Transcript Office of Science and Innovation Support for innovation

Office of Science and Innovation
Universities and Innovation in the UK
Chris North
Office of Science and Innovation
UK Department of Trade and Industry
April 2007
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Macroeconomic Context
“For the UK’s science base to capitalise on its historical strength in research, the Government must
tackle the market failures that can slow the diffusion and generation of new ideas, in order to
encourage businesses to be innovative in their approaches and use of new technologies and,
together with academic institutions work to further links between research and commercialisation.”
HM Treasury, Pre-budget Report 2004
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Science Budget
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£3.4 billion in 2007/8
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Rising by just under 6% year on year
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Almost twice as much as a decade ago
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UK R & D spend 1.9% of GDP
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Govt 0.7% Business 1.2%
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Universities key to knowledge economy
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UK manufacturing base accounts for decreasing share of GDP
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Future lies in creativity, design, high value added products and services
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Market failure – no immediate profit, private sector won’t do it alone
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Economic impact
Qualified People
Improved products
and processes
Research
Base
Attracting Investment
New Businesses
Improved public policy
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Richness of the UK university sector
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140 universities, with an estimated 300 000 teaching staff
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Some world-class universities (eg Oxford, Cambridge, London Colleges)
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UK ranks second in the world in seven out of ten broad disciplines
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UK has 2nd largest (and growing) share of world’s most highly cited papers
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Research Assessment
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Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) determines who gets what
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Research graded from 1 to 5*
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5* equals research of international quality
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Assessment approx. every five years
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Last one in 2001 next one in 2008
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Economic role of universities
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The strengthening of universities’ second and third functions, through:
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The increasing interest and commitment in developing:
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collaborative R&D and innovation-oriented activities
the supply of specialized courses and services in support of businesses and the
entrepreneurial environment,
the contribution to economic prosperity of the location region, through knowledge
transfer, spin-offs etc
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Universities and the global economy
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Strong international orientation of UK universities
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the supply of educational and training services: finding more interested
clients and expanding their educational markets world-wide and, also,
attracting more foreign students in UK locations;
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R&D activities: the coordination of/ participation in international R&D
projects at both European and, also, global scale
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Potential threats
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Human resources issues:
– Lack of renewal of STEM-qualified students (with increasing demand)
– Brain drain from:
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Loss of completing overseas students
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Attraction of US
– Long-term decrease in skilled SET personnel for tech-oriented business
sectors
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Knowledge Transfer
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Over £300m allocated to knowledge transfer during 2004-07 to increase
capacity in universities to manage knowledge transfer activities, to supply
early stage funding for spin-out businesses, enterprise training for students.
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Greater University Business Interaction
Two sides to the coin
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Help Universities to be more enterprising
– Culture change
– Remove barriers
– Appropriate funding
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Encourage business to work with Universities
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Support for innovation
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Higher Education Innovation Fund (£110m pa)
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Research Councils: Better Exploitation
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RDA role in promoting innovation (£360m into Science and Technology)
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DTI Technology Strategy (rising towards £200m pa)
Collaborative R&D, Knowledge Transfer Networks
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R&D tax credit (more than £500m pa)
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SRIF (£billions of research infrastructure – requirement for business access)
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Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Higher Education Innovation Fund
Include (not exhaustive):
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promoting collaborative research
practical business assistance (consultancy, knowledge translation, use of facilities)
business development, marketing
Commercialisation: tech transfer offices, Proof of Concept
promoting/developing Continuous Professional Development courses for
businesses
enterprise education for students, training for staff
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
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30 Years Old
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A 3-way partnership designed to help a firm be more competitive: Company / University / Graduate
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Underpinned by a comprehensive support package
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Enables the graduate to work in the firm for 1 – 3 years with supervision from a researcher and a manager from
the firm
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Produces defined outcomes that the firm can use (project must lead to a demonstrable strategic change in the
firm)
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Gives the graduate training in business issues
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Enables the researcher to understand current business needs/problems
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Improved products
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Rolls Royce
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Turbofan development
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University Technology Centres
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Total Research
Income (£ million)
SW
Scotland
NE
Yorks
NW
EM
WM
East
London
SE
SW
Wales
N. Ireland
355
97
210
220
140
138
265
665
355
112
97
51
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Innovation
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Highly concentrated?
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London, SE and East get 47%
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Cambridge, Imperial and Oxford together get more than any region
except London
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Top 10 Unis get around 50% of funding
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Office of Science and PRESENTATION
Innovation
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Are the policies working?
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20 university spin-out companies floated since 2004
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Value of £1.5 billion
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Surveys show positive progress in knowledge transfer activities in university
sector
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But a long term process and no room for complacency…