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Making Britain the innovation nation: why we should launch a ‘British Nobel Prize’

Nesta and Challenge Works at the Labour Party Conference
27 Sep 2026 14:30 – 15:30
Nesta's pod, Liverpool Experience Campus (secure zone)

Science, innovation and technology are not just areas of competitive advantage for the UK, they are a path to good growth and national renewal. Launching a ‘British Nobel Prize’ is one practical idea that would enable the UK to harness and reward the best talent and ideas, wherever they come from, in service of solving big societal challenges.

Join Nesta and Challenge Works at this year’s Labour Party Conference to discuss why we should launch a ‘British Nobel Prize.’ Our expert panel will be chaired by Joe Owen, director of policy and government partnerships at Nesta and includes Tris Dyson, founder and executive director of Challenge Works and Iain Bundred, director of policy and public affairs at the BBC.

The session will explore a bold proposal for a new awards system equivalent to Sweden’s Nobel Prize. Discussions will focus on what future-focused prizes could achieve, why they’re needed now and how they could be used to stimulate, support and champion innovation.

This event will take place on Sunday 27 September in Nesta’s pod in the Liverpool Experience Campus (secure zone) from 14:30-15:30 BST. Add to your calendar.

Speakers

Joe Owen headshot

Joe Owen

Joe is Director of Policy and Government Partnerships at Nesta. Joe was a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office, where he worked on a wide range of economic and domestic policy issues including climate, regional inequality and migration. He also worked at the Institute for Government, as both Director of Impact and the director of the Institute's Brexit programme. He is a senior fellow at the Institute. Joe has also worked with a number of government departments as a consultant, including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence and he spent a year at Transport for London in its strategy team.

Tris Dyson

Tris Dyson

Tris has led Challenge Works from its origins as a Nesta experiment to being a global hub for expertise and insight on challenge prizes. His aim is to deliver challenge prizes that inspire and enable the development of high impact innovations Before joining Nesta, Tris co-founded and led the social enterprise Tempo and was included in the first cohort of the Observer’s New Radicals. Tris has also run a Welsh university think tank, founded a social sector consultancy and was a Teach First Geography teacher complete with corduroy jacket.

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Iain Bundred

Iain joined the BBC in the spring of 2025 from YouTube, where he had been the Head of Public Policy for UK and Northern Europe. Before joining YouTube, Iain worked in a variety of comms roles for the advertising network WPP and the Labour Party, including serving as an adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Downing Street.

Event information

27 Sep 2026 14:30 – 15:30

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BIT

BIT helps clients from government, nonprofits and the private sector to improve people’s lives through our empirical problem solving and deep understanding of human behaviour.

Challenge Works

Challenge Works designs and runs challenge prizes to spark innovation in science, technology and society.