The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is calling on government to engage with the deep tech chemistry sector to help drive investment and address the ongoing lack of access to suitable lab facilities in the UK.
The announcement comes as part of the RSC’s ‘Unlocking Innovation report’ which set out to understand the challenges holding back the availability of chemistry laboratories across the country, starting with the needs of early-stage ventures.
The report lays out five key dynamics that have been driving the decades-long shortfall. These include a lack of investment linked to a lack of value case; a complex planning environment; chemistry specific requirements that aren’t considered during property development; strategic narratives that overlook deep tech chemistry technologies; and a postcode lottery that disadvantages locations outside Oxford, Cambridge and London.
In line with these driving forces, the RSC identified eight windows of opportunity for long-term change in the chemistry lab system. As part of this work, the RSC has launched the More ChemLabs initiative to bring together people from across sectors, including the chemical sciences, property development, investment, government and advocacy, to make the case for more chemistry labs.
‘Solutions will need to come from across the policy, property development and advocacy spaces,’ said Aurora Antemir, senior manager of Enterprise Impact Programmes at the RSC.
‘We’ll need to develop a value case for investing in chemistry lab space and make the demand for such spaces visible. We’ll also need to tackle regional inequalities and reform the planning system to facilitate smoother development.’
Antemir said the RSC was asking government to engage with the deep tech chemistry sector, to understand its needs and help jumpstart supportive policies and interventions that can drive investment into chem labs in future.