The UK Government has invested more than £117m into Scottish businesses and researchers to take on societal challenges to help build a better UK.

The funding was awarded to major companies in Scotland via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

It is currently funding a total of 155 Scottish projects, across 24 researchers and 124 businesses.

Funding has come from UKRI’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), which injected £1.7bn across the UK into different research ideas.

The Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, which will be located less than two miles from Glasgow Airport, was awarded £13m to help fund its research into small molecule pharmaceuticals and chemical manufacturing.

It has also awarded £1.5m to assist in the medical delivery in urban and rural areas found in Scotland, which will be a drone-enabled distribution network for medical items such as organs, blood products and medical consumables.

The creation of the UK’s first remote low-carbon aviation test centre has received around £2m and is set to be built at Kirkwall Airport in the Orkney Islands.

UKRI has also invested £15m into the The European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney to test the capabilities of a self-contained smart energy network aimed at supplying energy at minimum costs.

Mike Biddle, ISCF programme director at UKRI said: “We’ve seen 63% of all project participants anticipate that annual turnover will increase as a result of engaging with the Challenge Fund.

“We encourage the top minds in industry and academia across Scotland to come together and apply for funding to help bring research to life and develop real-world applications that will see benefits on a local and national level.”