The government is to announce an £800 million investment into university research covering robotics, cybersecurity, medical technology and offshore wind energy.

The funding from UK Research and Innovation, the national agency for supporting science and research, will fuel the government’s plans to set up 75 new centres for PhD training at leading UK universities and set aside £445 million to fund the research.

A further £386 million will be contributed by businesses, according to a report in the Times.

Previous research funded by UK Research and Innovation resulted in discoveries such as a method of turning scrap platinum into a metal worth twice the price, as well as plant and human health innovations.

Postgraduate research funded by the scheme will cover medical technology, molecular sciences and renewable energy at universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester and Imperial College London. The remit for the posts will be drawn up the engineering and physical sciences research council.

Mark Walport, chief executive of UK Research and Innovation, said: “Highly talented people are required to tackle key global challenges such as sustainable energy and cybersecurity, and provide leadership across industries and our public services.”

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