul Klein

  • Brooke Rogers

Guests

  • Dr Tom Wells, Deputy Director, Technology and Science Insights, Government Office for Science (GO-Science)

  • Dan Cole, Chief of Staff, Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA)

Day one:

1. Angela McLean opened the meeting and welcomed Paul Nurse, new President of the Royal Society, to his first meeting.

2. Government officials updated members on key announcements in the Autumn Budget, including packages on R&D and entrepreneurship to support growth, such as £14 billion for curiosity-driven foundational research, £8 billion for targeted R&D on national and societal priorities, and £7 billion for commercialisation and scaling of high potential businesses. 

3. Members welcomed Dr Tom Wells and Dan Cole to the meeting. Tom presented methodologies and initial analysis for identifying “niches” that provide opportunities for the UK to achieve strategic advantage in science and technology sectors.  Dan provided an overview of ARIA’s approach to identifying new technologies to fund which have potential to unlock significant economic/social impact and strategic advantage for the UK, with neurotechnology as a key example. Members discussed the following themes:

  • Possible UK tech niches, including photonics, physical AI/edge AI, and advanced materials.

  • Levers for economic growth and how to retain value from UK science and technology, including the role of pension funds and state-backed investors; tax incentives announced in the Autumn Budget; factors that attract companies to move abroad; and the importance of the UK R&D talent ecosystem for anchoring global companies in the UK.

4. Members gave updates for the following current projects and completed topics of advice for government:

  • Members welcomed the implementation of some CST recommendations on primary prevention, particularly on obesity.

  • Members wrote to the Prime Minister on climate adaptation and resilience on 28 October. Members agreed to follow up with government officials to support implementation.

  • Members updated on recent meetings on data and agreed to further engagement on data sharing infrastructure and governance.

5. Members considered new project proposals to be taken forward in 2026.

  • Members agreed to continue finalising a letter of advice on photonics.
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