UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) invites expressions of interest for a joint team of UK researchers and UNDP policymakers to collect evidence, develop original arguments and compose a major UKRI-UNDP report on how science, research and innovation might most effectively accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for developing countries.
The joint project will be funded by the UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).
The stimulus for the report is provided by the Sustainable Development Goals, which set out an agenda for inclusive and sustainable global development. The aim of the call is to support a joint UK-UNDP team (this can also include international Co-Is) to develop a landmark report on how investment in science, research and innovation might best deliver the innovations in policy, practice and products required to achieve the SDGs in developing countries, while taking into account the many intersections, interactions, and tensions between individual goals.
The focus of the report will be on how science, research and innovation (including technology) could accelerate progress towards the SDGs in the context of multiple challenges and opportunities. These range from environmental degradation to the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence, to digital technologies and big data, while taking into account the social, political, cultural and technological constraints that new approaches to global development are likely to encounter.