Written question asked by Liz Twist (Labour) on Thursday, 8 June 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 14 June 2023 (named day). It was answered by George Freeman (Conservative) on Friday, 16 June 2023 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Science and Technology: North East

Question: What steps she is taking to support the commercialisation of science and technology research in the North East.

Answer: Innovation in the North East is supported by significant public investment. For example, universities in the region received £12 million this year through the Higher Education Innovation Fund, and six received a further £5 million from the Connecting Capability Fund to help spinout their research. We have also invested £5 million in the North East Technology Park to attract more science and technology companies, and the North East hosts Catapult centres that de-risk the transition from research to commercialisation, including the Offshore Renewable Catapult (Blyth), the Digital Catapult (Sunderland) and the Satellite Applications Catapult (County Durham).

Secondary information