The Future of University Research

Professor Adrian SmithDirector General of Science and Research

Higher Education Policy Institute Conference14th October 2009

The Research Base in BIS

….works with delivery partners• Research Councils & HEFCE• National Academies• HEIs

….within the Government’s 3 year funding settlement• BIS sets overall strategy• But arm’s length from scientific judgements (the Haldane principle)

….to sustain a world-class research base which demonstrates impact and relevance

Strength of UK Research Base

Second in the G8 for excellence “International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base” Evidence Ltd, 2009

The most productive country for research in the G8

“International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base” Evidence Ltd, 2009

Ahead of both the USA and Canada in assessing economic impact Metrics for the Evaluation of Knowledge Transfer Activities at Universities, Library House 2008

Research Expenditure

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Research councils Funding councils

A time of change

• A decade of growth• Economic downturn• Holding the line• Must demonstrate the

value of research

GDP growth

UK Policy drivers

10 Year Science and Innovation Investment Framework (2004-14)

• sustain strong research base• grow higher-level skills• stimulate university / business interaction

together with a Research Assessment Framework• university funding linked directly to research excellence

Next stage:• funding linked to excellence and impact• stimulation of university / business staff mobility

The Impacts of Research

Improving public policy and public services

Delivering highly skilled people to the labour market

Improving the performance of existing businesses

Attracting R&D investment from global business

Creating new businesses

EconomicImpact

EconomicImpact

The Value of Highly Skilled PeopleThe Value of Highly Skilled People

A review of postgraduate provision in the UK will:

• assess the competitiveness of UK institutions in the global market for postgraduate education

• assess the benefits of postgraduate study for all relevant stakeholders

• assess the evidence about the needs of business and other employers for postgraduates

• examine levels of participation, in terms of who undertakes postgraduate study, and whether there are barriers affecting the diversity of participation and any associated reduction in the availability of high-quality entrants

www.bis.gov.uk/pgreview

The Value of Highly Skilled People

Supported by external advisers from the university and business worlds:

• Professor Keith Burnett, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield• Dr David Docherty, Chief Executive of the Council for Industry and

Higher Education• Professor Wendy Purcell, Vice Chancellor of the University of Plymouth• Dr Tim Bradshaw, Head of Science, Technology and Innovation, CBI• Professor Sarah Worthington, Pro Director for Research and External

Relations, London School of Economics

www.bis.gov.uk/pgreview

Attracting R&D investment from global businesses

During 2008-09, over 200 R&D projects were attracted to the UK

Source: UK Trade and Investment

Annual Report 08-09

Creating new businesses

Software company attracts $30million investment before being sold to IBM in December 2008.

Floated on AIM in February2009, with an IPO value of£40 million.

Since 2003 UK universities have floated and sold companies worth almost £3.5billion

Solid MechanicsOxford

Performance Cranfield

Research centres

UTCs

VibrationImperial College

Combustion AerodynamicsLoughborough

University Gas Turbine Partnership (UGTP)

Cambridge

Materials PartnershipCambridge, Birmingham & Swansea

Aero-Thermal SystemsSussex

NoiseSouthampton

Manufacturing TechnologyNottingham

Control & Systems Engineering Sheffield

Advanced Manufacturing Research CentreSheffield AMRC

Advanced Electrical Machines and DrivesSheffield

Heat Transfer and AerodynamicsOxford (Osney lab)

Gas Turbine TransmissionSystems Nottingham

Thermo-Fluid Systems SurreyComputational Engineering

Southampton

Electrical Systems for Extreme EnvironmentsManchester

Electrical Power SystemsStrathclyde

CompositesBristol

Sept 2009

Rolls-Royce proprietary information

Improving the performance of existing businesses

Rolls-Royce proprietary information

Improving national policy and public services

NERC informs decisions to raise or lower the Thames Barrier. The cost of getting this wrong would be £30

billion, not counting the cost of human lives.

How do we ensure that research delivers benefits to the UK?

• HEIF (Higher Education Innovation Fund) - rising to £150 million per annum

• HEFCE - QR for research engaged with business £62 million per annum

• TSB – interface with business, £300m funding matched with £120m from RCs & £180m from RDAs

• RCUK Cross Council Programmes value £1.4bn

Do we have the right balance?

Providing solutions to global challenges

RCUK Cross Council Programmes• Planned expenditure over CSR: £1.4bn• Major response to strategic challenges for the nation

– and the world• Not managed programmes – but a way of focusing

efforts• Coordinated impact greater than sum of the parts

EnergyEnergyLiving With Environmental Change

AgeingGlobal UncertaintiesGlobal Uncertainties

NanoscienceNanoscience

Digital EconomyDigital Economy

Research Excellence Framework

• The primary focus of the REF will be to identify excellent research of all kinds

• Government has indicated that HEFCE also should take account of the following priorities:

– take better account of the impact research makes on the economy and society

– continue to incentivise research excellence– reflect the quality of researchers’ contribution to public policy

making and to public engagement, and– not create disincentives to researchers moving between academia

and the private sector• HEFCE Consultation will run until 16 December 2009

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Significant culture change

International collaboration

• The big issues are global• International collaboration between the best research groups in the UK

and the best worldwide is essential to produce the best research• the impact of research papers measured by citations for international

collaboration with the US, France and Germany is around 50% higher than for the domestic average

(International comparative performance of the UK research base, 2008)

What BIS will do

Influencing– winning support from other Government Departments– persuading the Treasury and that investment in university research

delivers results

Methodology – developing robust methodologies for assessing economic impact– making international comparisons to benchmark existing Research

Council and university practices.

Capability– building stronger professional capability in Research Councils,

universities and public laboratories to drive up the economic impact of research, assess it robustly and describe it attractively.

Challenges

Culture: winning support from academe and business for new ways of

working together

Careers: providing opportunities for the new generation of researchers to

move freely between universities and business

Collaboration: supporting the development of longer-term, strategic

collaborations between the research base and business

Communication: recognising and describing the impact of research on

the economy and society

Critical Mass: understanding the need for critical mass to tackle major

interdisciplinary research challenges and compete internationally