Scotland invests £100m in R&D

In total, Scottish companies have channelled £100,886,996 into their research activities, with the enterprise organisation awarding more than £16 million in funding to firms through its general research and development grant.

With our novel technology we have made serious progress in the fight against infectious diseases

Carole McCarthy

Director for Innovation

Scottish Enterprise

Among the companies which received Scottish Enterprise's funding and supports is Rolls-Royce, which created a centre of excellence in East Kilbride with its Non-Destructive Testing Demonstration Cell project, and Doosan Babcock, which is working to develop clean energy technologies.

In addition, Ineos Refining established a programme to develop innovative ways of creating bio-diesel, while Dialog Semiconductor is expanding its Edinburgh-based European design offices to work on further audio and power-management products.

Carole McCarthy, Director for Innovation at Scottish Enterprise, said: 'It is extremely encouraging that these companies believe in the benefits of [research and development], especially given the challenging business environment at the moment.

She also noted the competitive advantage which investment in research brings to a firm.

Last week, Scottish Enterprise revealed that the Chemical Sciences Scotland initiative has attracted over £220 million in investment to the sector, with more than 120 chemical companies now operating in the country.