Less than a year ago: Liz Kendall arrives at the DSIT as the new Secretary of State, 5 September 2025. Now the department has been abolished. Photo Alecsandra Dragoi/DSIT (CC BY 4.0)
In Britain, uniquely, responsibility for scientific research has shuffled regularly between a variety of ministries, and the Cabinet Office. After a long period of stability with the Department of Industrial and Scientific Research since 1916, research was moved to the Department of Education and Science in 1964, to the Cabinet Office in 1992, then to Trade and Industry (1995), and Business, Innovation and Skills (2009).
The DSIT, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, was formed in 2023. It united the science funding of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and digital aspects from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Cabinet Office. With the DSIT’s abolition, digital aspects return to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Cabinet Office. Confused about what’s going on and why? You’re not alone.
The contrast with other countries is remarkable. The French Ministry for Higher Education and Research, for example, has been responsible for science since 1954. Germany’s science ministry has essentially been in existence since 1962. Japan has had just two ministries responsible for science since 1871. No such stability in Britain.
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