国家材料创新战略：通过材料创新释放英国经济增长

UNLOCKING UK ECONOMICGROWTH THROUGHMATERIALS INNOVATION January 2025 Driven by RoyceLed by ScotChem Ltd FOREWORD Materials innovation lies at the heart of our future. It powers the advancements urgentlyrequired for our modern world and underpins our aspirations for a sustainable future. From the emergence of a new hydrogen economy, fusion power and low-energyelectronics to breakthroughs in bioelectronics, the transformative potential of materialsscience touches every aspect of our lives. In addition, the necessity of sustainability andresilience has added an essential new dimension to discovery and innovation processes. The UK has a world-renowned depth of materials science expertise in academia andindustry. It stands uniquely positioned to be a leader in this field. Innovation in materialsdrives tangible benefits for society and secures our place in the global science andtechnology landscape. This National Materials Innovation Strategy represents a truly significant milestone. It isthe output of extensive collaboration with the UK’s strategic sectors. It brings togetherthe insights of materials science, engineering researchers and innovators, policymakers,and industrial leaders in a unique manner - addressing national priorities and assimilatingknowledge of markets in a top-down approach. It was developed under the guidance of the Materials Innovation Leadership Group, andwe would like to extend our utmost thanks to its members for their commitment. We alsothank our partners ScotChem, who have genuinely mobilised the materials community,and Urban Foresight, who have been instrumental in supporting our approach. The Strategy articulates a bold, new vision for harnessing the power of materials scienceto tackle the most pressing challenges of our time, from decarbonising energy systemsand enhancing national resilience to revolutionising healthcare and boosting our circulareconomy. Strikingly, this new strategy highlights the present contributions of the materials sectorto the UK economy. The sector is the bedrock of a £45 billion economy employing over635,000people nationwide.Beyond its economic significance,the sector is acornerstoneof national resilience,underscoring areas such as defence,energy,infrastructure and telecommunications. It is clear, however, that if we are to maintain andextend our global leadership, we must address some of the longstanding barriers we face– including the persistent choke between research and commercialisation. This strategysets out to do precisely that – creating pathways for accelerating the innovation journeyfrom discovery to deployment. Significantly, it also highlights the opportunities and agility which will arise from the materials research community developing commonframeworksand approaches to key technology differentiators such as digitaltransformation and sustainable futures. When we embarked upon this process, we wanted to break down the traditional silosbetween industry sectors and foster partnerships across disciplines.This strategyrepresents the first phase of a huge national effort to speed up materials developmentcycles and unlock untapped potential in the UK. It has also begun building a nationalconsensus around the key areas where public and private investment should focus – fromR&D and scale-up facilities to skills development, regulatory frameworks, standards and,of course, digitisation. Materials 4.0 will be a critical enabler, offering unprecedented opportunities to design,model, and optimise material solutions in ways that were unthinkable just a decade ago.The Strategy also aligns with the UK’s ambitious commitments to sustainability and netzero goals by 2050. As we face an increasingly complex global environment, the imperative to acceleratematerials innovation has never been more pressing. This Framework for Action over thenext 10 years is clear. It is paving the way for the UK to deliver cutting-edge materialstechnologies that advance society, strengthen our economy, and secure a moresustainable future. The contribution from the materials community to this point has been fantastic.However, this must not pause. This is truly a “Call to Action” to continue workingtogether to transform materials potential into materials progress and strengthen ourposition as the global leader in materials innovation. Allan Cook CBEChair of the Materials InnovationLeadership Group Professor David KnowlesCEO, The Henry Royce Institute EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Materials science and engineering is a cutting-edge technical discipline in which the UKis a world leader, with a track record of delivering substantial economic benefits to oureconomy.As the UK strives to be a healthier and more resilient nation operating in aprosperous net zero economy, it needs the backing of a specific, clear and standalonenational strategy for materials innovation and technology translation. The Henry RoyceInstitute for Advanced Materials (Royce) has initiated the development of this