Annex A

HEFCW Supplementary Information

Reconfiguration and Collaboration Fund (RCF) Research Centres

 Climate Change Consortium (Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea Universities - £4m)  Low Carbon Research Institute (Cardiff, Bangor, Glamorgan, Glyndwr and Swansea Universities - £5.2m)  Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea Universities - £5.2m)  Wales Institute of Mathematical and Computational Sciences (Swansea, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Glamorgan Universities - £5m)  Research Institute of Visual Computing (Bangor, Cardiff, Swansea and Aberystwyth Universities - £5m)  Biosciences and Environmental Alliance (Aberystwyth and Bangor - £7m plus capital funding)

RCF research centres –links with postgraduate training

 The Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience has established a Graduate School between the three participating universities (Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea). Activities have included providing joint training opportunities for doctoral students, exchange programmes and a Summer School. The Institute has also undertaken a programme of public outreach activity to promote understanding of cognitive neuroscience.  Wales Institute of Mathematics and Computational Sciences (involving Swansea, Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff Universities) is undertaking a programme of outreach activity to schools to encourage progression of students to university level mathematics, including master-classes and high profile annual lectures around Wales. The Institute is also playing a key role in the Welsh spoke of the new UK HE National STEM Programme based at Swansea University.  The Low Carbon Research Institute is contributing to the longer term development of a low-carbon economy in Wales through the establishment of an Energy Graduate School to provide Masters, PhD and CPD courses across the partner institutions (Cardiff, Bangor, Glamorgan, Glyndŵr and Swansea Universities).  The Research Institute for Visual Computing is developing a Graduate School to assist in the training of new researchers across the partner institutions (Bangor, Aberystwyth, Cardiff and Swansea Universities). Training activities include: the provision of foundation material for PhD students; the development of coordinated masters programmes; and an annual graduate residential event.

 The Climate Change Consortium for Wales (involving Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea Universities) will contribute to the longer-term development of climate change research capacity in Wales. It will do this through the development of an Advanced Graduate Training Programme and through facilitating the career development of new Postdoctoral Research Fellows.

HEFCW funded projects

 HEFCW’s GO (graduate opportunities) Wales Programme has been designed as a non-sector-specific project, supporting students and graduates according to their need and available opportunities. The programme works with employers across all sectors including manufacturing, professional, scientific and technical, health, and information and communication sectors. It supports the training of graduates employed in SMEs, and has supported individuals to undertake further training in STEM areas such as Lean and Agile Manufacturing, Lean Operations, Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Renewable Energy. For further information visit http://www.gowales.co.uk/en/graduate/index.html

 Food Industry Skills Project – funded by the Council’s Innovation & Engagement Fund this project was developed in direct response to research into food industry high- level skills shortages by Improve (the food industry SSC). Its aim is to boost the flagging numbers of qualified food scientists working in Wales’ £9 billion food manufacturing industry. Led by UWIC the project brings together HE, FE and business sector partners and further information can be found at http://www3.uwic.ac.uk/English/UWICBusiness/WorkingTogether/Pages/Core Activities.aspx .

 Strategic Insight Programme (SIP) – another Innovation & Enagement Fund project that allows academics to undertake short placements with employers to learn more about their organisation and its particular needs. A Reverse SIP scheme also allows employers to undertake similar placements in universities, with a view to enhancing their understanding of how their needs can reflect university course and service delivery. Further information is available at http://www.siprogramme.org.uk/case-studies

 Cardiff University Innovation Network – established with Innovation & Engagement Funding from HEFCW more than 10 years ago, this initiative is frequently held up as a prime example of best practice in its field. The network fosters links between the university, businesses in Wales and their representative bodies and has led to many examples of HE-business collaborations in which access to university expertise has enabled companies to innovate and grow. Further information is available at http://www.innovation-network.org.uk/ WAG Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) funded projects

Semiconductor & Photonics Technology Knowledge Transfer Centre (KTC) provides expert knowledge transfer, and open access to facilities for the microelectronics, semiconductor materials, sensors, energy, optoelectronics and communications industry sectors in Wales. The centre is physically based at Swansea with Bangor University as a satellite partner providing modelling and computer simulation expertise. KTC staff at both universities were rated as internationally leading in the RAE2008 exercise and give Welsh industry access to a pool of expertise unrivalled within the UK.

Patient-specific medical product development project – this KTC was established at UWIC to help medical manufacturing companies develop bespoke products for individual patients. Whilst there has been a steadily increasing demand for such developments from patients and health services, traditional manufacturing processes (which are geared to mass production) have kept costs prohibitively high. This KTC is enabling companies to move away from the traditional paradigm of mass-production towards product design products for individual patients by giving them access to clinical and engineering knowledge to combine patient data (eg from MRI scans) with existing product design technology, as well as access to new Additive Manufacturing ((i.e. tool-less manufacture) technology.

DigiLab is a University of Glamorgan led KTC that provides a unique resource to support innovation in the Welsh digital media industries. It was established to exploit the latent potential of existing media companies to develop into the high growth computer games market by:

• Supporting companies holding creative IP to exploit that resource through identifying routes to market and/or developing capacity • Providing gaming development companies with access to state of the art facilities and expertise to exploit the potential of existing IPR • Allowing HEI’s in Wales to engage with this sector through managed events, collaboration and networks

STEM promotion Activity

Science Made Simple – spun out of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University in 2002 with a mission to inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers by building bridges between researchers, professional and the public and helping to embed science and engineering in popular culture. The company provides outreach services to schools, consultancy and staff training services and now engages in the region of 75,000 students a year. For further information see http://www.sciencemadesimple.co.uk/

SETPOINT – a UK initiative in which SETPOINT Wales is managed by the University of Glamorgan to:

 increase the number and quality of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) activities across Wales  increase the number of registered Science and Engineering Ambassadors (SEAs)

 increase communication and links between SEAs and schools  ensure good communication with STEM Co-ordinators and providers  give aid and assistance to teachers in developing STEM activities for students through the National Curriculum

 develop a wider involvement with companies and organisations relevant to STEM

 develop an accurate picture of stem activities in Wales  identify STEM activities that are examples of good practice and to promote to other relevant organisations  promote careers under the umbrella of STEM  ensure that every child in Wales receives at least one worthwhile STEM activity per key stage of their compulsory education  raise standards of achievement  improve pupil motivation  support management and leadership in schools  prepare young people for the world of work including employability  enhance the National Curriculum and delivery of Key Skills including creativity and enterprise