UK’s position in research “under threat”

A report from the Council, A Vision for UK Research, argued for the UK to acknowledge the “growing research strength” within countries such as China and India, and follow the United States in voicing its concerns about “the deep seismic shifts in the global competitive landscape.”

 

Of course, the desire to shore up the UK’s standing in global scientific, engineering and technological research, is one thing: trying to do that when the country’s budget deficit is as high as it is, is quite different. “We recognise that over the coming decade public spending will be far tighter than in the last decade,” said the CST, which goes on to acknowledge the pressure the research sector will come under during the next ten years. “While we would argue that public spending on research provides great returns to the taxpayer, it would not be surprising if research spending in the UK came under considerable pressure.”

 

A list of recommendations is put forward in the report, including an investment of people to support their levels of creativity. “This is more important than trying to predict the most promising topics or areas into the future…The best people will adapt and seize new opportunities as the world around them changes.”

 

The report described the UK’s position in scientific research as second only to the United States, but warned the government ensures it creates an “optimum environment for research to flourish, in the face of changing global competition.” To do this, the CST called for government funding of “highly creative discovery research,” which would help to not only maintain the levels of excellence and diversity in the UK research base, but also ensure the country “remains a major attractor for international researchers.”

 

Despite the UK’s standing, the report pointed out the weakness in the country’s research policy as being its translation into products of economic and social benefit, something the CST said “needs to be addressed urgently.” It pointed out the length of time between initial breakthroughs and the exploitation of commercial opportunities should be remembered, and that, “The emphasis must be on improving the opportunity recognition and exploitation structures whilst maintaining the excellence and creativity of the underlying research base.”

 

The report also said that whilst the UK is ranked highly disciplines like biological and social sciences, it performs lower in other areas, including mathematics, physical sciences, and engineering. “We should not forget that nine-tenths of the world’s research output is produced outside the UK.”

 

The CST recommendations also said the development of a long-term vision from the government would provide a framework for investment in research by the private sector and Research Councils. Universities and high education institutions are called upon in the report to working together, allowing them to develop a set of strategic “pan-university collaborations…both within the UK and with overseas universities in the US, EU, China, India and other emerging economies.” The CST argued that such international collaboration should be facilitated by the UK government through various policy commitments and funding mechanisms.

 

The collaboration in research between the UK and China was cited in the report, with joint papers between the two nations accounting for 5.7% of UK papers, significantly higher than the 1.9% of joint papers between the UK and India. A separate report from Thomson-Reuters cited by the CST revealed UK authors “lead all countries apart from the USA in the number of papers published that include Chinese counterparts.”

 

Chinese collaboration with British counterparts is part of a wider trend for the Far Eastern country, which is increasingly determined to evolve into a more innovation-led nation. “China has recognised that this will not be achieved in isolation and consequently seeks international collaboration in most areas of R&D that will help policy makers, industry and communities meet the challenges of China’s rapidly expanding economic and social development,” the report said.

 

Speaking just days after the report’s publication, technology-focused venture capitalist Hermann Hauser said the UK should "focus on technologies where it has a lead and back them with solid amounts of money.” Hauser is the author a report on new technology initiatives, due for release within the next few weeks.

 

He argued the government should look to the past for lessons, specifically the Bristol-based semi-conductor company, Inmos, but warned, "The lessons from Inmos have taught us that when governments put money into new technologies, they nearly always over-estimate the benefits in the short term but under-estimate what they will be over a long period.” 

 

Hauser has worked with the CST and argued for increased links between research and business for some time, favouring intermediate organisations to act as a conduit between the two extremes. The creation of such bodies would be similar to the German Fraunhofer Society.