The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) North America office serves as UKRI’s voice in the US and Canada. Our work fosters dialogue between funders and policymakers and leads to new partnerships between agencies, researchers and innovators in the UK and North America.
Since 2015, UKRI has funded around 3,000 awards involving collaboration with North America, with over £3 billion of investment, which has opened doors to new knowledge and leveraged funding from outside the UK.
These collaborations are enabled through bottom-up funding mechanisms, such as:
- lead agency opportunities between UKRI and the US National Science Foundation
- collaborative funding programmes in areas of mutual research interest
- joint support for facilities
- talent and mobility opportunities
The UKRI North America team is based in the British Embassy in Washington DC and the British High Commission in Ottawa. By working in alignment with the UK Science and Innovation Network and other UK government bodies, we create opportunities and facilitate successful co-development of joint funding and policy to add value to UKRI’s investments.
Fifteen years in North America: impact in a changing world
In June 2023, the UKRI North America team celebrated the 15th anniversary of our office’s establishment and 15 years of many shared successes with our US and Canadian partners.
To commemorate our founding, we are excited to share with you our 15th anniversary report: UKRI in North America: Impact in a Changing World.
Our report highlights how UKRI North America and our partners continuously foster and strengthen research collaboration so that we can transform tomorrow together.
Find out about the impact of our work
Learn more about:
Example of our work
The UKRI North America Office has helped support delivery of 13 projects worth more than £12 million in targeted non-core under the Canada-Inuit Nunangat-United Kingdom (CINUK) Arctic research programme.
The CINUK projects address key themes connected to climate-driven changes to the terrestrial, coastal and near-shore marine environments in Inuit Nunangat, as well as impacts on Inuit and community health and wellbeing.
Each project has representation from multiple disciplines of research, including environmental, social, cultural, health, design and engineering. It is expected that the majority of research conducted by projects will take place within Inuit Nunangat.
In this video, UKRI International Director Frances Wood discusses the importance and merits of international collaboration on key global issues.
Video credit: UK Research and Innovation
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
Find funding opportunities
If you’re a researcher or business in Canada, the US or the UK, and you’re interested in transatlantic collaboration, you can search for international funding opportunities. These include:
- schemes to support international research collaborations
- innovation support for businesses working with overseas partners
- exchanges and networking schemes for doctoral students and researchers
You can also find out about how UKRI supports international research and innovation collaborations.
Get travel information
GOV.UK has the latest information for researchers and innovators who travel between the UK and US or Canada.
You can also find out more about getting a visa to work on research in the UK.
Contact us
UKRI North America
British Embassy
3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington DC 20008-3600
US
UKRI North America
British High Commission Ottawa
80 Elgin Street
Ottawa Ontario K1P 5K7
Canada
Email: northamerica@ukri.org