journal fstThe Journal of The Foundation for Science and Technology Volume 21 Number 5 March 2015 www.foundation.org.uk

Editorial Sir John Enderby: ‘An Act to promote the progress of useful Arts’ Science and innovation strategy The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP: A strategy for growth Dame Ann Dowling: Delivering a prosperous and resilient economy Dr Mike Lynch: Science as part of the growth agenda e Hauser Review Dr Hermann Hauser: The translation of research Simon Edmonds: Facilitating technology translation in key market areas Adrian Allen: The Catapults – building the skills base Innovation in Scotland Professor Muffy Calder: What makes a good science policy? Professor Alice Brown: Changing the innovation landscape Anne Richards: A time of challenge and opportunity Transport resilience Richard Brown: Making our transport systems more resilient to weather Doug Johnson: The consequences of changing climate for transport systems Jerry England: Building tomorrow’s railway today Science and society How well do we measure engagement? COUNCIL

PRESIDENT Professor Polina Bayvel FREng The Rt Hon the Lord Jenkin of Roding HonFRSE Sir John Beddington CMG FRS FRSE HonFREng Sir Leszek Borysiewicz FRS FRCP FMedSci COUNCIL The Lord Broers FRS FREng Chairman Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield KCB The Earl of Selborne GBE FRS Dr Jeremy Farrar OBE FMedSci The Lord Haskel President, The Royal Society Dr Julian Huppert MP* Sir Paul Nurse PRS FMedSci HonFREng Dr Geraldine Kenney-Wallace FRSC President, Royal Academy of Engineering Sir David King KB FRS ScD Dame Ann Dowling DBE FRS FREng The Lord Krebs FRS FMedSci President, British Academy The Rt Hon the Lord Lloyd of Berwick DL The Lord Stern of Brentford PBA FRS Dr Mike Lynch OBE FRS FREng President, The Academy of Medical Sciences Sir Rob Margetts CBE FREng Sir John Tooke PMedSci The Lord May of Oxford OM AC Kt FRS President, The Royal Society of Edinburgh The Rt Hon Sir Brian Neill* Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE FRS FRSE FRAS FInstP The Baroness O’Neill of Bengarve CH CBE FRS FBA President, The Learned Society of Wales The Lord Oxburgh KBE FRS HonFREng Sir Emyr Jones Parry GCMG FInstP PLSW The Lord Rees of Ludlow OM Kt FRS HonFREng Chairman, Arts & Humanities Research Council Dr Peter Ringrose Sir Drummond Bone FRSE The Baroness Sharp of Guildford* Chairman, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Dr Graham Spittle CBE Sir Tom Blundell FRS FMedSci The Lord Trees* Chairman, Economic and Social Research Council The Baroness Wilcox* Dr Alan Gillespie CBE The Rt Hon David Willetts MP* Chairman, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Sir Peter Williams CBE FRS FREng Dr Paul Golby CBE FREng The Lord Willis of Knaresborough Chairman, Medical Research Council Donald Brydon CBE Deputy Chairman Chairman, Natural Environment Research Council Dr Robert Hawley CBE DSc FRSE FREng Sir Anthony Cleaver HonFREng Honorary Treasurer Chairman, Science and Technology Facilities Council Tony Quigley Sir Michael Sterling FREng Honorary Secretary Chairman, EngineeringUK Patrick McHugh Dr Paul Golby CBE FREng Chairman, Innovate UK CHIEF EXECUTIVE Phil Smith Dr Dougal Goodman OBE FREng Chairman, Steering Board, UK Space Agency Robert Douglas CBE DL *Associate Member President, The Science Council Sir Tom Blundell FRS FMedSci

The Foundation for Science and Technology FST Journal redesigned in 2015 by IOP Publishing’s Design Studio, 10 Carlton House Terrace under the art direction of Andrew Giaquinto. London SW1Y 5AH IOP Publishing provides publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide and is central to the Tel: 020 7321 2220 Institute of Physics, a not-for-profit society. Email: [email protected] Neither the Foundation nor the Editor is responsible for the opinions Editor Sir John Enderby CBE FRS of the contributors to FST Journal. Production Editor Simon Napper © 2015 The Foundation for Science and Technology ISSN 1475-1704 Sub Editor Judy McBride Layout Simon Clarke and Alison Gardiner CONTENTS

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fstVolume 21 Number 5 March 2015 THE COUNCIL OF THE FOUNDATION Inside front cover journal fstThe Journal of The Foundation for Science and Technology Volume 21 Number 5 March 2015 www.foundation.org.uk UPDATE Editorial Sir John Enderby: ‘An Act to promote the progress of useful Arts’ New advanced materials centre • Alan Turing Institute partners announced • 2 Science and innovation strategy The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP: A strategy for growth Dame Ann Dowling: Delivering a prosperous and resilient economy Dr Mike Lynch: Science as part of the growth agenda e Hauser Review Extreme weather impact set to increase • Mapping the UK’s knowledge landscape • Dr Hermann Hauser: The translation of research Simon Edmonds: Facilitating technology translation in key market areas Adrian Allen: The Catapults – building the skills base Innovation in Scotland The importance of the IRT sector Innovation: managing risk, not avoiding it Professor Muffy Calder: What makes a good science policy? • • Professor Alice Brown: Changing the innovation landscape Anne Richards: A time of challenge and opportunity Transport resilience Richard Brown: Making our transport systems more resilient to weather Students ‘should understand IP’ From Moss Side to Eden Doug Johnson: The consequences of changing climate for transport systems • • Jerry England: Building tomorrow’s railway today Science and society How well do we measure engagement? Government plans spaceport for the UK • Minister responds on Strategy EDITORIAL ‘An Act to promote the progress of useful Arts’ Sir John Enderby 4

SCIENCE AND INNOVATION STRATEGY A strategy for growth The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP 6 Delivering a prosperous and resilient economy Dame Ann Dowling 8 Science as part of the growth agenda Dr Mike Lynch 10

THE HAUSER REVIEW The translation of research Dr Hermann Hauser 13 Facilitating technology ­translation in key market areas Simon Edmonds 16 The Catapults – building the skills base Adrian Allen 18

INNOVATION IN SCOTLAND What makes a good science policy? Professor Muffy Calder 21 Changing the innovation ­landscape Professor Alice Brown 23 A time of challenge and opportunity Anne Richards 26

TRANSPORT RESILIENCE Making our transport systems more resilient to weather Richard Brown 30 The consequences of changing climate for transport systems Doug Johnson 32 Building tomorrow’s railway today Jerry England 35

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY How well do we measure engagement? 38

EVENTS Foundation events held since January 2013 39

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 1 UPDATE

Mapping the UK’s New advanced materials centre knowledge landscape The University of Manchester will be chester centre will be supported by sat- home to a new national research and ellite centres or ‘spokes’ at the founding A new online tool will help the Council innovation centre in advanced materials, partners, comprising the universities of for Science and Technology (CST) to map the Chancellor George Osborne has Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, the research landscape in the UK. The announced. Oxford and Imperial College London. CST has launched a project to understand The Sir Henry Royce Institute for The nuclear materials component of better how the UK’s research communi- Materials Research and Innovation will the centre, one of 14 such components, will ty defines itself and the links that exist allow the UK to grow its world-leading be supported by facilities at the National between research disciplines. research base in advanced-materials sci- Nuclear Laboratory in Cumbria and Researchers can visit a dedicated web- ence, which is fundamental to all indus- the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. site and provide information about them- trial sectors and the national economy. The founding partners’ facilities will be selves (such as: position, research inter- The new Institute, supported by indus- enhanced to a value of £132 million. ests and collaborators), their perceptions trial partners, will have its £235 million www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/ of how their research areas fit within the research centre in Manchester. The Man- article/?id=13438 landscape of connected disciplines and the main pieces of research infrastructure Alan Turing Institute partners announced in their areas of expertise. Once a sufficiently large number of The five universities selected to lead UCL, the Alan Turing Institute will attract users have submitted their views, partial the Alan Turing Institute have been the best data scientists and mathemati- statistical analysis will be used to generate announced. The Institute will build on cians from the UK and across the globe to a ‘consensus view’ of how disciplines con- the UK’s existing academic strengths and break new boundaries in how we use big nect with and rely on each other. This out- help position the country as a world leader data in a fast-moving, competitive world. put will then be made publicly available. in the analysis and application of big data The delivery of the Institute is being www.ukknowledgelandscape.co.uk and algorithm research. Its headquarters coordinated by the Engineering and Phys- will be based at the British Library at the ical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), The importance of centre of London’s Knowledge Quarter. which invests in research and postgradu- Business Secretary, Vince Cable, said: ate training across the UK. The Institute the IRT sector “Alan Turing’s genius played a pivotal is being funded over five years with £42 role in cracking the codes that helped us million from the UK Government. The The innovation, research and technology win the Second World War. It is therefore selected university partners will contrib- (IRT) sector directly generated £3.7 bil- only right that our country’s top univer- ute further funding. In addition, the Insti- lion in gross value added contributions sities are chosen to lead this new institute tute will seek to partner with other busi- to UK GDP in 2012 to 2013, according to named in his honour.” ness and government bodies. a study carried out by Oxford Econom- Headed by the universities of Cam- www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/ ics for the Association for Innovation, bridge, Edinburgh, Oxford, Warwick and alanturinginstitute Research and Technology Organisations (AIRTO). Furthermore, the sector direct- Extreme weather impact set to increase ly employed 57,200 people and paid an estimated £1.4 billion in tax. Exposure of human populations to quent and damaging extreme events that Over the same period, after accounting extreme weather is set to increase as currently occur and their impacts will for supply chain and wage-consumption global climate as well as population size, change with the changing climate. impacts, it is estimated to have supported location and age continue to change, The report calls for action at all levels £7.6 billion in gross value added, 140,100 according to a Royal Society report: of government – international, national jobs and £2.9 billion in tax receipts. Resilience to extreme weather. and local – to make society more resil- The report argues that the Govern- The report presents new maps show- ient to extreme weather events. In 2015 ment could continue to fund the IRT sec- ing the combined impact of climate and important international agreements may tor at a low burden to the taxpayer while demographic changes across the world be reached on disaster risk reduction, having a high impact on organisations upon the exposure of people to extreme sustainable development and climate looking to replenish their physical and weather. The maps highlight those areas change. These agreements will be much intellectual capital. It could leverage the where there is the greatest increased risk more effective in addressing extreme sector’s impact by procuring innovative of populations being vulnerable towards weather impacts if they are linked with, products and services, effectively pulling to end of the century. and reinforce, each other, says the report. them into mainstream use. The report focuses on the risks to https://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/ www.oxfordeconomics.com/my-oxford/ people from floods, droughts and heat- resilience-extreme-weather projects/281857 waves. These are some of the most fre- See also page 30 of this issue.

2 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk UPDATE

Innovation: managing risk, not avoiding it The first annual report of the potentially disrupting the status quo of ticular nanoparticle that is released as Government Chief Scientific Adviser, existing wealth and employment, and a consequence of its use in a household Sir Mark Walport, published at the end creating new problems and challenges.” product? Almost any technology has the of 2014, has a firm focus on innovation. Societies respond to the downside of potential for both beneficial and harmful “Innovation is essential for economic innovation through regulation, argues uses. In every case the challenge is to work growth, health, wellbeing, security and the report. However, the task of design- out how best to exploit the benefits while resilience,” it states. “We need innovation ing systems of regulation and practice minimising the harm. just as much today as we did at the time of that are based on rigorous evidence and One of the biggest challenges is to dis- the first Industrial Revolution, even if the well-informed public debate is difficult. tinguish between hazard, exposure, risk reasons are slightly different.” Innovation is often discussed mistak- and vulnerability. Understanding this It warns, though, that “innovation is enly in generic rather than specific terms. terminology really matters, argues the not an unalloyed good – almost all inno- For example, it is not sensible or mean- report. This is because hazard is frequent- vations can cause both benefit and harm. ingful, argues the report, to ask whether ly equated or confused with risk, and this Because of this, discussion of innovation a technology such as nanotechnology leads to poor debate, confused communi- has become almost inseparable from dis- is, in and of itself, a good or a bad thing. cation and flawed decision-making. cussion of risk. The questions are always specific. Are The report comes in two volumes: an “A common denominator of inno- nanoparticles of a particular composition overview of the topic and also a volume vation in every generation is that it an appropriate way to monitor a specif- of evidence and case studies. solves problems, creates wealth and new ic environmental hazard? Or is there an www.gov.uk/government/publications/ employment, while at the same time unacceptable risk of inhalation of a par- innovation-managing-risk-not-avoiding-it Students ‘should understand IP’ Government plans Business Minister Baroness Nev- Property Office’s (IPO) StudentshIP spaceport for the UK ille-Rolfe believes that students should Enterprise Awards. She announced have a basic understanding of intellec- the 10 university student projects that Plans for Britain to be home to Europe’s tual property. In a speech she set out will share £450,000 for their plans to first spaceport have moved a step closer her vision that a basic understanding of improve understanding and exploita- with the publication of the results of a intellectual property (IP) is a key part of tion of IP through student-business three-month Government consultation. building a successful, innovative future partnerships. This has confirmed widespread support for the UK economy. Baroness Neville-Rolfe also launched for plans to make commercial spaceflight Baroness Neville-Rolfe said “every IP Tutor, a new online learning tool operations in the UK a reality. child should leave school with a basic designed to increase the level of IP The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) understanding of IP principles” and knowledge among lecturers and stu- shortlisted a number of possible locations that “IP must be an integrated part of dents in higher education. for the spaceport in July 2014 and this has learning from the earliest school years The tool will support the use and now been updated. The shortlisted sites through primary, secondary and higher understanding of IP in student enter- are: Campbeltown, Glasgow Prestwick and education”. prise activities at universities. Stornoway in Scotland, as well as Newquay The Minister was speaking at the www.gov.uk/government/publications/ in England and Llanbedr in Wales. winners’ ceremony for the Intellectual intellectual-property-for-universities www.gov.uk/government/news/indus- try-backs-governments-spaceport-plans From Moss Side to Eden Minister responds Present at many key events of the 20th Laboratory Director, in association with century, Sir Alcon Copisarow has played Appleton, Cockcroft and Blackett. His on Strategy a number of important roles in shaping work has ranged from improving the the course of British and international efficiency of the Bank of England to a Science Minister Greg Clark appeared affairs. His memoirs, Unplanned Jour- role in overhauling the administration before the House of Lords Science and ney: from Moss Side to Eden, have recent- of Hong Kong. Technology Committee on 10 March to ly been published. The memoirs are available in hardback answer questions on the Government’s His career took him from service at a special offer price of £18 (plus £3.95 Science and Innovation Strategy. during the Second World War in the p&p) for Foundation members from Jer- www.parliament.uk/documents/lords- application of radar technology to the emy Mills Publishing Ltd ­(normal price committees/science-technology/ world of international diplomacy as £20). Tel: 01484 463341. Email: sales@ ScienceInnovationStrategy/ Scientific Counsellor and Government jeremymillspublishing.co.uk ucST100315Clark.pdf

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 3 EDITORIAL ‘An Act to promote the progress of useful Arts’ John Enderby

ne of the many benefits in attending • patents motivate invention; Foundation debates is the opportuni- • patents induce disclosure and wide use of ty to meet and interact with men and inventions; Owomen whose interests and backgrounds are very • patents induce the development and different from one’s own. Indeed, the Chief Exec- commercialisation of inventions; utive always reminds those present to sit at dinner • patents enable orderly development of new, in a way to make new friends. It was at one such but related, products and services. Professor Sir John Enderby meeting that I had the great pleasure to sit with CBE FRS is the Editor of FST Sir Hugh Laddie, who was at that time a British Not all economists agree, however. Michael Journal. He was Professor of High Court Judge and a specialist in intellectu- Meurer and Jim Bessen are both economists and Physics at the University of al property (IP) law. He was considered one the law professors. Drawing on an extensive database, Bristol from 1976 to 1996. He was elected a Fellow of leading English judges and academics in the field they argue that, on average, the patent system is bad The Royal Society in 1985 for of IP law and was co-author of The Modern Law for innovation. They agree innovator firms often his pioneering studies into of Copyright (1980). profit from their own patents but they are also the structure and properties In the course of several subsequent conver- most likely to be targeted by other patent holders of liquids and amorphous materials. He served as a sations, I found that he had become increasing- in terms of litigation. The disincentives created by Vice-President of The Royal ly concerned with the cost and the slowness of other people’s patents outweighs the incentives for Society from 1999 to 2004. the legal process involved in patent disputes. In new entrants to build a patent portfolio. Therefore, One of his responsibilities an almost unprecedented move, he resigned as globally, the patent system discourages innovation. was the Society’s publishing activities. Sir John was a High Court Judge in 2005 and became a con- In UK law, a patent must meet four condi- President of the Institute of sultant for Willoughby & Partners, the UK legal tions. It must: Physics in 2004. He is now a arm of Rouse & Co International. Sadly he died • be patentable (i.e. the subject-matter is consultant to IOP Publishing. in November 2008 and, in a fitting tribute to his ­eligible for patent protection); wisdom and sympathy to those caught up in legal • be novel (i.e. at least some aspect of it must disputes, University College created an academic be new); Chair funded by charitable contributions. • involve an inventive step; The Sir Hugh Laddie Chair is part of a living, • be susceptible of industrial application. practical IP academic centre and is of direct value to practitioners and major law firms. An annual Problems faced by SMEs lecture is also held in his honour. Hugh was inter- An early problem faced by SMEs in the course of ested in the difficulties that faced SMEs and this developing a product or service is to decide if IP resonated with me as I had just become Chairman protection is necessary. In a survey carried out by of a small company (Melys Diagnostics Ltd) and the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO), it was we were struggling with IP and its associated costs. found that nearly 64 per cent of small companies The motivation for the patent system is neatly chose not to protect their IP through the patent summarised by the US Patent Act of 1790: “to system. Deterrents include the need to commis- promote the progress of useful Arts: The grant- sion professional help, as well as the initial and ee or grantees of each patent shall, at the time on-going costs. For example, four years after the of granting the same, deliver to the Secretary of first submission, an application for renewal must State a specification in writing . . . which specifi- be made to the relevant IP office and every year cation shall be so particular [as] to enable a work- thereafter (up to 20 years). man or other person skilled in the art or manu- Moreover, a patent must be written in a man- facture . . . to make, construct, or use the same, to ner such that a person ‘skilled in the art’ could the end that the public may have the full benefit reproduce the product after the protection offered thereof, after the expiration of the patent term”. by the patent elapses. Many SMEs are uneasy Economists Roberto Mazzoleni and Richard about placing in the public domain detailed con- Nelson have identified four benefits that patents fidential information of the sort required by the bring to innovation: examiner. Furthermore, as Sir Hugh pointed out,

4 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk EDITORIAL

the legal costs in pursuing infringements are often or four countries, will depend crucially on the level An early problem beyond the means of SMEs. of renewal fees set by the EPO. faced by SMEs in the There is also a grey area surrounding software. course of developing a The IPO points out that UK laws do not generally A cautionary tale product or service is to allow patents to be granted for software (although On 12 September 1958, Jack Kilby of Texas Instru- decide if IP protection there are exceptions). Whether a computer- ments (TI) built a circuit using germanium tran- is necessary. implemented invention is patentable depends on sistor slices he had etched to form transistor, the contribution the invention makes. The exam- capacitor, and resistor elements. Using fine gold ple the IPO gives is that if the invention provides ‘flying-wires’ he connected the separate elements improved control of a car braking system, it is likely into an oscillator circuit. One week later he demon- to be patentable. If it provides an improved account- strated an amplifier. TI announced Kilby’s ‘solid ing system, it is probably (my italics) not patentable. circuit’ concept in March 1959 and introduced its The law on what is patentable is the same across first commercial device in March 1960, the Type Europe, so if something is not patentable under UK 502 Binary Flip-Flop, priced at $450 each. law, it will generally also be unpatentable elsewhere However, the flying-wire interconnections were in Europe. The same does not apply to countries not a practical production technique. So in the outside Europe. In the USA and Japan, the laws autumn of 1958 Kilby worked on a revised meth- allow a wider range of computer-implemented od that replaced the flying wires with gold wires: a inventions to be patented. film of oxide could be deposited on the semicon- There is no such thing as an International Patent ductor and the gold interconnectors put down on and IP protection must be sought on a country by the oxide. The patent was filed on 6 January 1959. country basis. This, of course, increases costs. How- The fatal mistake was to include the word ‘gold’ in ever, after many years of discussion, Europe seems the patent application because it is difficult, if not to be moving towards a simplified system to be impossible, to get gold to adhere to oxides. implemented by the European Patent Office (EPO). Fairchild co-founder, Robert Noyce, conceived The objective of the new regime is to create the the idea of using aluminium as the connecting so-called ‘unitary patent’ that will allow patent pro- material because aluminium, unlike gold, adheres tection to be obtained for 25 Member States (Italy to the oxide insulating layer necessary to avoid and Spain are not participating but are free to join at short circuits. Noyce filed his “Semiconductor any time in the future). There will be a single appli- device-and-lead structure” patent in July 1959 cation without further administrative formalities. and a team of Fairchild engineers produced the “The future unitary patent will be in fact a first working monolithic ICs in May 1960, having European patent for which the protection will be explored various schemes to isolate devices from effective in all Member States participating in the each other within the silicon wafer. enhanced cooperation,” states Jean Luc Gal, head Fairchild and TI engaged in prolonged litiga- of the Brussels bureau at EPO. The newly created tion over IC patents for 11 years at tremendous Unified Patent Court will be competent to handle legal costs. The US Supreme Court finally ruled disputes concerning both future unitary patents in Noyce’s favour but by then the companies had and current traditional European patents. already settled on a cross-licence agreement that It was hoped that the EPO might have been able included a net payment to Fairchild. to grant the first unitary patent as early as April 2014. However, before this could happen, the Agreement The future on the Unitary Patent Court must be ratified by at I hope this editorial has stimulated discussion least 13 Member States including France, Germany about the merits, if any, of the patent system. and the UK. As this article went to press, only six • Do patents really encourage and support countries have completed ratification. innovation? Patent lawyers in the UK are unsure to what • Is there a better way to deal with disputes and extent companies will benefit from the new system. infringements than going to court? One estimate is that the Unitary Patent will benefit • The 20-year lifetime of patents is much the 10 per cent of existing patentees who validate in shorter than the protection offered by 13 or more European Member States. For the other copyright. Is the balance right? 90 per cent of patentees, the position is less clear • Can more be done to help SMEs protect their and will depend primarily on whether an increased intellectual property? geographical coverage for protection is likely to be • Is the Unitary Patent likely to be of general of interest, as how well understood are the loca- benefit? tion of key markets. Furthermore, the benefits to • Should the rules about software be reviewed SMEs, who generally seek protection in only three at the European level? ☐

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 5 SCIENCE AND INNOVATION STRATEGY The Government has published a command paper, ‘Our plan for growth’, setting out why it believes funding of science and innovation is fundamental to the UK’s future economic growth. A meeting of the Foundation on 4 February 2015 debated this strategy. A strategy for growth Greg Clark

he challenge for the Minister of Science is to make science clear and visible at the heart IN SUMMARY of Government, in a way that reflects the realityT that science policy is a matter for the long • A 10-year strategy for science and innovation term, rather than the stuff of short-term politics. • E mbraces all Government departments When I was appointed in July, the Science and • B uilding on the UK’s recognised research Innovation Strategy was already in preparation excellence with a commitment to provide a 10-year forward • K ey role for education The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP E nsuring the right infrastructure is in place is Minister of State for look. The final document, Our Plan for Growth: • 1 Universities, Science and science and innovation , was published just before Cities at the Department for Christmas. It is a document co-signed by the Business Innovation and Chancellor, the Business Secretary and me, and Excellence Skills (BIS). In May 2010, Dr Clark was appointed Minister it also embraces other Government departments Our success is not accidental. It comes from the of State at the Department – for example, the Department for Education investment made over a number of years. It comes for Communities and Local played an active role in developing our approach from institutions and funding arrangements that Government and in July to nurturing scientific talent. have been tried and tested. These include, for 2011, Minister for Cities. In September 2012, he It seems reasonable to consider how the UK is example, the dual funding of research. While was appointed Financial going to prosper in the future. In answering that Ministers may decide on strategic priorities and Secretary to the Treasury question, we should reflect on what we are good challenges, the Government remains committed before becoming Minister of at and whether those strengths are likely to be in to the principle of peer review to judge excellence. State in the Cabinet Office in October 2013. He was demand in the future. Quality Research (QR) funding is also very appointed to his current post Science is clearly going to be an important ele- important. The idea that institutions can bene- in 2014. ment in any answer. The UK is not just ‘good’ at fit in proportion to their record of excellence is science; it is ‘excellent’, with 29 universities in the particularly vital. Universities and other institutes world’s top 200. We have 1 per cent of the world’s have indeed proved themselves to be stable and population, 3 per cent of its research funding, 6 per enduring places in which scientific enquiry can cent of published papers, 12 per cent of citations take place. and 16 per cent of the most highly-cited articles. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) and Over 55,000 researchers submitted work for the the competitiveness of the research process have Research Excellence Framework (REF) and a full helped to ensure that UK research is world-class. In 76 per cent of that work was deemed to be world- my annual letter to the Higher Education Funding class – an astonishing achievement. In innovation Council for England (HEFCE), I emphasised that we are making progress and are ranked second in excellence should be funded wherever it is found. the world in knowledge-based capital. This is a position of strength that informs the Collaboration debate and discussion around the Science and One of the most thrilling aspects of science (and Innovation Strategy. The importance of science I mean science ‘in the round’, encompassing the is totally accepted within Government. There is, humanities and the social sciences too) occurs in the Strategy, a forward commitment of £5.9 bil- when discoveries involve people from different lion into the UK’s research infrastructure between disciplines. In a meeting about Ebola with Chief 2016 and 2021, the most long-term commitment Scientific Advisers from across Government, it to science capital in decades. was fascinating to learn that as well as the med- We have set out five principles for the 10-year ical advances and discoveries, one of the key les- view period covered by the Strategy. These are: sons has come from social anthropologists. Their Excellence; Collaboration; Agility; Place; and insights into the cultural norms that dictate how Openness. people handle dead bodies have been particularly

6 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk SCIENCE AND INNOVATION STRATEGY

influential in providing advice on the spread of funded. This is a vital element in bringing forward One of the key that disease. the next generation of scientists. As another exam- lessons of Ebola has Boundaries are dissolving between disci- ple, open access science publishing has enhanced come from social plines, but that is not to say that disciplines are the availability and the prestige of our research. anthropologists. not important. In the future, we have to allow Their insights into for and promote (but certainly not impede) the Driving the future the cultural norms opportunity to collaborate – whether within The Strategy itself starts, quite deliberately, with that dictate how disciplines, between sectors of the economy, or a chapter entitled ‘Nurturing Talent’. This recog- people handle dead between industry and university research. nises that none of the glories that we are privi- bodies have been leged to enjoy could happen were it not for the particularly influential Agility talents of people working in science and innova- in providing advice There will be opportunities in the years ahead, tion. The country has to build on that, making on the spread of which we simply do not know about yet. In decid- it possible for more people to be educated and that disease. ing priorities for the next 10 years, and committing trained to the right level. the science capital budget, the Government very So there is provision to train 17,500 maths deliberately kept part of the funding back in what and physics teachers because there is a particular was termed an ‘agility fund’. This will allow us, per- shortage here. National colleges will be estab- haps in four or five years’ time, to support projects lished in certain sectors. Postgraduate loans will and research programmes that will be compelling be available for Masters students, ensuring that at that time, even though we may not be aware of our own citizens have the chance to benefit from them at the moment. If we are not sufficiently agile, the excellence of our institutions. The loans will as well as rigorous, other countries will outpace us. be for all disciplines. Science depends, in many cases, on having Place the right infrastructure. The Strategy recognis- Institutions – and universities in particular – are es the importance of opening new facilities, but often synonymous with particular towns and cit- also of making sure that the existing institutions ies. In the past, though, the importance of place can continue to flourish. I think Lord Krebs has been overlooked in the world of science poli- described it as the ‘batteries not included’ prob- cy. Yet, the importance of institutions for the eco- lem. The Strategy reflects a very clear decision to nomic prosperity of their local areas is now widely provide £3 billion funding for what we call the accepted and understood. Most of our great towns ‘well-found labs’ to make sure that we continue and cities would not be what they are today with- to address those needs. out the universities and innovative businesses that The importance of research and development are based there – these are at the centre of their and scientific enquiry in other Government local economy and the local culture. In every one departments has been too little recognised in of the 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) the past, so there is a commitment to review (in that bring together local councils and businesses advance of the post-election spending review) in every part of England, there is at least one Vice- how to achieve greater visibility and importance Chancellor on the Board and sometimes more. for science in other departments. It works the other way too. There are £12 ­billion The chapter on catalysing innovation in the of funds available across the country to reinvest strategy reflects the improvements that have in local economies. I am absolutely certain­ that been made, but recognises that there is further some of the best recipients of that investment to go in developing and exploiting some of the will be universities, research establishments and discoveries that we make. Two new Catapults are places where innovation takes place. In recent being established – one in energy systems and the funding rounds – no doubt as a result of the other in precision medicine. Further investment participation of those same Vice-Chancellors – is planned in some of the existing Catapults. opportunities have been taken to support science Finally, looking to our place in the wider facilities and institutions. world, the Strategy emphasises the importance of an initiative by David Willetts: the Newton Fund. Openness In this, the UK recognises the strength of the There is huge interest in science across the world. connections between our institutions and those Every morning on the Today programme on Radio in overseas countries, as well as the need for fund- 4, there seems to be one or more science stories ing joint research projects and collaboration. ☐ that are absolutely compelling – the public are interested in this and I think there is an obligation 1 www.gov.uk/government/publications/ to share this work, especially when it is publicly our-plan-for-growth-science-and-innovation

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 7 SCIENCE AND INNOVATION STRATEGY Delivering a prosperous and resilient economy Ann Dowling

his is a crucial time for science, engineer- ing and innovation in the UK. The next IN SUMMARY election will be followed by a very chal- Tlenging Comprehensive Spending Review in • This is a crucial time for science, engineering which all areas, including science and innovation, and innovation will come under close scrutiny. • O pen dialogue between project partners is vital The Strategy sets the scene very well for the • We need to step up our investment in STEM challenges ahead. Indeed, the very fact that we education Professor Dame Ann Dowling A pprenticeships should be regarded as equal DBE FRS FREng is President now have a single document that takes a long- • of the Royal Academy term view across science, innovation and skills is to academic education of Engineering. A world an encouraging development. • We need greater support for the more authority on combustion It highlights two reviews being undertaken to expensive science and engineering courses in and acoustics, she was universities Head of the Department of inform policy development: one led by my coun- Engineering at the University terpart at the Royal Society, Sir Paul Nurse, which of Cambridge from 2009 to is looking at the Research Councils; and one that 2014. Dame Ann is a non- I am leading, addressing collaboration between and we are perhaps missing out on opportunities executive director of BP, a non-executive member of businesses and academic researchers. for academics to be inspired by questions derived the board of the Department I have been asked to look at a specific ques- from the needs of companies. for Business, Innovation tion: how to foster long-term strategic research So, together with my review team, I am looking­ and Skills (BIS) and was a collaborations between academic researchers and for: panel chair for the Research Excellence Framework. companies, in order to deliver broad-based ben- • gaps in current policies and provision; efits to the UK. • opportunities to scale up successful I have had a close involvement in the Research approaches or to transfer good practice in Excellence Framework and have been impressed one sector (or discipline) to others; by the impact case studies, which provide com- • innovative new ideas for interventions pelling evidence that university research results that could make a real difference to our in an enormous range of successful applications. performance. Often, those impacts may be quite unexpect- ed by those who conducted the original research, We are also looking at how recent policy devel- which emphasises the importance of investing opments have impacted on the landscape – for across a wide base of research activity. better or worse. However, there are also many examples of com- In particular, the Review will consider the panies benefitting because they have planned to impact of the UK’s industrial strategy and how work with academia. Certain companies – notably we can use developments here to promote busi- those with structured, well-planned interactions ness-university collaboration. The Review will with universities – are cited over and over again. look across all regions, sectors, research disci- One critical success factor is the development plines, types of companies and universities. of trusting relationships that enable the collabo- rating partners to have an open dialogue over a Capital expenditure period of years. Without this, it is virtually impos- The Science and Innovation Strategy gave some sible to expect a company to share their long-term clarification on plans to invest the £5.9 billion vision with the academics. And if they are not pre- in science capital committed in the Spending pared to do that, there is a serious risk that the Review 2013. academics will try to answer the wrong questions! The consultation on capital had shown strong Understanding industry’s long-term needs support for using this money in rather low-key can be a very rich seam for generating exciting, ways, providing well-found labs in the sci- intellectually-stimulating research questions. ence base and equipment to support individual Every researcher sets out to answer a question research grants won by peer-review. However,

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there is a lack of clarity about what else is included It is important to remember that apprentice- under this heading – it does, for example, include ships are jobs with training. They are in the gift our international subscription to CERN – and we of employers, and employers need to feel suffi- are concerned about how much more is expected ciently secure in the economic outlook to make to come out of this pot. a decision to employ young people and put them £2.9 billion is for capital investment in on a training programme. high-profile ‘grand challenge’ projects. This raises concerns about who is going to pay for the Higher education running costs. The integration of capital commit- There is an increase in the number of students ments with resource planning and skills develop- across all the key STEM disciplines. However, ment is vital. many universities (particularly the pre-1992 group) are now full to capacity and there is, in STEM general, little appetite for expansion. The Strategy highlights the importance of nur- Laboratory-based subjects are expensive to turing scientific talent. The UK does not have deliver. They require large amounts of space and the mineral wealth that other countries can draw infrastructure. HEFCE provides additional sup- on. Our future wealth and prosperity will come port for high-cost subjects but this is insufficient through our scientific knowledge and from add- to cover the costs of teaching, consumables and ing value through innovation. equipment. Engineering UK reports in its 2015 Annual Historically, universities subsidised sci- Digest that the UK needs to recruit an addition- ence and engineering courses through other al 1.82 million people to work in engineering lower-cost subjects. But with students now pay- between 2012 and 2022 (data from UK Commis- ing their fees themselves, they expect, rightly, that sion for Employment and Skills). Yet, currently the money will be spent on them and not used to we only train just over 100,000 new engineers a support other, more expensive subjects. year, both technicians and graduates. We need to Non-UK engineering students now represent nearly double that rate. around a quarter of the cohort. Without these The Strategy notes that in 2014, some 130,000 students paying full fees, many of these courses students sat physics, biology and chemis- would be unsustainable. International students try GCSEs. However, only half of all students help universities balance their budgets and are achieved a C grade or above in mathematics and also an important contributor to UK exports. two sciences. Some 300,000 people each year fail However, the perception in the Indian sub- to achieve the basic level of mathematics and sci- continent and the Far East is that, through chang- ence required for progression to further educa- es in visa requirements and in rhetoric, the UK tion or employment in our sectors. has raised barriers to overseas students. Over the last 10 years, the number of students taking mathematics at A-level has increased For the future significantly, but the number of students taking We need a systems approach to solving the skills A-level physics remains stubbornly low at around shortages in the UK, addressing both enthusiasm 35,000. Only one in five A-level physics students for engineering and opportunities for education is female – a figure that has remained unchanged and training. in the last 20 years. A major programme to change the perceptions The Government highlights opportunities of engineering and science is required, so that stu- for young people through vocational pathways: dents and their influencers see that pursuing these in particular, apprenticeships. These are an excel- subjects opens up a world of opportunities. lent model of training and we in science and engi- We need to ensure that people can come into neering must support this route as being equal to engineering at all stages of their career. I wel- the academic pathway, and not an inferior option. come the Government’s commitment to provide Many young people certainly recognise the funding for HEFCE to work with the engineering value of engineering apprenticeships. Major profession and develop engineering conversion engineering companies like Rolls-Royce, BAE courses for non-engineering graduates. Systems and BT get thousands of applicants for There has to be an increase in the supply of a few hundred places. specialist teachers, not only in mathematics and Yet the real growth in apprenticeships over physics but also in computing, and design & tech- the last five years has occurred in retail, health nology. and social care, and in business. And the number We need to increase employer engagement in starting apprenticeships is actually falling. the education system, supporting careers advice

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and providing real-life context to STEM so that There is much to commend in the Science young people can see these subjects brought to life. and Innovation Strategy. However, the science Higher education needs greater investment to and engineering community, together with the expand provision in science and engineering. Government, still has much to do in order that Finally, tackle the issue of immigration to the UK’s research base, innovation system and allow talented scientists and engineers to study skills can achieve the scale and strength needed and work in the UK. to deliver a prosperous and resilient future. ☐ Science as part of the growth agenda Mike Lynch

e find ourselves in a time where there has been cost-cutting in all areas IN SUMMARY of public expenditure. The reality, though,W is that science has not seen anything • Pure and applied science are coming closer like the cuts suffered by the arts. So how did we together again convince the Chancellor and what does science • T he pure versus applied science debate have to deliver in return? The concept of ‘growth’ represents a flawed analysis Dr Mike Lynch OBE FRS is central here, although this needs to be under- • W e need to pick themes to support, not sectors FREng is the Founder of stood more broadly than in purely economic • T he issue of IP rights urgently needs addressing Invoke Capital, which terms. This would include areas where science • W e must seize the opportunities for growth invests in fundamental European technologies. He can produce benefits that are societal, for exam- has founded and advised ple, in healthcare. a number of companies The former Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce, tum results to produce photonic devices for the ranging from Neurodynamics John Rose, used to say there are only three ways electronics world. to Blinkx. He is best known for founding Autonomy of creating value. First, there is prosperity, dig The traditional debate about funding blue-sky in 1996, the UK’s largest it out of the ground and mine it, although sadly or applied science is, I believe, based on a funda- software company, a we are not sitting on vast gold reserves under mentally flawed analysis. The work done in max- member of the FTSE 100 Peckham; second – grow it, and living in Suffolk imum entropy in astronomy, for example, under- with a market capitalisation of $11 billion. He was its I am convinced that the UK farmer is already pins machine learning, which is one of the most CEO for 15 years until it was extremely efficient so there is not much more to commercially-important areas of applied algo- acquired by Hewlett Packard be gained here; and third – use know-how to turn rithm work. We need to focus more on themes in 2011. He is a member of one thing into something more valuable. That is and how these can deliver impact. the Council for Science and Technology (CST). why science and innovation are crucial to the So it is not a matter of dispensing with blue- growth agenda. sky research because the emphasis is now on the We have gone through a period where a sepa- growth agenda. The problem is that we have not ration has developed between applied (or indus- succeeded in the past in exploiting these advanc- trial) and pure science. For the first 200 years of es. The UK has not been good enough at convert- its existence, those two halves were very closely ing scientific discovery into economic impact. linked in institutions like The Royal Society but Yet in reality, it is an enviable problem to have then they drifted apart. Today, there is a very con- – many countries would wish to have a science scious effort to bring them back together. base like ours. Science can be divided into three categories. First, we can have scientific knowledge that is Uncertainties there for ‘wonder’, addressing questions on, say, What difficulties are there in implementing the origin of the universe. Then there is blue-sky this Strategy? The first is allocating funding research – things like quantum physics, which between different areas of research. Any organ- may not be immediately useful, but are likely to isation, whether a Research Council or company, become so. Finally, there is traditional applied develops institutional inertia. Lots of people get science: for example, using some of those quan- involved in a particular areas, they become very

10 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk SCIENCE AND INNOVATION STRATEGY good at applying for grants and, over time, this tives over the years. So probably best not to rely on The scientific approach becomes embedded. It is then very dif- a single approach to the matter in this Strategy – a community needs to ficult to ‘turn the tap off’ and rebalance. So while Plan B will also be necessary! understand that the no one should be picking winners, the idea of There are good initiatives in the Strategy, Strategy represents a picking themes is attractive. particularly the idea of getting STEM-qualified pact. Science is being We need a mechanism to break up this inertia. female teachers back into teaching after having a preferentially treated. How do we balance support for supercomputing family – I think that would be a very good thing. The implication, research, which has a good history of Government In order to augment the current, limited number though, is that this faith funding against something like algorithms that of teachers, perhaps it is time to start thinking has to be vindicated. does not? There is a need to rebalance. Another about some new approaches, like Massive Open example might involve comparing the benefits Online Courses (MOOCs). to society from genomics on the one hand and a The scientific community needs to under- traditional area like particle physics on the other. stand that the Strategy represents a pact. Due to Assumptions have to be challenged if the Strat- the importance of science and what it can deliver egy is to be aligned with the growth agenda. Of in terms of growth, it is being preferentially treat- course, this is easier said than done! ed. The implication, though, is that this faith has One thing to be careful of in any strategy is not to be vindicated. Science will have to demonstrate trying to do too much. There is always a politi- how it is succeeding. cal context but trying to solve regional economic problems by, for example, bending the science Challenges strategy would be a very bad mistake. This Strat- British science faces a series of very high-profile egy does, I think, tread a reasonable line on this. challenges. There is absolute excellence in the sci- The next issue is technology transfer and sci- ence base and the first priority is to maintain that. ence exploitation. The most important thing to We now have a Strategy from a Government that understand here is the level of ambition. Read the understands the importance of science over other publications of a university’s technology trans- calls for funding. We have made great strides in fer office and the impression given is that this starting to achieve impact from our people and is working incredibly well. Yet, while everyone our science base. has an outstanding example of what has been However, science must take a hard look at achieved, in the context of the science base the itself. Institutional inertia must be tackled. Excel- efficiency in moving from science excellence to lence must be maintained at all costs. Finally, economic impact is still very low. The UK has to while blue-sky research is absolutely consistent do much, much better at this. We are definitely with the growth agenda, that argument only going the right way, but real success involves a works if opportunities to translate it are fully much greater scale of transfer. executed. ☐ One major technical barrier to this is the issue of IP – Intellectual Property Rights. Some univer- sity Vice-Chancellors believe it should always be FURTHER INFORMATION owned by the universities. Others say it should be automatically available to other partners so there Our plan for growth: science and innovation (Command Paper 8980) is no restriction on implementing the technology. www.gov.uk/government/publications/our-plan-for-growth-science-and-innovation Another camp thinks that the researcher should Association for Independent Research and Technology Organisations own the technology, not the institution. This www.airto.co.uk can be a really big problem for a small- to medi- Dowling review um-sized company (SME) trying to work with a http://www.raeng.org.uk/policy/dowling-review university. This issue really has to be resolved: it is Government Office for Science a major barrier to successful technology transfer. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-office-for-science A relatively simple issue is the VAT rules. Move Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) a small business onto the end of a bench in a uni- www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk versity – which is exactly what the Strategy wants Newton Fund to achieve – and suddenly the institution is liable www.rcuk.ac.uk/international/newton for VAT. Small problems like this can easily be Nurse Review of Research Councils resolved and allow collaboration to move forward. www.gov.uk/government/publications/nurse-review-of-research-councils-terms-of- Encouraging more young people to choose the reference STEM subjects – Science, Technology Engineer- Research Councils UK ing and Mathematics – has been a long-standing www.rcuk.ac.uk problem, one that has resisted a series of initia-

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RESPONSE FROM THE ROYAL SOCIETY Professor Alex Halliday FRS, Physical Secretary and Vice-President of The Royal Society, gave a response to the speakers before the general discussion began.

This is a crucial time for science, engineering and The Research Councils are to be reviewed innovation in the UK. The next election will be followed by a study led by the President of The Royal Society, by a very challenging Comprehensive Spending Sir Paul Nurse. Looking across the Atlantic, the Review in which all areas, including science and American National Science Foundation’s primary innovation, will come under close scrutiny. goal is to fund exciting ideas, getting the great ideas The view of The Royal Society is that the Strategy out of the science community and putting money is a very positive statement about the role of science behind them. Sir Paul’s review will examine how in society. good the Research Councils are in achieving this for the UK. Untapped potential However, there are aspects of science policy that Supporting strategic science need more deliberation. The Research Excellence The issue of UK strategic capability is very Framework (REF) has allowed the UK to think more controversial. It is not yet clear how the country nimbly about its universities’ activities and how should support major strategic science that is being to obtain strategic advantage. Yet it has untapped carried out through national laboratories and other potential. By reading outputs and looking at impact non-university institutions. statements, it can provide a measure of how good The Strategy refers to ‘place’ as one of the criteria this country is in certain areas. It is currently used for for selecting where to put resources for new science allocating funding, but the information could also be initiatives. There are opportunities to connect with used to help decide which areas should grow through local communities more effectively here and that is a greater support. great opportunity for the future.

The debate Issues raised in the debate included:

rguments about the value of intellectu- The public needs to be aware of the impact, which al property (IP) hinder collaboration needs to be communicated, and needs to be seen between universities and industry, partic- to be aligned with policies that might alleviate Aularly with middle-sized companies. Big business- social issues such as unemployment. es with expert legal advice can afford to negotiate The REF showed which universities had IP agreements with universities, while start-ups achieved most impact from their research. Per- with a few graduates from the university may not haps there should be a national target for research concern themselves with this. Mid-sized busi- and impact; but there are challenging problems in nesses can afford neither the time nor expense of measurement. negotiating agreements with universities who have The tax credit system for R&D is flawed. The access to expensive legal advice. Sometimes they broad definition of R&D by HMRC gives credits simply walk away, and the research is not exploited. for spending that is not actually R&D. Adjustment Much of the problem is that every university of the rules could focus benefits on areas where the had a different perspective on IP. A way forward added value from exploitation is greatest. could be a consensus on a selection of model There should be a clear policy regarding the pro-forma IP agreements. Technology transfer contribution from public sector research estab- depends on trust, and trust cannot exist if the lishments. PRSEs make an important contribu- parties are wrangling about IP. tion and, alongside Departmental R&D budgets, The impact of research and innovation is cru- are an essential part of the research landscape. The cial to the UK but needs to be measured other contribution of research institutes funded by char- than just in traditional economic growth metrics. ities or companies should also be recognised. ☐

12 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk THE HAUSER REVIEW In 2010, the Hauser Report proposed the establishment of what became known as the Catapult centres for technology translation. Four years later, Dr Hauser was asked to review the network. His subsequent Report was the basis for a debate at The Foundation for Science and Technology on 12 November 2014. The translation of research Hermann Hauser

want to look at some of the problems asso- ciated with science translation and highlight IN SUMMARY the mismatch between expenditure on sci- Ience, where the UK is excellent, and the amount • The UK is very good at science, less so at spent on translation, where it is not. Then I will translation outline the findings of the Review itself. • Government should grow the Catapult network at a rate of about two per year The role of universities • Catapults need to link more closely to SMEs and to universities Dr Hermann Hauser CBE What are universities for? Everybody agrees that FRS FREng is co-founder producing highly-skilled graduates is by far the • There is a major opportunity for the UK in of Amadeus Capital and most important thing they do. To illustrate just healthcare Chair of the Hauser Review how important that is, the earning power of the • Science translation represents a ‘third mission’ of the Catapult Network. He for universities has founded or co-founded students educated by UK universities is roughly a companies in a wide range of hundred times the income these institutions gen- technology sectors, including erate from intellectual property (IP). There is also Acorn Computers (where he general agreement that research is a key mission evolutionary and revolutionary breakthroughs. helped spin out ARM), Active Book Company, Virata, Net that has been entrusted to our universities – and One is appropriate for licensing and the other is Products, NetChannel and that is done particularly well in the UK. much more appropriate for start-ups. Cambridge Network Limited. Since the days of Lord Sainsbury, however, An archetypal evolutionary development is the He has also been a member universities have had a third mission, which is jet engine: in the UK, Rolls-Royce has done fan- of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Group, supported by the third stream of funding – higher tastically well in keeping up with the latest devel- the Council for Science and education innovation funding (HEIF) – and this opments. With revolutionary breakthroughs like Technology and actively is all about science translation. the electric car, though, it is not the mighty Ger- supported many initiatives to Britain has four universities in the world’s Top man car industry that makes the best in the world support research. Ten – Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and Oxford. at the moment, it is a Californian start-up called Measured by citations, the UK is second only to Tesla. This car was conceived from the ground the USA and in terms of results per pound spent, up as an electric car and it was that willingness to it reaches number one in the world. However, leave the past behind and think about new tech- spending on translating the wonderful science nologies in a holistic way that allowed them to we produce is disproportionately lower. exploit the opportunity. Tesla now has a market Figure 1 (page 15) shows the amount of money capitalisation that is more than half that of Mer- that various countries spend on translation, com- cedes or BMW, so in a very small number of years pared with the UK. Compare the amount spent they have created an enormous amount of value. on Catapults with the sums Germany spends on Fraunhofer Centres. Or take Finland, which The Catapults spends roughly the same amount as the UK on There were a number of criteria for using tax- translation but is a much smaller country. payers’ money to support new institutions, i.e. Science translation works mainly through the the Catapults, that help with technology transfer: transfer of people. It may not be the professor lead- ing the group, but somebody in that group has to take the technology and all the know-how and do something with it, in a start-up or a larger company. Science translation works mainly through the transfer of people: somebody in that Scientific breakthroughs Now there are different types of scientific break- group has to take the technology and all throughs. At its simplest, these can be divided into the know-how and do something with it. fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 13 THE HAUSER REVIEW

1 Unless the potential market is measured techniques. I met a number of young people at in billions of pounds, it will not ‘move the one of the Catapult centres who really appreci- needle’ for UK plc; ated being able to get their hands on the latest 2 This is not about filling holes but building on lathes. It was good to see these young people mountains; engaged with the latest technology, which they 3 The institution has to focus on a platform would not have had access to at their local poly- technology that benefits a whole sector, not a technic or university. single company; The satellite applications Catapult had a 4 There has to be a means of exploiting the ­wonderful database of satellite images of Brit- results for UK plc. But this does not mean ain. Many companies have been able to access this keeping the whole value chain in this image bank and write programs that take advan- country. A multi-billion dollar opportunity tage of the database. In fact, there have been so is normally global in nature. If it is global, it many of them, it was necessary to build an incu- is unlikely that every part of the value stack bator! can best be done in this (or any one) country. So the two that pre-existed can already show very clear and impressive results. One of the most The right strategy is to pick a high-value part striking features is the funding model: a third of the value stack and say ‘this is ours; if anyone should come from Government, a third from wants to play here, they have a fight on their hands industry (it is important to recognise that this and we are going to win it’. The other parts can should not be more than a third because if it were, be done elsewhere in the world. In consequence, then industry might as well do it themselves, but having this connectivity with the rest of the world also not less than a third because then it is not is a very important part of any national initiative. really clear whether industry really wants it). The At the end of 2014, there were already seven final third comes from competitive bids for proj- Catapults: ects from industry or the EU. • High-value manufacturing; I was particularly taken by the cell therapy • Cell therapy; Catapult. It is located on the 12th floor of Guy’s • Satellite applications; Hospital. Two floors above is the research lab- • Offshore renewable energy; oratory of Fiona Watts, one of our superstars in • Digital economy; cell and stem cell technologies. Two floors below • Future cities; there are the hospital beds where the trials can • Transport systems. take place. It is an ideal position.

Two new Catapults are due to be launched in Conclusions 2015: energy systems and precision medicine. After visiting these centres, I reached nine Two actually pre-existed the Catapult ini- ­conclusions, which are in my Review: tiative – high-value manufacturing and satel- lite applications. I went to see Vince Cable and 1 The Catapults that already exist need con­ complained about the high-value manufacturing tinuing support; Catapult and told him it was not what I had in 2 They need set milestones, with periodic mind. It comprised seven different centres rather reviews; than one and I had strongly recommended there 3 There has been unanimous support for the should just be one centre per sector. Having vis- 1/3:1/3:1/3 funding model. This is, indeed, ited them, I have changed my mind and there is a very similar to the Fraunhofer model; very simple reason: manufacturing technologies 4 The network of Catapults should grow by are so very different from each other that a single one or two a year to end up with, say, 20 by centre would not have been appropriate. 2020 and 30 by 2030; There has been a discussion whether Cata- 5 There is a need to redouble our efforts in pults ought to be involved in the skills-base, i.e. building relationships with SMEs; helping train young people in these advanced 6 Being industry-led is the correct option for the Catapults but there has to be greater emphasis on building relationships with The right strategy is to pick a high-value part universities; of the value stack and say ‘this is ours; if 7 We need to set new, more detailed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) because anyone wants to play here, they have a fight people will work to score highly on their on their hands and we are going to win it’. evaluation criteria. This aspect needs some

14 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk THE HAUSER REVIEW

VTT Public core TNO Public competitive Commercial Other ITRI

Fraunhofer Institutes

ETRI

Catapults

Carnot

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

Figure 1. Funding for science-translation programmes in different countries (€ millions) (VTT – Finland; TNO – Netherlands; ITRI – Taiwan; Fraunhofer – Germany; ETRI – Korea; Catapults – UK; Carnot – France)

thought and also more detailed collection of ­simple back-of-the-envelope calculation. In the data. We will be working with the Open Data USA, they spend about $3 trillion a year: one- Institute (ODI) to get access to Government third is spent on diagnostics and keeping people data, more easily and automatically; out of hospital, with the remaining money going 8 Catapults also have a function as a ‘neutral to treat people who are ill. The hope is that within convener’ within clusters – bridging the gap the next three to five years, this balance will swing between universities and industry. It is still towards 50:50. unusual for university professors to move That is the most monumental change in terms out to industry and back (especially back!). of the health spend, towards keeping people out Maybe Catapults, as half-way houses to of hospital. It will be partially enabled by person- industry, can help; alised medicine and, of course, this is increasing- 9 There are a number of Government ly linked to the internet of things and machine initiatives that are ‘catapult-like’. It would learning. The connection to the internet of things be a shame if the experience already gained is obvious in that there will be so much more from the first seven Catapults was not made information about people’s basic parameters like available to these other initiatives. blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and skin resistance, etc. Of course, none of this will go anywhere However, in the combination of the internet of unless you have entrepreneurs and unusual things and machine learning, in my opinion the people like Steve Jobs. What characteristics do machine learning is by far the more important. they have? Well, passion is really the number one The internet of things will produce another del- thing to look for, and unreasonable optimism uge of data and there are not enough people in the that the project is going to work. The ability to world to analyse that, so there has to be an auto- lead a team is important and, of course, access to matic technique of doing so. Fortunately, com- venture capital. puter scientists have devised some very powerful machine learning techniques to do just that. ☐ The next big thing? Looking to the future, where are the big oppor- Passion is really the number one thing tunities? The biggest single opportunity lies, I believe, in the health sector. It is a $1 trillion to look for, and unreasonable optimism opportunity – the figure comes from a very that the project is going to work.

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 15 THE HAUSER REVIEW Facilitating technology ­translation in key market areas Simon Edmonds

was fortunate enough to work with Hermann Hauser on his first Report, in 2010, and went IN SUMMARY to the Technology Strategy Board – Innovate IUK as it is now known – to implement it. • The UK has an acknowledged strength in The UK has a globally strong academic base, research but a weakness in technology huge inventive capability at universities, charita- translation ble sectors (such as the Wellcome Trust, Cancer • The country has fallen behind in terms of Research, etc) and leading businesses, but there is innovation compared with our competitors Simon Edmonds is Director a weakness in technology transfer. This was partly • The Catapult network is designed to address of the Catapult Programme the translation challenge in key market areas at Innovate UK (formerly a result of the Government removing support from the Technology Strategy this intermediate sector over several decades. • The network needs to grow steadily in order to Board). Before moving To quantify the problem, Tera Allas, Director maximise the benefits to the UK to the TSB Simon was General of Economics at BIS, produced a Report This will require further public ­investment Director for Innovation at the • Department for Business, in January 2014 alluding to the world-class Innovation and Skills (BIS). strengths that we have in many aspects of the He was responsible for system, but pointing out the real and concerning The Hauser Review talks about expanding many innovation and growth weakness in the technology transfer area. It is in this network for the future: yet clearly, in May reviews and manufacturing strategies, including the this area that Catapults are going to play a leading 2015, we will have a new Government. There £2.7 billion Regional Growth role. are already debates about the level of spending Fund. Catapults are also helping to develop our skills cuts. Well, we have persuaded Government of the base. There are two shining examples of that: the necessity for investment in this area before – we Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in will have to do so again if we are to achieve the 30 Sheffield and the Manufacturing Technology proposed for 2030 by Hermann’s Review! Centre at Ansty Park in Coventry, which is build- Today, though, there are seven Catapults. All ing a state-of-the-art training facility. of them are up and running. This represents an In terms of international comparisons, our investment over five years of some £1.4 billion in R&D spend has been static at about 1.8 per cent private and public-sector funding. My organisa- of GDP since the early 1990s. However, every- tion establishes and oversees them. This has been body else is making strides forward. The UK has achieved at a reasonable pace and we should be now moved from an innovation leader position able to progress them more quickly as time goes within the EU, to an innovation follower – and on. There are two new ones being set up: energy that cannot be right for an economy of our size systems and precision medicine. and ambition. One of the Review’s recommendations was ‘invest in what you have’ and we are doing that. Delivering innovation For example we are investing in cell therapy man- So what was the answer? The first Hauser Report ufacturing. In the 2014 Budget, the Chancellor looked at competitor nations in some detail: the announced a £55 million investment in a cell ther- result was a proposal for technology and innova- apy manufacturing centre and a further £19 mil- tion centres, or Catapults as they became known. lion investment in graphene at the Centre for Pro- After the Coalition came to Government we cess Innovation at the University of Manchester. made a very strong pitch for their establishment. New facilities have either been opened – the But you have to remember the economic condi- second building at the Composite Centre in tions at the time. When the Coalition came to Bristol was opened in October by Vince Cable power, one of the first things they did was enter – or are under construction: there is a biolog- a 60-day review period, which resulted in £6 bil- ics manufacturing centre being erected at Dar- lion of public spending cuts. Yet during that same lington, a training centre at the Manufacturing period we managed to make the case for £200 Technology Centre in Ansty, and an aerospace million spending on Catapults. centre. These are all capital facilities and we are

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requesting an equivalent amount of resource one location. Most Catapults are now thinking of Location is very, very funding from Government. developing along the lines of a national centre, important and while but with outreach facilities. The digital Catapult there may be some What is a Catapult centre? recently opened in Euston Road, London, but obvious gaps on the These are physical centres where organisations one of its early announcements was the support map of the UK, this is can access world-leading technology expertise, of three separate nodes of activity in Sunderland, for good reasons of great people and, in addition, gain the oppor- Bradford and Brighton. university engagement tunity to undertake collaborative research and So location is very, very important and while and clustering around development projects with business or contract there may be some obvious gaps on the map of the businesses. research from business. What we create there is a UK, this is for good reasons of university engage- critical mass of activity. ment and clustering around businesses. Figure 1 shows where they sit within the sys- Many of the people in the Catapults have given tem. Universities and other research centres up very significant roles to come and take part in operate at the lower technology readiness levels the network, as did many of the chief executives in (TRLs). Businesses are much closer to market and the first of them, the high-value manufacturing the Catapult centres are in the middle, as indeed is ­Catapult. The centres are proving to be places Innovate UK, which spans that whole area. where people want to come and build their careers. The timeline has been quite fast because we We have a very effective governance structure have been establishing a brand new network. with extremely capable and prominent chairs. ­High-value manufacturing was pulled together So Catapults really are driven by the people that in 2011 and there has been a steady progression work within them. We can obviously fund equip- of Catapults with four opening in 2013 alone, and ment, data facilities and great locations, but it is two more to come by April 2015. people that make the decisions and people that The decision on where to locate each of them make ­Catapults work. is absolutely critical because these are each estab- lished as a single physical entity – apart from The Review higher-value manufacture, which is a consortium The Hauser Review was undertaken in response of seven organisations. It is critical that we have to a challenge from Vince Cable and then David a good location and we take a great deal of time Willetts. They asked: “What next? There are now determining where that location could be. seven of these Catapults, what should we be look- In some cases this is obvious, like Harwell ing for with an economy of our size?” for satellite applications where the European The Review recommends organic growth. Space Agency has its Business Incubation Unit Growing some of the existing Catapults is one and a large part of the UK’s space infrastructure method: for example, moving from the estab- is located. Even so, that Catapult has already lishment of the cell therapy Catapult to setting up formed three external outreach centres since it cell therapy manufacturing and then inviting the is not always possible for everybody to come to industry to cluster around that location. It is like

Figure 1. The place of the Catapults in the innovation spectrum

Technology Readiness Levels

Basic principles Demonstration in a Prototype demonstration in observed laboratory environment operational development

TRL 1 2 345 687 9

Universities Research Centres, Research Technology Organisations

CATAPULT

Industry (Large & SMEs) Test&D, Contract Research Organisations

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the Formula 1 story – keep all of the technology advisory group while the other will be an industry and all of the expertise in one place. Will we do advisory group. more of that? I think we will. Yet there are other challenges highlighted in Targets the Review. First, there is SME engagement. There By far the most stretching challenge is to achieve is a lot of work going on in Catapults to achieve the 30 Catapults by 2030 – and 20 by 2020. This will this. We are engaging with SMEs in a number of need significant public investment. Vince Cable them, but there are a lot of very high-growth busi- was recently making the case to Treasury for a nesses out there. I know, from my own experience doubling of the Innovate UK budget. Creating this in running SMEs before joining Government, that pipeline of new Catapults is going to be very inter- they just do not have the time to go and find a lot esting work. The Fraunhofer network in Germany of the things that are on offer. So we recognise that has been operating since 1947 and currently has 67 the Catapults will have to do much of the work to institutes. Yet it also has a further 51 centres in wait- get engagement going. ing, so it is not a static organisation. It is looking for- Similarly, we are getting stronger at engage- ward at the next areas of technology and markets. ment with universities and the Research Councils. In order to create the pipeline proposed for We are reaching towards the research base. Each Cata­pults and deliver the network, there needs to Catapult will have, ­typically, two structures that be a robust funding model – and that will surely be help inform its strategy. One will be a research a matter for discussion over the coming months. ☐ The Catapults – building the skills base Adrian Allen

n the 10 years since we opened the first Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre IN SUMMARY (AMRC) building, a thousand direct jobs Ihave been created. The site has become home to • Success can be measured in terms of the two founding members of the Advanced Manu- creation of sustainable jobs facturing Catapult. Yet a little over 30 years ago, • Start-ups face an almost impossible task trying it was a derelict slag heap where striking miners, selling their innovation into large businesses Catapults have the capacity and capability to Adrian Allen OBE is led by Arthur Scargill, were facing lines of police • Commercial Director of in a battle over jobs. help transfer technology the University of Sheffield I believe the ultimate reason we are building • Catapults have significant regional impacts as Advanced Manufacturing the Catapults today is to create significant num- well as national ones Research Centre (AMRC) Catapults are an important vehicle of job with Boeing. The Centre bers of sustainable jobs. Those jobs have been • was launched in 2001 as created through university-led innovation, devel- creation the result of a proposal oped with both local industry and global players. Adrian and the University Companies attracted to the area by the pres- of Sheffield Professor Keith Ridgeway made for a joint ence of the AMRC include Rolls-Royce, which Regional Innovation Unit for Yorkshire saw the venture between Boeing has invested in a new factory to manufacture potential and helped to get the ball rolling. and the university. Prior to single-crystal turbine blades here. The AMRC was born out of frustrations sur- joining the Centre, Adrian We have turned a sow’s ear into a silk purse rounding technology transfer. In those days, it was held senior positions in the advanced tools and and we are very proud of what has been achieved, virtually impossible for innovative small firms to aerospace industries, but it could not have happened without the sell their products or ideas into big multination- including a period as sales Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the als. Trying to convince a global giant that there is director at Sheffield tooling Department for Business, Innovation and Skills a ­better, quicker, cheaper, safer and greener way company Technicut. (BIS) and now Innovate UK. of creating their systems is not easy, particularly What has become the AMRC began with no if your disruptive product competes with theirs by funding support from anyone. However, the lasting longer: it eats into their profit. But I think

18 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk THE HAUSER REVIEW

there is a way of overcoming this difficulty. up the UK’s High-Value Manufacturing Catapult. In order to create the I had experienced the frustrations at first hand, Demand for our services is such that, today, we pipeline proposed for with a new cutting tool, developed to speed pro- face the problem of competition between exist- catapults and deliver duction and cut the cost of components for the Joint ing and potential AMRC partners. If one major the network, there Strike Fighter. The tool worked 12 times faster than aero-engine manufacturer is a partner, it can needs to be a robust anybody in the major aerospace manufacturers be difficult to do joint development work with funding model. thought that it could. Boeing picked up on the idea, another. There are ways to overcome this, though, but I could not make a sale because it is impossible and as a commercial director I do not want to turn for a large company to put its trust in a start-up. down dollars that create­ sustainable wealth and However, I saw an article by Boeing’s Chief jobs in my region. Technical Officer (CTO) who said he had people scouring the world for the best, quickest, cheapest, Regional impact safest, easiest, greenest way of making parts and his All the Catapult centres have significant region- wish was to create an unbiased source of informa- al impact. SMEs are important but there are so tion, a centre of excellence to accelerate this quest. many of them and there is a cost to engagement. It costs just as much to visit a one-man-band as it Centres of excellence does to go to a billion dollar business. That does He proposed setting up centres in key areas of his not mean we underestimate the importance of business such as air-traffic control and avionics. smaller businesses, but the costs – in terms of We bid for one in advanced machining and the time and money – have to be taken into account. AMRC started to take off. So we need to do things slightly differently in How do you create a centre of excellence – one order to engage effectively. It is important to real- with the capacity to undertake the work, the capa- ise that when we help a large company such as bility to do it right, and the commitment to do Rolls-Royce win a massive order, this creates jobs something different? It is not easy as stakeholder for SMEs in Ansty, Derby or wherever in the UK, needs can differ greatly – sometimes the needs of as for reasons such as locality and responsiveness, Government, universities and industry differ and big firms will engage smaller companies. conflict. Governments may want job creation, a The Government is quite rightly focussing on university wishes to move up the rankings while growth and jobs. New tools, techniques and tech- industry wants profits, seeing reduced R&D and nologies can be the worst thing for jobs because low labour production as enablers. Workers want they are often not labour-intensive. Take an air- still other things. So, how to develop a clear-cut craft bulkhead that used to have 44 riveted parts proposal that offers benefits for all and no conflict? in the old days – a new version has six. That means Sheffield had historically built a global reputa- the fixtures and the jigs that go with it come down tion for excellence in steel and manufacturing and from 53 to five. Crucially, 50 assembly workers 55 per cent of local jobs were in manufacturing. come down to five. So how does that create jobs? However, many of these were traditional craft- based industries and the technological revolution New opportunities in the last century saw new technologies and CNC That bulkhead now costs 73 per cent less, so we machines replacing traditional methods, with can generate more sales, more profit – and more 92,000 manufacturing jobs eventually being lost. jobs – for the same investment. Do nothing, do To stay in business, it is necessary to remain not invest in the future, and the final five assem- at the forefront, with new tools, techniques and bly jobs will go. technologies, so there was a local need for the We often talk about next-generation manufac- kind of change a centre of excellence could bring. turing but where are the next generation, the new The Sheffield region had the essential capacity, engineers coming from? All the Catapults have a capability – and most importantly the commit- wealth of good, skilled young people working in ment to invest. So we approached the DTI and them. We have hundreds of home-grown, Brit- our Regional Development Agency and the plan ish-educated scientists and businessmen, but now gathered momentum. we also have apprentices who have been given a Capability entails having the best people, best phenomenal opportunity thanks to our Catapults. product, processes, plant and equipment. We Success by my definition can be measured in must have those if we are to entice the world’s new jobs. We now have just over 280 youngsters best to come to Sheffield – and keep them here. between 16 and 22 actively engaged in paid-for, Since the launch of the AMRC, the same process fast-track apprenticeships – on a former slag-heap! has been replicated and Sheffield is now home to And we plan to take on and train a further 250 year- two of seven such centres of excellence that make on-year, with every one backed by industry. ☐

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 19 THE HAUSER REVIEW The debate Issues raised in the debate included:

here was some debate on the locations There was disagreement about whether the of the Catapults with some in the audi- evidence for judging the benefits claimed for ence commenting on their absence from Catapults is yet available. The Panel acknowl- Tthe South West, Wales and Northern Ireland. edged that, although some of the seven have Others, though, stressed the importance of scored important successes, and all are equipped ensuring that the Catapults were placed where with high-quality staff and infrastructure, the they could be most effective. initiative is still relatively new and so “the jury It was argued that innovation prospers best in is still out”. clusters and that clusters take a very long time The Hauser Review made an important rec- to mature. Successful clusters emerge in loca- ommendation that Key Performance Indicators tions where there is a readiness by academics should be agreed. The aim has to be to devise to engage with commerce and industry and measures which would give the Catapults the where, on the other hand, commerce and indus- right goals and incentives while still ensuring try are open to innovation and collaboration, that they work ahead of the market. If continu- rather than insisting on keeping traditional pat- ing funding support from both Government and terns of work. industry is to be assured, they need soon to pro- duce hard evidence of their value and successes, Commercial exploitation particularly in comparison with other options for Some speakers were concerned that Catapults exploiting research. could undermine the important contribution Intellectual property issues (which can be a big being made by Research Technology Organisa- concern of universities) must not be allowed to tions (RTOs) in eliminating the ‘translation gap’. impede the work of the centres to facilitate suc- Some also challenged the suggestion that privati- cessful innovation and commercial exploitation. sation of RTOs had diminished that contribution. Collaboration with the Research Councils seems It was also argued that there could be mutually to be working well and this initiative is important beneficial collaboration between RTOs and Cat- for all parties. apults. The discussion also considered whether Commercial exploitation the current management of the Catapults ade- The Catapults are making a valuable contribution quately reflects the gender balance of the UK. to skills training through apprenticeships. And There are no women at leadership level although university research students are working in, and there are some in non-executive positions at being supervised by, the Catapults. However, the Board level. Although recruitment processes longer-term jobs created by successful commer- were open, the Panel acknowledged the desir- cial exploitation facilitated by Catapults is likely ability for the ­centres to recruit more women at to be far greater than the shorter-term jobs creat- a senior level. ed in the centres themselves. ☐

FURTHER INFORMATION

Intellectual property Review of the Catapult Network: Recommendations on the future shape, scope and ambition of issues (which can the programme by Dr Hermann Hauser CBE FRS FREng FInstP be a big concern of www.gov.uk/government/news/hauser-report-calls-for-long-term-expansion-of-catapult-network universities) must Catapult Centre Network not be allowed to www.catapult.org.uk impede the work of the Innovate UK centres to facilitate www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk successful innovation University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and commercial www.amrc.co.uk exploitation.

20 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk INNOVATION IN SCOTLAND Scotland’s research community needs to agree priorities for the future and identify how to maximise the contribution of research and innovation programmes to the economy. A meeting of the Foundation, held jointly with The Royal Society of Edinburgh on 29 October 2014, discussed these challenges. What makes a good science policy? Muffy Calder

y role as Chief Scientific Adviser pri- marily concerns science for policy, IN SUMMARY not policy for science. By ‘science for Mpolicy’ I mean using scientific principles and • E ight innovation centres set up under the evidence to shape policies. So I want to look Scottish Funding Council at the questions we need to ask about science • S ynthetic biology identified as an opportunity policies and how the resulting evidence can be for Scotland applied. • P erhaps we should fund distributed centres of Professor Muffy Calder The question being addressed is: ‘How can excellence rather than critical mass at one institution OBE FRSE FREng FBCS was we maximise the strengths of our research and Chief Scientific Adviser for innovation base in Scotland?’ Before it can be • T imescales for infrastructure vary across Scotland at the time of this answered, it needs to be unpicked a little. different disciplines meeting and is Professor We must foster greater diversity of Computing Science at First, what are Scotland’s strengths in these • the University of Glasgow. areas? How can they be measured? Who or what She was previously a would be the beneficiary if specific aspects were Royal Society Leverhulme maximised? What measures are important to us? Again, Research Senior Fellow and Dean for Research in We need to consider what has been done in this is my own list, which only shows a selection the College of Science and the past, what worked and what did not work so of the parameters that may be relevant: Engineering at the University well. These are all pretty big questions. It is not • jobs; of Glasgow. possible to go into all of them in great detail here, • numbers of people involved in science and but it may be valuable to delineate some of the engineering; parameters. • number, size and types of organisations; Everyone has their view of Scotland’s research • financial contribution to GDP; strengths. Here is my personal list: • the number of international scientists (as • biosciences (specifically, the life sciences a proxy for the excellence of science and of pharmaceuticals, animal breeding and engineering that happens in Scotland); health); • paper citations and patents; • biotechnology, bioinformatics, systems and • new career-workers entering the field; synthetic biology; • diversity of the workforce; • regenerative medicine; • new companies and inward investment. • sensors, imaging systems and quantum technologies; The beneficiaries of a strong science and inno- • e-health and linked data initiatives; vation base (which will influence which aspects • stratified medicine; we want to maximise) could include: • renewable energy, especially marine aspects; • the economy – a simple word but a very • computer science and informatics; complex beast; • nanoscience and nanofabrication • the wellbeing of people who use the results of engineering, in particular facilities such as science and engineering; the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre in • the wellbeing of the scientists and engineers Glasgow, which is unique in the UK; themselves, and their personal fulfilment • fundamental physics; through the pursuit of science and engineering; • Peter Higgs and all the particle physicists who • science and engineering itself as a body of are working to prove the theories. knowledge;

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• companies, both large and small, and where in context. they base themselves (within the UK or Scotland currently has four universities in the abroad). Times Higher World Top 200, so we are already doing something right. We need to continue that Strengthening science and innovation and enhance that. What has already been done to strengthen sci- What can we learn from other countries? ence and innovation in Scotland? Take three Two countries that stand out are Israel and Fin- recent initiatives. First, and one of the most sig- land, for different reasons. In Israel, all young nificant, was the setting up of eight innovation people are conscripted and some of their top centres within the ‘Innovation Scotland’ frame- scientists work in specialist science and technol- work. They focus on stratified medicine, digital ogy units. When they finish, many go on to set health, sensors and imaging, oil and gas, data up a small company to commercialise the work science, industrial biotechnology, construction they did in the unit. This is a very interesting and aquaculture. They are all funded by the model, although not one I necessarily think we ­Scottish Funding Council and are industry-led. should adopt. Their aim is to bring together more closely the Finland, on the other hand, uses a very differ- work of university researchers and the industrial ent model. It has been highly successful through community. large companies such as Nokia over the past Second, the Scottish Science Advisory Coun- decade, but they too are concerned about chang- cil published a report on synthetic biology. es. It has set up initiatives to encourage innova- Its goal was to highlight the opportunities for this tion and the growth of small companies, as we new area of science in both the environment have in Scotland. One of their key messages, I and the economy. It looks at the opportunities for understand, is not to forget the scientist. Initia- fundamental science, industrial biotechnology, tives that focus too much on mechanisms in medicine and health, energy and agriculture in a order to achieve specific goals, may be less suc- Scottish context. The report concludes that there cessful, ultimately, than initiatives that fund indi- has been great progress, particularly with respect viduals to pursue goals that are important to to platform technologies for synthetic biology, them. and there is still everything to play for. The chal- lenge now is building on this progress and seeing Funding mechanisms the results. The Research Councils are increasingly funding The third initiative concerns people, specifi- research in terms of ‘critical mass’. But to what cally recruiting and retaining the best and bright- extent does that critical mass need to be in one est into STEM subjects. Progress in this area over institution? the past decade has been impressive. During the Many topics can be pursued in a distributed nine years up to 2012/13, the number of degree fashion and in Scotland there is a long history of students in engineering, mathematics, life and doing that successfully, particularly in areas physical sciences rose by between 40 and 60 per other than the life sciences. I am a little worried cent depending on the subject – physical sciences that we are trying to apply the life science model topped the list with an increase of 63.8 per cent. to all the other sciences – that may not work so However, we must not become complacent: well. Strong clusters and good mobility between during the same period the number of business groups are important here. Factors such as the administration students swelled to twice the speed of the trains between Glasgow and Edin- number of engineering students. The number of burgh are relevant. law students well exceeds the number of physical Funding mechanisms also need to accommo- science students and the number of economics date the different timescales needed to establish and politics students increased by 75 per cent, to infrastructure in different types of science. For more than twice the number of students of math- example, high-energy physics may need a 20 to 30 ematics. Finally, the number of IT students fell by year timescale, life sciences five to 10 years, while 58 per cent. So, although the increase in science computing science may only require one year or students is very encouraging, it needs to be seen even less. There needs to be a mixture of funding ­mechanisms – funding for thinking, for tools, for There needs to be a mixture of funding empirical investigations. Although people may prefer bottom-up funding mechanisms, top- mechanisms – funding for thinking, for down funding has benefits too: offer finance for a tools, for empirical investigations. particular topic and researchers may be motivat-

22 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk INNOVATION IN SCOTLAND ed to come up with possibilities for new science missing the opportunity to participate in key sci- that had not been thought of before. ence and engineering disciplines, and those dis- ciplines are missing their possible contributions. People It is interesting to note that I sit on an EU future Last but not least, we must not forget people. It and emerging technologies advisory committee is essential that we encourage diversity, both in and the countries I mentioned earlier in being terms of age and gender. Recently there has been a outstanding for support of scientists, Israel and much greater emphasis on young career research- Finland, are both represented by women. ers, which is good. However, for many scientists, To recap, we need to identify the potential ben- the forties are their golden years, the time when eficiaries of a strong science and innovation base they consolidate everything they have done as they will influence which aspects we decide to and set the scene for the next two decades. The maximise. Scotland’s innovation centres must be middle-aged scientists should not be forgotten! allowed to run and develop – it is important not to They must be allowed to flourish and be protected tinker with them too much. We should set them from becoming ground-down by other responsi- up, let them go and see what they can do. These bilities. things take a long time to get going so we should As for gender, the news is not good. In uni- not be unrealistic in our expectations. versity entrance for engineering technology sub- Finally, and most importantly, do not forget jects, the male-to-female ratio is 85.5 per cent and the individual. We not only need to support good in computer science it is 81.7 per cent. We must individuals in doing good work, but we need to encourage more girls into these subjects, they are trust them to deliver. ☐ Changing the innovation ­landscape Alice Brown

he Scottish Funding Council supports science and innovation in Scotland in IN SUMMARY different ways. It works within a dual sup- Tport system that involves two types of bodies: the • S cotland’s success in securing funding reflects Funding Councils for the different parts of the UK the high quality of its research as well as the Research Councils (RCUK). Charita- • R ecent experience highlights the need for more ble bodies such as the Wellcome Trust and Cancer collaboration between academic research and Research UK also contribute valuable funding for business and industry research. • I nnovation Scotland has a focus on research Professor Alice Brown is pooling Chair of the Scottish Funding The Funding Councils supply the resources Council and Emeritus (driven by Research Assessment Exercise results) • I nnovation Centres will create open Professor of Politics at The that support the capacity of higher-education communities of university staff, research University of Edinburgh. institutions to carry out research. The Research institutes, businesses and others She was previously the T here has been a shift in the innovation landscape university’s Head of Councils provide funding for activity, largely on • Department of Politics and a competitive basis. Their focus is on strategic towards an increased emphasis on the impact of a Vice-Principal, as well as research and outcomes, supporting critical mass research beyond the academic arena Co-Director of its Institute and centres of excellence, and encouraging multi- of Governance. She was elected as the General disciplinary collaboration. An important goal is to Secretary of The Royal provide a highly-skilled workforce as the basis for and energy. It covers arts and humanities as well Society of Edinburgh in 2011 economic growth and sustainability, and to sup- as sciences: it is important not to forget the rela- and stood down from this port national capability in essential disciplines. tionship between science and non-science fields. position on becoming Chair of the SFC. As part of this approach, RCUK focuses on six cross-cutting themes: the digital economy; life- Strategic approach long health and wellbeing; living with environ- The Scottish Funding Council’s strategic plan mental change; global uncertainties; nanoscience; includes eight outcomes, of which three are central

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Capital funding to research and innovation: a developed work- increased emphasis on the impact of research should be balanced to force; an internationally-competitive research beyond the academic arena. This highlights cover the spectrum of base that is improving its reputation and standing the need for more collaboration between busi- research engagement, in the world; and collaboration between universi- ness and industry. Scotland’s investment in from contributing ties and industry for the exploitation of research. higher-education R&D as a percentage of GDP is to large-scale In terms of a research and innovation strategy, in the top quartile of OECD countries. In strik- international projects there have to be some underlying features. First, ing contrast, our business expenditure in research through to supporting science (research) budgets should be protected and development as a percentage of GDP is near small- to medium- (‘ring-fenced’). There should be an appropri- the bottom of the lowest quartile. Clearly, there sized ventures. ate balance between fundamental and applied is a need to stimulate more companies in Scot- research, at the same time ensuring that research land to invest in R&D, and to ensure that the R&D is ‘translated’ whenever possible. Research fund- carried out in our higher-education sector makes ing should, to a large extent, be competitive, with a contribution to supporting innovation in busi- decisions governed by the Haldane principle nesses and thus support the wider economy. (merit must be the only criterion of selection for This need is being addressed by the ‘Scotland projects). Our framework of dual support should Can Do’ framework launched by John Swinney, be maintained, and research excellence should be the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment supported, which may mean a concentration of and Sustainable Growth, in 2013. This frame- resources. work is designed to be aspirational. It recognises Capital funding should be balanced to cover the need for highly skilled, innovative, entre- the spectrum of research engagement, from preneurial people and the importance of closer contributing to large-scale international proj- engagement between academia and industry in ects such as the Large Hadron Collider and the order to drive innovation. It sets out to encour- Square Kilometre Array, through to supporting age an increase in entrepreneurship and inno- the small- to medium-sized ventures that are vation activity by individuals and businesses, essential to high-quality research in universities. so that more businesses are formed and existing Whole-life costs of equipment, such as mainte- businesses launch more products and services. It nance and technical support, need to be covered. supports people from all walks of life who have Finally, we need to continue to invest in the best the ambition and skills to create, lead and grow people and support skills development. The successful businesses. international mobility of students and research- The framework puts entrepreneurship and ers must be facilitated. Research and business innovation at its core, seizing the opportunities interactions are essential. offered by Education Scotland’s ‘Curriculum Within this framework, does Scotland need a for Excellence’, college reform and the world- separate science and innovation strategy? There leading strength of Scottish universities. It aims is no shortage of research and innovation strate- to commercialise more of Scotland’s knowledge gies; there are many in place, published by such and intellectual capital to increase collaboration diverse bodies as the Medical Research Council, between business and the academic sector. This the Department for Business, Innovation and should lead to a greater focus on, and share of, Skills (BIS), Life Sciences Scotland, the Natural global markets as Scottish business leaders grow Environment Research Council (NERC) and in confidence and expand their horizons inter- many others. Provided Scotland can influence nationally. such strategies, it could be argued that Scotland’s requirements are covered. In addition, Scotland’s The innovation landscape key industry sectors have set out their own inno- During the past four years, the SFC has increased vation strategies. its support for innovation, working closely with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enter- Engagement prise, and colleagues in the Scottish Government. Scotland’s success in securing research funding In this context we have been developing ‘Inno- emphasises the quality of its research work. As vation Scotland’ to build on past and continuing elsewhere in the UK, its universities account for investment. Innovation Scotland is an overarch- a significant proportion of this, thanks to their ing framework for a range of investments that are continuing ability to attract the world’s top tal- designed to support high-quality research and ent, as well as investment by Government and the its translation for the benefit of the economy as institutions themselves. well as the health and wellbeing of the people of However, over the past decade we have seen Scotland. In this it supports the Scottish Govern- a shift in the innovation landscape towards an ment’s statement of purpose: ‘A more successful

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0.90 HERD as % in OECD countries that reported in 2008 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 UK Italy USA Korea Spain Japan Turkey France Austria Ireland Poland Iceland Finland Norway Canada Sweden Belgium Hungary Portugal Scotland Germany Denmark Switzerland Netherlands Czech Republic Luxembourg Slovak Republic Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 3.00 BERD as % in OECD countries that reported in 2008 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 UK Italy USA Korea Spain Japan Turkey France Austria Ireland Finland Iceland Norway Canada Sweden Belgium Hungary Portugal Scotland Germany Denmark Poland Switzerland Netherlands Luxembourg Czech Republic Slovak Republic Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Figure 1. Higher-education R&D expenditure (HERD) and business R&D expenditure (BERD) as a percentage of GDP in OECD countries (2008) country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to vation Centres will support skills and training to flourish, through increasing sustainable econom- develop the next generation of researchers and ic growth’. knowledge-exchange practitioners. They will The ‘Innovation Scotland’ programme focuses create sustainable and internationally-ambitious on an important feature in the innovation land- open communities of university staff, research scape: research pooling. Designed to support institutes, businesses and others to deliver eco- excellence, build critical mass, and increase com- nomic growth and wider benefits for Scotland. petitiveness and leverage, research pooling also The Scottish Funding Council has committed, provides state-of-the-art shared facilities and in principle, £110 million of core funding for the delivers high-quality training. Innovation Centres between 2013 and 2018. Each Importantly, it also facilitates culture change, in Innovation Centre is expected to obtain further particular greater collaboration and more partner- investment from industry and other sources of ship working. The Max Planck International Part- public funding. We now have eight: the Digital nership, for example, now links five of our universi- Health Institute; Stratified Medicine Scotland; the ties with five Max Planck institutes. The Innovative Centre for Sensor and Imaging Systems; Industri- Medicines Initiative places Scotland at the heart al Biotechnology; the Scottish Aquaculture Inno- of European drug discovery initiatives. There are vation Centre; the Oil and Gas Industry Centre; several other examples of partnership working that the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre; have come about as a result of this culture change. and the Datalab. Two more are set to open shortly. Our most recent and high-profile develop- These centres will become an important part of ment is the Innovation Centre Programme. Inno- the Scottish innovation landscape. ☐

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 25 INNOVATION IN SCOTLAND A time of challenge and opportunity

Anne Richards

t is a daunting challenge to try and condense what every shape and form of business might IN SUMMARY want from a science and innovation strategy. I will start with a UK perspective before moving • W e are becoming a knowledge economy, driven on to look at Scotland in particular. by innovation and intellectual capital There are three issues that are key to a success- • W e need to maintain a skilled workforce ful science and innovation strategy: business itself, • U niversities and colleges must deliver the through its own drive for innovation and advance- necessary skills Anne Richards CVO CBE ment; a skilled and talented workforce that is the • S cotland has one of the highest numbers of life is Global Chief Investment science graduates, per capita, in Europe Officer for Aberdeen Asset product of our education system; and public policy Management. She began initiatives that provide the framework and envi- • O ur approach has to be strategic, opportunistic her career as a research ronment to allow the first two to flourish. and flexible fellow at CERN, the European We work in a global economy and must adapt Organisation for Nuclear Research and moved into to stay competitive. Technology has permeated the investment field in 1992. every aspect of our lives and continues to shape our services – all sufficiently broad that they cover a Anne is a Chartered Engineer business and personal lives. It is estimated that by multitude of sins or, more accurately, employ them. and a Fellow of the Chartered 2020, there will be 7.7 billion people in the world Perhaps it is more relevant to look instead at Institute for Securities and Investment. She is a member but they will be vastly outnumbered by the number what this means for the occupations of individual of the Financial News List of devices connected to the internet, estimated to workers, rather than the industrial sectors in which 100 Women in Finance and be about 30 billion by then. Currently, Google pro- their businesses sit. The march away from machine a member of the Board of cesses 3.5 billion searches every day. This demon- operatives and skilled trades to professional, man- Leaders of 2020 Women on Boards. strates the potential for businesses to grow through agerial and technical work is very marked. It is e-commerce and digital marketing. Technological therefore vital that we address the issue of main- advances mean that businesses of any size and in taining a skilled workforce, partly to head off rising any location can reach a global customer base, but inequality in the population and partly to ensure this also means that competition is fierce. a sufficient number of skilled workers to support The UK is ranked as the ninth most competi- business and economic growth. tive country in the world by the World Economic There is increasing employer demand for high- Forum and scores highly in ‘adopting technolo- er skills. Among private-sector businesses, 60 per gy to enhance productivity’. In 2013, we had the cent believe they will need more highly skilled second greatest stock and flow of foreign direct workers over the coming three to five years. This investment in the world, beaten only by the USA. is most pronounced in engineering, high-tech- However, this has much to do with language nology and science firms, where 80 per cent pre- and time zone, so we should not be complacent. dict a growing need. However, manufacturing and Importantly, we need to make sure that it is not just construction are not far behind, with over 70 per large businesses that benefit from our science and cent of firms predicting they too will need more innovation strategy. Small businesses and entre- highly-skilled workers. Even in retail and hospi- preneurship are vital to the health of the economy. tality, which might be viewed as relatively low- tech, the figure is over 50 per cent. The economy is changing According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, The structure of the UK economy is changing. We in 10 years the chemical-using industries will are becoming a knowledge economy, powered by require employees to be more highly-skilled and innovation and intellectual capital. What drives a technologically literate to enable them to work knowledge economy? The four key knowledge sec- more flexibly. The Science Council estimates tors in the economy most usually mentioned are that the ICT workforce alone will grow by 39 per low carbon, the creative industries, electronic man- cent by 2030. Translating these desires into con- ufacturing services, and knowledge-based business crete numbers results in estimates of an almost

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40 per cent increase over the next 15 years, or Universities and colleges How can we ensure around three-quarters of a million additional We need to address two questions in our univer- that workers continue digitally-skilled personnel between 2013 and sities and colleges. First, are our specialist com- to keep their skills 2017 – these are huge numbers. Clearly, in terms puter science and science courses delivering the up-to-date after they of job creation and (from a Government perspec- skills that employers are looking for? Although have left the formal tive) future taxation potential, we will reap many some courses have extremely high employment education sector? benefits if we can meet these needs. rates six months after graduation, others are inex- Longer and indeed It is interesting to see how low the demand is plicably low. There needs to be a better under- multiple careers in the public sector, by comparison. Perhaps that standing of why some courses are failing to meet over a lifetime mean is something that should give Government pause employer requirements. We also need to acknowl- that people will for thought. Arguably, the NHS, our school sys- edge that in a digital age even subjects seemingly continually need to tem, even our police forces and local authorities unrelated to technology and science may benefit reskill and upskill. are ripe for change. from including these areas in their curricula. For example, in the creative arts an understanding Overcoming skills shortages of web design could be a key area. In psycholo- Two-thirds of business leaders believe that faster gy or neural science, understanding artificial growth in their organisation will lead to a shortage intelligence-based approaches to research, and of necessary skills. Already, nearly 60 per cent of vice versa, might be vital. Are we doing enough employers say that they are faced with this chal- to encourage this type of cross-curricular rigour? lenge. Microsoft reported that there were 100,000 Second, how can we ensure that workers con- unfilled vacancies in its partner companies across tinue to keep their skills up-to-date after they the UK last year. This seems madness in a world have left the formal education sector? Longer, and where we are concerned about unemployment. indeed multiple careers over a lifetime, mean that Despite this, almost a quarter of parents believe people will continually need to reskill and upskill. that digital skills are irrelevant to their children’s Ongoing investment in keeping people skilled will future. As a mother of teenage sons, I have quite ensure that they are less vulnerable in the labour a lot of sympathy with those who feel that argu- market. ments about the relative merits of ‘Clash of Clans’ A very valid argument can be made that (a video game) versus those of quadratics and cal- employers are not doing enough to provide the culus can be stretched to breaking point at times, vocational and apprenticeship approaches that but anyone who is excluded from the digital world seem successful in other countries. Germany is for economic or other reasons is going to find the an oft-cited example, but it has its own challenges workplace a much tougher environment once with new business creation, so this approach is not they leave school. By some estimates, over 80 per a panacea for every economic ill. One of the most cent of jobs will soon have some tech component. encouraging developments over the past few years Therefore, we now have three challenges has been the increased emphasis on apprentice- before us: ships but there is much more still to be done here. • getting the right science and technology In Germany, more than half of young people education in schools; choose vocational education. In Austria and the • getting the right education through our Netherlands, the figures are even higher, at 67 and universities and colleges; 71 per cent respectively. By contrast, in the UK • reskilling and upskilling older people as they only 32 per cent of young people choose vocation- move through careers that could last 30 years. al education. As part of an integrated training and development strategy, an apprenticeship scheme Each of these challenges has its own particular is an ideal way for organisations to develop their characteristics. At school level, we rely on teachers talent pipelines. who themselves may not be well-equipped in the Businesses also need to take responsibility for rapidly changing world of technology and science. retraining their existing staff, including financing We need to find new and imaginative ways of deliv- external training courses. ering up-to-date knowledge. For example, in terms Other developments where industry and the of technology, children often learn best from those higher-education sector could work together who are just a few years older than themselves, who more include the provision of specialist education, may possibly still be in school or at university. Can such as MOOCs (massive open online courses, we harness unconventional ways of teaching that open to all and which can be studied anywhere). have the dual benefit of delivering effective educa- These can be in science, other areas of research, or tion in technology while relieving pressure on the more basic ‘tech for non-techies’. ‘Learn while you already overburdened teaching profession? earn’ programmes are of increasing importance

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and employers need to embrace them more fully. businesses. The University of Edinburgh is ranked One particular aspect of this problem, which is second in the UK in terms of the volume of intellec- worse in the UK than many countries, is our poor tual property (IP) spin-out company formations. record in attracting girls and young women into Between 2003 and 2012, Strathclyde was ranked science, engineering and technology. The current second in Scotland and fifth in the UK for this type gender imbalance in high-tech is extremely dam- of activity. The University of Dundee has now spun aging. We are wasting half of our potential brain- out over 25 companies, many reflecting strengths power by failing to tackle this: if left unchallenged in life sciences, medical devices and engineering. it will greatly diminish our economic potential. However, the picture is a bit less positive when we look at the number of new start-ups coming out Scotland’s advantages of the higher-education sector – that is, businesses Much of what I have discussed so far is not specific formed by staff or recent graduates. This seems to to Scotland. They represent generic challenges that suggest we generate ideas brilliantly, but could use are faced by every country in the world in some more support for starting new companies. shape or form. The interesting question is whether Overall, we have reason to be optimistic. When Scotland has any unique advantages upon which compared with the USA, and when research it can capitalise, in order to increase its growth income is normalised, Scottish universities have potential and produce a better-skilled workforce. more new technology disclosures, licences and Personally, I believe that we do. Scotland spin-outs than their American counterparts. has five of the top 200 universities in the world. Globally, in fields such as biotechnology, opto- Health electronics, artificial intelligence, computing and Global health is one of the most critical issues on many other disciplines, we have a world-class the agenda of world leaders – and not just because reputation. Our fossil fuel industry has made us of the current tragedy of Ebola. Life sciences are key a leader in the development of new technologies. to a range of areas from healthcare to agriculture Scotland was an early entrant in the field and from energy to food and beverages. Here again, of informatics and data science. The Research Scotland is strong, with one of the highest numbers Excellence Framework results confirmed Edin- of life science graduates per capita in Europe. burgh’s position as the largest and best informatics Over the past 20 years there has been a growing research centre in the UK. Informatics at Edin- relationship between big pharmaceutical compa- burgh delivers more world-leading research than nies and the biotech industry. This has reinforced anywhere else in the UK. In the chemical scienc- the importance of academia in driving innovation es, Scottish outputs and citations rank among the in this sector. But – and it is a big but – life sci- highest when adjusted for its size. Our very long ences start-up investment in Scotland appears to legacy of scientific and medical research puts us fall dramatically short, as a proportion of total UK in a prime position to lead in the field of global investment. Over 80 per cent of life science start- health. Finally, in terms of education, our devolved up investment is in London, the East and South- powers mean that we have the flexibility to respond East of England, although these areas together imaginatively to the challenges of the 21st century, have only about 40 per cent of the total academic with scope to explore novel approaches. research power of the UK. Having the skills and education needed to ser- This highlights another problem that we have vice existing businesses is an important benefit, in Scotland. We are good at generating ideas and but perhaps more important is the creation of new good at forming new companies to exploit those ideas, but poor at scaling them up from a hand- ful of employees to major employers. This has to FURTHER INFORMATION change: we need to find a better way of linking academia and pharmaceutical companies togeth- Stratified Medicine, Digital Health, Industrial Biotechnology; Aquaculture, er in mutually-beneficial research collaborations Sensors and Imaging, Construction, Data and Oil & Gas in order to feed the future pipeline. Despite http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/-14-million-for-Innovation-Centres-1002.aspx the lack of current investment, most investors Aberdeen Asset Management www.aberdeen-asset.co.uk acknowledge that there is still huge potential in Research Councils UK www.rcuk.ac.uk the biotech and pharmaceutical markets. The Royal Society of Edinburgh www.royalsoced.org.uk Scotland Office www.gov.uk/government/organisations/scotland-office What makes a successful strategy? Scottish Funding Council www.sfc.ac.uk From a business perspective, a successful science Scottish Government www.gov.scot and innovation strategy needs to include a cradle- to-grave approach to skills and education. It needs

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New Spinouts UK’s Current active Spinouts, by sector 2011/12 2012/13 change England 125 101 –19% 7% Wales 17 15 –12% 9% 25% Scotland 27 26 –4% N. Ireland 6 8 33% 175 150 16% New Start-ups 2011/12 2012/13 change England 2,415 3,146 30% Wales 256 246 –4% 43% Scotland 142 172 21% N. Ireland 0 0 ICT and digital Energy and environment 2,813 3,564 Life sciences Other Physical sciences

UK active spin-outs by sector to break down barriers between business and aca- approach is strategic, opportunistic and flexi- demia. It should recognise that many non-STEM ble. Being strategic involves determining drivers, industries need employees with STEM skills. It refraining from tinkering, providing efficient needs to have a means of bridging the capital gap transport (for example, between Edinburgh and often faced by entrepreneurs and start-ups, to Glasgow), ensuring good education and skills, and support them from concept through to prototype supporting teaching and research. We need to take to production. Finally, it needs to be internation- advantage of opportunities that present themselves, al in scope, acknowledging the global nature of not forgetting the scientist and allowing them aca- STEM and putting Scotland on the map as a pre- demic freedom to ‘ask the daft question’. And we mier location in which to do business. need to be flexible, with the ability to modify rapidly To summarise, we need to ensure that our in response to changing situations and events. ☐ The debate irls have traditionally been conditioned with only long-term and uncertain payouts is Key issues raised to view STEM subjects as male-oriented difficult. However, the structure of the compa- in the debate are and shied away from them. This is also ny may be relevant, and its international reach summarised here. true,G albeit to a lesser extent, of digital skills. Gov- is important. Competition is the key. If Scotland ernment, teachers and parents should demand can provide not only the research but also the fol- that STEM subjects and digital skills are taught low-up, such as highly skilled operators and man- rigorously to both sexes. STEM careers need to ufacturing expertise, its economy may benefit. be made attractive to students from a young age, with a ‘holistic’ educational strategy. Radical pro- Intellectual property rights posals often revolve around insufficient demand Will intellectual property rights always be a stum- to provide the skills that businesses need. Educa- bling block to full collaboration and trust? Or is tionalists, families and students themselves need this is an oversimplification? Academics are not to be aware of the needs of business, now and in a homogeneous group. Some may only wish to the future. see the results of their research published in jour- nals, but others are anxious to collaborate with Investment in R&D business and see their research commercialised It is not clear why investment in R&D by Scottish into the market and used for public benefit, or at companies is so low. A basic problem may lie with least to increase choice. They may be willing to the UK Government’s monetary and fiscal poli- accept conditions that would enable them to spin cy. In the current climate, companies are finding off companies or set up new companies. Similarly, it difficult to do any more than pay dividends to businesses are aware that research cannot be com- their shareholders. Justifying R&D expenditure partmentalised. ☐

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 29 TRANSPORT RESILIENCE How can the UK transport networks be made more resilient to extreme weather events? That was the question debated at a meeting of The Foundation for Science and Technology on 22 October 2014. Making our transport systems more resilient to weather Richard Brown

mong the major issues considered by the Review1 were: why transport resil- IN SUMMARY ience is important; the principles which shouldA be applied in planning for resilience and • The UK has some of the most intensively-used delivering it; and the key risks. The UK transport transport systems in the world network includes some of the most intensively- • R ecovery strategies are as important as used systems in the world. Heathrow is the bus- mitigation plans iest two-runway airport in the world in terms • D etermining the appropriate level of spending Richard Brown CBE, the is difficult Chair of the Transport of the number of aircraft movements. Our rail- Resilience Review, was ways have the highest density of train operations • O perating expenditure is at least as important Chief Executive of Eurostar in terms of train miles per track mile of any in as capital funding from August 2002 to April Europe. For large parts of each day, the country’s • T here is a great deal of good practice in the UK 2010 and then Chairman until June 2013. He was strategic roads are close to capacity. previously Commercial Resilience is of particular importance for the Director and Main Board freight industry. Food and fuel are increasingly is just as important. How well these organisa- Director of National Express delivered ‘just-in-time’, so extreme weather, tions communicate with users and passengers Group plc, where he set up its UK Trains Division, causing road closures or railway delays can very is important too. All three issues contribute to at the time the largest quickly lead to interruptions in supply with sub- better resilience. UK passenger franchise stantial consequences. There is, in fact, no clear economic rationale operator. He has spent Even existing levels of extreme weather are on how much to spend. The Department for 37 years in the transport industry, and was a Director already pretty disruptive and the scientific con- Transport’s WebTAG tool provides a rationale of British Rail’s Intercity sensus is that there will be more such events for investment in transport infrastructure but Division before privatisation. in future. The country needs to plan for more there is no comparable framework to judge the He is a Board Member of intense localised rainstorms in both summer necessary spending on resilience. HS2 Ltd. and winter – as happened for instance in 2007. Second, there has to be some prioritisation There are likely to be hotter and drier summers of work. The Highways Agency is actually very and rising sea levels. good in this area and Network Rail is getting much better. Resilience The impact on infrastructure of ‘points of fail- The Review considered three aspects or ‘layers’ ure’ is an issue. At the same time in early 2014, to the challenge of resilience: the first is ‘phys- the main railway line to Devon and Cornwall ical’ resilience – protecting the roads, railways, through Dawlish was lost, the M5 was very nearly airports, etc, so that they can keep people trav- closed due to flooding and the A303 – the other elling and keep freight moving, even in extreme main road to the South West – was also briefly weather. It is, though, unrealistic to think this can closed for flooding. As another example, Gatwick be achieved in every situation and so the speed Airport is very dependent on the rail link with with which transport operators and infrastruc- London. Importantly, it takes passengers away ture operators can recover normal operation from the airport as well as bringing them to it. If that line goes down, Gatwick quickly gets into Food and fuel are increasingly delivered trouble as arriving passengers back-up in the air- ‘just-in-time’, so extreme weather can very port buildings. Following David Quarmby’s review of snow quickly lead to interruptions in supply. and ice resilience in 2010, most local authorities

30 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk TRANSPORT RESILIENCE now have a clearly defined network of roads that There is a big challenge here. It is also an import- Everyone are gritted when there is a snow warning. We ant task for transport operators to improve liai- understands that believe something similar is needed for flooding son with what I call ‘non-transport agencies’ i.e. water recognises and for wind. particularly county councils, unitary authorities no local authority The rate of deterioration in road and railway and the Environment Agency, and to look at ways or agency lines is driven by just two things: the weight of in which flooding of transport facilities can be boundaries. There usage (the number of vehicles and the total either prevented or mitigated by wider flood is a big challenge weight on the system) and the weather. Under- prevention schemes. here. It is also an standing the impact of weather and calculating Most of the major road network, having been important task for how much to spend in order to avoid premature constructed in the last few decades, is fairly resil- transport operators renewal of assets is a key part of asset manage- ient physically. It has good drainage, by and large. to improve liaison ment. So a clear recommendation of the Review The main issue for the Highways Agency is that with ‘non‑transport was that resilience should be an integral element when there is bad weather, particularly heavy agencies’. of all asset management plans. snow, rain or indeed fog, there is an increased Another clear finding was that current expen- risk of accidents. A great deal of disruption plan- diture (whether it is called Opex or resource ning goes into managing traffic flows to prevent expenditure) is more important for resilience incidents happening and, when they do happen, than capital expenditure. It matters how well into ensuring the swift restoration of normal the drains are maintained, vegetation managed operations. and trees monitored. For years, the Treasury has The biggest challenge is on local roads: there sought to bear down on Opex, but cutting back are more than 183,000 miles of local roads, just in this area has real implications for resilience. in England (our review did not cover Scotland and Wales but we did talk quite extensively with IT them). There are 152 local Highways Authori- The dependence of all modes of transport on IT ties in England – county councils, London bor- and electrical systems is striking. On Christmas oughs, unitary authorities – and it is impossible Eve 2013, Gatwick was capable of running a full for each of them to have the full capability and flight programme, the flood defences on the systems and processes in place to manage effec- airfield were operating effectively and although tively, however hard they try. Each of those local some of the electrical systems failed, back-up Highways Authorities will have different priori- generators met demand. ties and a great deal of transport spending is not However, water then got into the basement of ring-fenced. the North Terminal and knocked out some of the Paradoxically, roads can become part of electricity sub-stations and took out the IT. The the solution to flooding. Roads become drains airport was simply unable to check in passengers because they are hard-surfaced with embank- and get them through security quickly enough to ments on either side. It is complex. put them on the planes. That was the core of the problem. It was an IT problem, not an operations Rail problem. Among the risks to the rail network is embank- ment stability, because most of the network was Flood prevention built 150 years ago. When they were built, there There are a myriad of organisations in this coun- was no real science of soil mechanics, so they try responsible for planning to prevent floods. were constructed rather than designed. There are The Environment Agency has strategic responsi- no records of the fill materials. There were well bility, but is only able to fund schemes to protect over 100 embankment failures over the 2013–14 homes and wildlife. County councils and unitary winter across Network Rail. However, the organ- authorities have responsibilities for producing isation well understands its criticality. flood-risk management strategies in their area. The only area where we were critical of Net- Then there are regional flood and coastal defence work Rail was on the management of trees and committees that produce shoreline management vegetation. It has not received the attention it programmes. There are more than 100 internal needed over the years. There were about 1,500 drainage boards, some of which are much older incidents of trees or branches blown down over than most other local authority institutions, par- that winter. There are too many trees on Network ticularly for low-lying areas, which would other- Rail’s linesides. wise flood. The third area of vulnerability is the signal- Yet everyone understands that water recog- ling. When the line is flooded, the signalling nises no local authority or agency boundaries. cannot detect trains anymore. Network Rail per-

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formed well in autumn 2013, using temporary airports. Recently, Heathrow cancelled more than automatic signalling systems. It has a programme 100 flights on a pre-emptive basis. It is much better to put in ‘axle counters’ that do not depend on to tell people in advance that there are no flights electric currents going through the track and and then operate a service frequency that can be are therefore much more resilient to water. Pro- sustained in bad weather, rather than to be over- tection of the signalling systems from water and ambitious, letting people down and having large flooding remains an important priority. numbers of passengers in departure lounges. The Review team were extremely impressed Ports and airports by the huge amount of good practice that exists. Ports are clearly vulnerable to high winds, as are Most of what needs to be done is already being highways. They are, however, very used to the carried out somewhere, but needs to be applied problem because most of them are in coastal more widely. There needs to be more sharing and locations. Yet they are also vulnerable to rising learning about what works and about the criti- sea levels. calities both in and across modes of transport. In The biggest risks for airports, as for the strate- an ideal world, we would have a more joined-up gic highway network, are snow and ice. Wind is system of planning for floods, but this is not an an issue, but they are well used to it because take- ideal world. My biggest concern is that, after a offs and landings are impossible in high winds: couple of mild winters, people relax and forget airports are very good at managing this. about the lessons previously learned. ☐ The biggest issue, though, is contingency planning, so that when disruption occurs there is 1 www.gov.uk/government/publications/ better coordination between the airlines and the transport-resilience-review-recommendations The consequences of changing climate for transport systems Doug Johnson

ake a look at the average global annual temperature over the past 150 years, IN SUMMARY back to 1850, which is when the industri- Tal revolution started. The warmest years during • Climate change is happening that century and a half all occur in the last few • N atural variability will continue to bring decades. There is a trend, particularly since the significant events in the short-term record 1940s, of an ever-increasing temperature rise in • C hanges to temperature, precipitation and sea average annual global temperature. level are all inevitable Doug Johnson is Deputy W e need to adapt to climate change as well as Director of Applied Science That is not the only change we are seeing. • and Scientific Consultancy Extensive glacial melt is occurring. Spring arrives reduce emissions at the Met Office. He has around the world earlier every year. Animal • C limate change will have significant impacts on worked for the Met Office migrations are changing quite markedly. There transport systems that will have to be planned for over 40 years. He is for responsible for leading are changes in permafrost around the world the pull-through of Met and sea-level rise is now easily measurable. Sci- Office science capability entists around the world who contribute to the to new high-value products Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change climate change. To do this, the human race would and services for external customers and stakeholders. (IPCC) are 95 per cent certain that the changes have to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases Previously, he was Head are due to human influence: in other words the released into the atmosphere. Working Group 3 of the Aviation Programme burning of fossil fuels and the ensuing release of focused on mitigation. and Head of the Transport greenhouse gases. It is possible, from analysis of ice cores and Business Unit delivering services to aviation, The IPCC’s Working Group 2 report for the other methods, to estimate what the temperature road, rail, and oil and gas fifth assessment looked at adaptations to vulner- change over a very long time period has been. exploration customers. ability. They were very clear that the risks could Looking back over 400,000 years (the results be reduced by limiting the rate and magnitude of are estimated from ice cores) there is a startling

32 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk TRANSPORT RESILIENCE

correlation between temperature and the CO 2 By 2040, the type of summer seen in 2003 ­content of the Earth’s atmosphere. Now there have been some wide variations would be a ‘one in two-year event’, i.e. average. during those 400 millennia – due to changes By 2060, it could count as a cold year! in the Earth’s orbit (which is a regular thing), changes in the output of the Sun (which is, once again, regular) and other aspects, all of which 35,000. At that time, this was a ‘one in over one can be modelled. The Earth’s climate can be sim- hundred years’ event. Move forward in time with

ulated using numerical models, which achieve a continuing emissions of CO2 at the current rate, high degree of conformity with real events when then by 2040 the type of summer seen in 2003 these items are included. would be a ‘one in two-year event’, i.e. average. The problem that the scientific community By 2060, it could count as a cold year! is facing at the moment is that over the last 100 years or so, humanity has been putting dra- Into the future

matically increasing amounts of CO2 into the Climate change has therefore doubled the risk Earth’s atmosphere. In 2005 this had reached that we will get a 2003 event every other year by 387ppm and that is significantly higher than 2040. There will be more frequent hot summers,

anything seen in the last 400,000 years. If CO2 but because of climate variability we may still get and the global average temperature are linked, a wet, cold summer occasionally in the future. then this will have resounding impacts. If Over the long-term, winters will also get

we continue to release CO2 at current rates, warmer and the winter season will get shorter.

then by the end of this century the CO2 con- Snow and ice will become less prevalent, but we tent of the Earth’s atmosphere will have more cannot rule out the kind of winter that we saw in than doubled since pre-industrial times. That 2009–10 over the short term. If the world con-

will have major repercussions on the climate,­ tinues to emit CO2 at the current rate, though, which is why humanity needs to take climate by the end of 2020s there will only be a 20–30 change so seriously. per cent chance of a colder winter. So there is a clear need to adapt to a much broader range of Impacts to date temperatures. The Earth’s climate is very variable already. The Even if our emissions were to peak now and winter of 2013–14 in the UK was very wet, very subsequently decrease, temperature rises will

stormy, with the highest precipitation on record continue for some time because CO2 is a very in parts. Go back two or three years to 2009–10 long-lived gas in the atmosphere. and the winter was quite cold, as was the follow- Suppose emissions continue at the current ing one. So there is significant variability just rate – what would be the impact upon normal across four years. city daily maximum temperatures? A nice sum- Now that is not going to change – predictions mer’s day in London is currently about 25 °C. By are that climate variability will increase still fur- the 2090s, it is quite likely that the daily maxi- ther. There will be more extreme periods of pre- mum would be 5–6 °C higher, about 30–31 °C. cipitation, more extreme periods of dry weather The highest ever recorded maximum tem- and even though the temperature is rising over perature in the UK was in Kent, at 38.5 °C in the next few years, there is a strong chance that 2003. By the end of this century, the maximum we will still have cold winters. temperature, on the basis of current emission

If the extra CO2 being put into the Earth’s rates, could be 9–10 °C higher. So from 38.5 °C a atmosphere is not included in the models, then decade ago, the maximum recorded temperature the upward kink in temperature over the last few in the UK by 2100 could be as high as 47–48 °C, decades is not apparent. The variability in the the very high temperatures often seen in the Earth’s orbit and the variability in the solar radi- Middle East or the Indian sub-continent. ation are not enough on their own to accurately That is going to have a significant effect on predict the change in temperature that is being roads, on maintenance of equipment, on elec- seen. Global average temperatures have risen trical systems, on the installed air conditioning nearly 0.8 °C since 1850 when humanity started load – indeed, a whole host of items that will to burn more and more fossil fuels. potentially impact the transportation network. The year 2003 was a special year for meteo- rology in Europe. It was the warmest summer Rainfall for over a century. The number of extra deaths There is a great deal of evidence that extreme recorded due to heat stress were in excess of daily rainfall is becoming more common, not

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Increased temperatures will mean a potential for ly peer-reviewed. The study showed some quite dramatic things, for the summer months in par- increased rail buckling. Road surfaces will have ticular. It endorsed the wetter winters and the to be maintained and repaired more frequently. increase in rainfall intensity in the winter; there was no real change there. However, it further enhanced the high-intensity rainfall rates during just in the UK but around the world. There will the summer. It agreed with what we have been still be a large amount of variability, which is why saying up until now, that summers will potential- it is so difficult to say what the exact trend will ly be drier, but when it does rain the rainfall rates be in five or 10 years’ time; it will be masked by will be very high. natural climate variability. There is evidence of significantly more events There are definite hints that the character of exceeding high thresholds (such as 30 mm per UK rainfall is changing though. The expectation hour, i.e. more than an inch of rain an hour). That is that winters will get wetter with higher rainfall indicates much more flash flooding in summer rates. Summers are likely to become, on average, months in the southern half of the UK. slightly drier than now. However, the models Sea-level rise is going to increase towards the indicate that summer rain could still have much end of the century. We have emitted so much

higher intensity. CO2 that the temperature is rising. While the The other side of the coin is drought. Take oceans take longer to respond because they are Spain: on both UK and German modelling, what very deep and have a high heat capacity, they are is today a ‘one in a hundred year’ drought is more nevertheless absorbing that heat, expanding in likely to be a ‘one in 20’ or even ‘one in 10-year’ volume and the ice-sheets are melting into the event by the 2070s. There will be a greater prob- oceans. It is not feasible to prevent at least a half ability of droughts in Southern Europe towards metre rise in sea level by the end of the centu- the end of the century. ry. Potentially it could be as much as a metre.

The same modelling indicates that, particular- Continuing to emit CO2 just stores up trouble ly in Southern England and the South West, the for future centuries. ‘one in one hundred years’ drought will become a more common event, perhaps ‘one in 40 or 50 Impacts on transport years’ events. Yet these same models also show All this has significant potential impact on trans- an increase in the probabilities of higher pre- port. Increased temperatures will mean a poten- cipitation. If this is borne out, then while today tial for increased rail buckling. Road surfaces light rainfall occurs much more often than will have to be maintained and repaired more heavy downpours, lighter precipitation events frequently or they will have to be altered in some will become less frequent, but the heavier pre- way to counter the increase in heat. There will be cipitation events more common. That could more overheating of electrical equipment if we lead to more flash-flooding, both in the winter do not adapt. Movable infrastructure – such as and in the summer. So summers may be drier in swing bridges – could encounter problems due the future, on average, but there will be higher- to expansion. intensity rainfall events when it does actually rain. Increased higher rainfall intensity of rainfall The Met Office recently did some work for will cause more flash flooding, particularly in Ofwat, the water regulator. The research indi- the summer. There will be an increase in river cated that what today would be a ‘one in 30 year flooding, potentially more landslides and more intensity’ event would probably occur once in electrical equipment failure. 20 years by the 2040s. That probability reaches Sea-level rise and increased storminess will almost ‘one in 15’ by the end of the 2080s, which mean greater damage to coastal infrastructure. is typical of what we are projecting in all areas of There will be more trees blown down, an increase the UK. in the number of vehicles being blown over and The work for Ofwat used a fairly low- more speed restrictions on bridges and other resolution model for the globe. We can now run exposed structures. a very high-resolution model on climate times- Even drought will have an impact, but perhaps cales at the Hadley Centre. Unfortunately, these in the longer term. There will be subsidence due are very expensive to run – they use a lot of to the reduction in soil moisture and a weakening super-computing power. So we used the resource of earthworks, which will be exacerbated when we had to model the southern half of the UK. the rain does actually return. This work was published in Nature Climate On the positive side, shorter winter seasons Change in June 2014 after it had been thorough- will probably mean less snow and ice. ☐

34 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk TRANSPORT RESILIENCE Building tomorrow’s railway today Jerry England

his issue concerns the present just as much as the future: extreme weather IN SUMMARY events are here today. The worst storm Tin the South West in the past 100 years inflicted • Resilience is as much an issue for today as severe damage on the railway. The line through tomorrow Dawlish was closed for two months and took £45 • N etwork Rail controls a huge amount of million to repair. There were 12 major storms infrastructure between October 2013 and February 2014, all of • A ssets have long lifecycles and so climate change has to be taken into account Jerry England is Group Digital which had a major impact on the network. We Railway Director for Network understand the challenge of making the infra- • N ew technology can help the railway predict Rail. He joined Network structure resilient and the urgency of both min- potential disruption Rail in October 2007 and imising disruption when it does occur and then • I t is important to restore services as quickly as has undertaken a number possible of engineering and asset reinstating services as quickly as possible. management roles, including This really is the age of the train. After near- most recently as Group ly a century of decline, passenger numbers have Asset Management Director. doubled over the past two decades. Every year, Agency have nothing on this scale. Comparable Before joining Network Rail, Jerry was Major Projects people make something like 1.5 billion jour- railways in, say, France do not have the scale of Director with the Highways neys on our railways and that is the highest fig- civil engineering assets. A significant challenge Agency, Chief Operating ure since the 1920s. Over 100 million tonnes of is that the bulk of UK railway assets is over 100 Officer for Thames Water and freight are carried as well. Demand is still grow- years old – 150 years in many cases. The over- spent 20 years in the oil and gas industry. ing with an annual increase in demand of 3 per whelming majority of our embankments would cent projected. not meet modern design standards: in fact, in Network Rail has a major, five-year, £38 bil- today’s terms, they were not ‘designed’ at all. We lion investment programme that will transform do not know what many of them are made of. the railway over the coming years. This will pro- They do not meet modern standards, there is no vide more trains, more seats, better stations and certainty as to why they are still intact and in an reduce congestion. But we also have to look after ideal world they would be replaced. That would that wonderful, physical legacy that our Victo- cost tens of billions of pounds and there is little rian ancestors left us – including the bridges, chance that we are ever going to have the money. tunnels and viaducts that are part of our British Yet these embankments have been in place for landscape. We have the opportunity to leave an 150 years. There are between 50 and 150 failures equally valuable legacy to our descendants as a year, which, in terms of the scale of the assets, is part of a railway that is safer, better-performing not a huge number. The problem, though, is not and more cost-efficient than ever. the number of failures, it is their unpredictability. Success, however, comes with its own chal- The extreme weather in early 2014 reinforced lenges – running more services has removed the importance of continued, sustainable asset recovery times from our timetables, which means management. Despite the inherent vulnera- a small incident will now have wide-reaching bilities and the challenging circumstances, the consequences. Passengers are, understandably, railway performed pretty well. We do, though, less tolerant of disruption today. Mobile phones recognise the need to improve resilience, par- and social media have created a desire for rapid ticularly of our earthworks, drainage, river and updates on services, and increase the reputation- coastal defences. al damage if we get this wrong. Rail infrastructure There are between 50 and 150 embankment The rail network has more than 28,000 bridg- es, 625 tunnels and 184,000 earthworks. Other failures a year. The problem is not the number infrastructure operators such as the Highways of failures, it is their unpredictability.

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 35 TRANSPORT RESILIENCE

Leaves are crushed at a pressure of around 20 countries. We can clear trees within our bound- ary fence, but over half of all incidents involve tonnes per square inch, forming a hard, Teflon-like third-party trees. If a large tree or a branch falls coating that reduces a train’s ability to grip the track. onto the track, obviously the line has to be closed until it is clear. Unmanaged trees and plants can cause serious We must take into account, when determin- safety problems by covering up signals or falling ing the appropriate level of resilience for the onto tracks and overhead power lines. Over- long term, the wider importance of the railway grown trees and plants can also hinder workers to the economy and to society at large. Howev- from finding safe refuge when trains are passing, er, investing so that the railway could deal with and hamper their ability to see trains approach- every eventuality would almost certainly not be ing. Visibility at level crossings is a major part of in the best interests of either the taxpayer or the our risk assessment too. fare-paying customer. The famous ‘leaves on the line’ are hazardous for trains and can result in serious safety and per- Future risks formance issues in the autumn months. Leaves Most of the assets have lifecycles well in excess are crushed at a pressure of around 20 tonnes per of 30 years, often several times that much. The square inch, forming a hard, Teflon-like coating Met Office’s climate-change projections point to that reduces a train’s ability to grip the track: this an overall warming climate with drier summers affects both acceleration and braking. and wetter winters – as well as sea-level rises, Over time, much of the lineside vegetation will which will impact on coastal infrastructure. So, be cleared. We aim to discuss our plans in advance a strategy of adaptation to changing conditions with people living right next to the ­railway before is necessary. We need to identify and strength- work starts. It can come as a shock for some peo- en those measures that mitigate the causes of ple who are accustomed to lines of trees or hedges disruption as well as limiting the consequences near their homes and workplaces. To balance this, when it does happen. we plan to support local tree-planting initiatives, Examples of tactical efforts to limit the causes but away from the railway. of disruption include fairly simple improvements To prevent snow and ice build-up, heating has to drainage – essentially installing bigger pipes been installed to conductor rails in the key loca- – but also better understanding of the drainage tions where trains stop. The slight paradox, of infrastructure and improving the maintenance course, is that heating the conductor rails poten-

regime. tially increases CO2 emissions – these things are Trees and plants can also cause serious safety all connected! and performance problems for the railway. Our The rail network is investing in snow-and-ice climate, the variety of trees and train frequen- treatment trains – there are currently six in ser- cies together mean that Britain’s railway faces vice with another four on order. They are used to more serious challenges than networks in other brush snow and ice off the third rail and they also apply an anti-ice agent so that the trains can pick up the current. FURTHER INFORMATION These are all tactical solutions, but looking beyond these we have developed a set of resil- Transport Resilience Review ience specifications to apply to new infrastruc- www.gov.uk/government/publications/transport-resilience-review-recommendations ture. These include requirements for equipment Department for Transport to work under extremes of heat, cold, flooding, www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport strong winds and so forth. Environment Agency www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency Systems First Great Western Resilience needs to be considered at system level www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk as well as asset level. In a line-distributed network, Highways Agency points failures can make other resilience mea- www.gov.uk/government/organisations/highways-agency sures redundant. Resilience studies have therefore Met Office looked at options like diversion routes, which will www.metoffice.gov.uk be included in reviews of our long-term planning. Network Rail In spite of the best planning, weather disrup- www.networkrail.co.uk tion can still happen. A suite of control measures have been developed to mitigate this, including

36 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk TRANSPORT RESILIENCE the implementation of contingency timetables Remote condition monitoring is being trialled using and reduced services. Here we see value in a more fine-grained approach to weather forecasting tilt meters. Where movement is identified, speed capability than is currently available commer- restrictions can help mitigate potential failure. cially, so we have implemented a network of 100 local weather stations in Scotland and are evalu- ating the benefits. data is collated and analysed, allowing decisions It is also important to predict asset perfor- on interventions to be made. It is inherently mance, particularly those that are vulnerable to smarter and safer. weather. Remote condition monitoring is being Innovation and technology are – and will trialled on 250 earthworks using tilt meters. remain – vital for delivering a modern and resil- Where movement is identified, speed restric- ient railway. The work that I am now leading to tions can help mitigate potential failure. create a digital railway will take us closer to that Going beyond that, imagine a future where objective. Our challenge in addressing resilience a civils asset manager is able to make decisions is first of all to build an economic level of resil- about where he or she needs to intervene, based ience into the existing infrastructure, then pre- on data gathered from radar or listening devices, dict and communicate disruption before it hap- which are then fed back through on-train tech- pens, mitigate the effects and, just as importantly, nology or even passengers’ smart phones. That recover quickly. ☐ The debate Issues raised in the debate included:

nevitably, there can never be certainty disruption, and respond to the public’s need for that enough has been done to accommo- information. date the likely effects of climate change The problems of pinpointing particular trou- becauseI events are unpredictable, public atti- ble spots at specific times and forecasting weath- tudes change and there is a lack of knowl- er conditions over a three to six month period edge about the condition of historic infra- remain, although new supercomputers at the structure. There are also resource constraints. Met Office should help to improve forecasts. These would still be probabilistic though; would Issues of governance businesses want forecasts that could be wrong There is, moreover, the problem of 153 different perhaps 40 per cent of the time? Seasonal fore- agencies whose work needs to be coordinated with casts are also improving. that of the major transport network operators. There is no master plan for the existing infra- Personal responsibility structure that allows it to be managed so as to Are people failing to take adequate responsibility become more resilient to the effects of climate for their own actions when disruption threatens? change. Such a plan would need to consider the There is a temptation to think that it is the opera- governance of all the bodies concerned in trans- tor’s responsibility to safeguard people from any port networks, decide where expenditure was misfortune. Yet with better spread of informa- essential because of the effect on the economy tion, the use of mobile phones and social media, (e.g. major logistic routes) and where it had lesser there is little excuse for people setting out for an priority (e.g. Welsh coastal routes). airport when they should be aware of disruption and cancelled flights. Performance monitoring The variability of weather patterns makes it Economic loss impossible to forecast when major disruptions There is a particular need to understand the may happen. Yet new techniques such as per- impact of disruption at ports or airports on road formance monitoring of embankments should and rail services to industrial areas, with adequate enable operators to better understand the con- planning in advance so as to reduce economic dition of the assets. The tasks would be to prior- loss. Indeed, the absence of any reporting of eco- itise, develop better methods of recovery from nomic loss from congestion is surprising. ☐

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 37 SCIENCE AND SOCIETY A round-table discussion on 16 October 2014 looked at ways to measure the effectiveness of ‘Science and Society’ programmes. How well do we measure engagement?

Sir Geoffrey ir Roland Jackson, Executive Chair of Sci- provision for impact measurement in project bud- Chipperfield KCB encewise and former CEO of the British Sci- gets. There is no single ‘public’, but many different summarises a ence Association, said the theme ‘What are ones; so those engaged in one dialogue may not round table debate Sthe best ways of measuring the success of science respond to concerns expressed in others. Notably, organised by the and society programmes?’ raised three fundamen- not enough effort has been made to include those Foundation. More tal issues: first, given the wide variety of dialogues who suffer from social exclusion or deprivation in details can be found about public engagement on different policies, impact studies. on the Foundation what does success mean? Second, even if we know, For any public engagement, it is important first website at: www. how do we measure it in terms of cultural change to decide the target audience and then to direct foundation.org.uk. and new attitudes? And, third, is there some overall effort towards it. Efforts should be scaled to the size measure of success, or can it be related only to spe- and importance of the target audience. cific programmes? For success, it is vital to be clear what the pur- The report chaired by Lord Jenkin of Roding on pose of your engagement is, and marshal the evi- Science and Society published in 2000 by the House dence to support it. For example, many efforts have of Lords Select Committee on Science and Tech- been made to persuade girls to do physics. The nology1 emphasised that public trust depended on result? Fewer girls study physics now than in the meaningful dialogues with diverse groups without past. All that has been established is a point of view predetermined solutions. However, it did not call that more girls should do physics but past means for a reconstruction of the institutions deciding or techniques for persuading them to do so have policies so that they embraced wider interests. not been persuasive. There are lessons to be learned A dialogue must have a purpose – was it to tell about this lack of impact, including an acceptance the public something, listen to the public views, or, that success can only come from using different best of all, collaborate with the public in determin- methods of persuasion. ing policies. Of course, there will be advocacy to The impact of public engagement may be short inform the public why a policy is being considered term (a decision on a power plant), medium term and what it means, but impact depends on changes (a steady increase in students doing STEM subjects, to policy proposals and so success can be measured for example), or long term (such as an acceptance only for specific projects, although there may be a that the use of fossil fuels must be limited). So no common approach. evaluation may capture the full impact of engage- Professor Nick Pidgeon, Professor of Applied ment, without considering impact over different Psychology at Cardiff University, asked how far the time periods. remit in the House of Lords report, that the public Can any evaluation be done objectively by the must understand scientists and scientists the pub- team carrying out the public engagement? Any lic, had been met. There had been progress; many such evaluation may well be driven by subjective more dialogues with the public had been held and concerns, and, in particular, by a desire to secure a there had been good evaluation of certain process- further tranche of funding. es. But measuring impact of the engagements was Sir Roland Jackson concluded the discussion by very difficult; how did one find specific evidence observing that all participants agreed that public that the dialogue had been effective? The effects of engagement and subsequent evaluation was cru- the dialogue could be both indirect and subtle, as cial. Yet even if the purpose and nature were clear, in changing preconceptions and habits of thinking there was no easy solution to the problem of deter- about issues, wider than the proposal in question. mining the means for evaluating the process and its The ensuing discussion covered a wide range impact. ☐ of aspects. Impact in many cases is impossible to establish because data, both quantitative and qual- 1 www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ itative, is so poor. Often, this is due to insufficient ldselect/ldsctech/38/3801.htm

38 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk EVENTS

What are the lessons learned from the How can the UK transport network be made Responding to the rapid increase of response to the Ebola outbreak? more resilient to extreme weather events? Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in organisms 25 March 2015 22 October 2014 4 June 2014 Professor Chris Whitty CB FMedSci, Richard Brown CBE, Chairman, Transport Dame Sally Davies DBE FMedSci, Chief Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for Resilience Review for the Department for Medical Officer for England and Chief International Development Transport Scientific Adviser, Department of Health Dr W Ripley Ballou, Vice-President and Doug Johnson, Deputy Director Applied Dr Jeremy Farrar OBE FMedSci, Director, Head, Clinical Research and Translational Science and Scientific Consultancy, Met The Wellcome Trust Science, Vaccine Discovery and Office Dr Patrick Vallance FRCP FMedSci, Development, GSK Vaccines Jerry England, Group Asset Management President, Pharmaceuticals R&D, GSK Dr Oliver Johnson, Programme Director, Director, Network Rail the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership Delivering the Agri-tech Strategy: improving Dr Gina Radford, Deputy Chief Medical Science and Society programmes: what are the quality and productivity of the UK food Officer for England, Department of Health the best ways of measuring success? production and processing sectors (Round-table discussion) 21 May, 2014 Our plan for growth: science and innovation 16 October 2014 George Freeman MP, MP for Mid-Norfolk, (Cm 8980) Sir Roland Jackson Bt, Executive Chair, House of Commons 4 February 2015 Sciencewise Dr Peter Bonfield OBE FREng, Independent The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Minister of Professor Nick Pidgeon MBE, Professor of Chair, British Food Plan, Defra and Chief State for Universities, Science and Cities, Applied Psychology, School of Applied Executive, BRE Group Department for Business, Innovation & Psychology, Cardiff University The Lord Haskins, Former Chairman Skills and Cabinet Office Northern Foods and House of Lords Professor Dame Ann Dowling DBE FRS Regulating charities: a Whitehall FREng, President, Royal Academy of perspective (House of Lords Luncheon for Policy choices for the reduction of bovine Engineering Learned and Professional Societies) tuberculosis (TB) Dr Mike Lynch OBE FRS FREng, Founder, 3 October 2014 2 April 2014 Invoke Capital Ben Harrison MBE, Policy Manager, Office Adam Quinney, Farmer and former Professor Alex Halliday, Physical Secretary for Civil Service at the Cabinet Office Vice-President, NFU and Vice-President, The Royal Society Professor Rosie Woodroffe, Senior [Panellist] What is the right level of response to Research Fellow, Institute of Zoology, anthropogenic induced climate change? Zoological Society of London Reception 16 June 2014 Dr Miles Parker OBE FSB, Senior Research 3 December 2014 Sir Mark Walport FRS FMedSci, Associate, Centre for Science and Policy, The Rt Hon David Willetts MP, MP for Government Chief Scientific Adviser, University of Cambridge Havant Government Office for Science Professor Chris Gaskell CBE, Principal, Sir Mark Walport FRS FMedSci, David Davies MP, MP for Monmouth Royal Agricultural University Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Jim Skea CBE, Imperial College Government Office for Science London and the Committee on Climate Turning knowledge into value: adding value Change to the marine sector from research and The Hauser Review of the Catapult Network The Rt Hon Peter Lilley MP, MP for Hitchin innovation 12 November 2014 and Harpenden 10 March 2014 Dr Hermann Hauser CBE FRS FREng, Professor Ralph Rayner, Sector Director Chair, Hauser Review of the Catapult Making the most of UK/China research and Energy and Environment, BMT Group Network innovation partnerships Professor Ed Hill OBE, Executive Director, Simon Edmonds, Director, Catapult 11 June 2014 National Oceanography Centre Programme, Innovate UK Professor Tony Cheetham FRS, Treasurer Professor Rick Spinrad, Vice-President for Adrian Allen, Commercial Director, and Vice-President, The Royal Society Research, Oregon State University, University of Sheffield Advanced Michael Kwok, Managing Director and President-Elect, Marine Technology Society Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Head, Shanghai Office, Arup Professor Richard Clegg, Managing Director, with Boeing Professor Robin Grimes FREng, Chief The Lloyd’s Register Foundation [Panellist] Scientific Adviser, Foreign and Maximising the strengths of the research Commonwealth Office The challenge of communicating the and innovation base in Scotland (debate in The Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of uncertainty in risk estimates to decision- Edinburgh co-organised with The Royal State for Universities and Science, Department makers Society of Edinburgh) for Business, Innovation and Skills 5 February 2014 29 October 2014 Sir Mark Walport FRS FMedSci, Professor Muffy Calder OBE FRSE Making the most of UK/China research and Government Chief Scientific Adviser, FREng FBCS, Chief Scientific Adviser for innovation partnerships (Round-table Government Office for Science Scotland discussion ahead of the evening debate) Tom Bolt, Director, Performance Professor Alice Brown CBE FRSE FRSA, 11 June 2014 Measurement, Lloyd’s of London Chair, Scottish Funding Council Sir John Boyd KCMG, Chairman, Asia Judith Hackitt CBE, Chair, Health and Anne Richards CVO CBE, Global Chief House Safety Executive Investment Officer, Aberdeen Asset Michael Kwok, Managing Director and Head, Dr Michelle Harrison, CEO, Government Management Shanghai Office, Arup and Public Sector Practice, WPP [Panellist]

Presentations and audio from all Foundation events are available at www.foundation.org.uk

fst journal www.foundation.org.uk March 2015, Volume 21(5) 39 EVENTS

The economics of decarbonisation of the UK Raising the bar: can learned societies and Celebrating the centenary of the electricity supply: how much are we prepared professional institutions particularly the establishment of the Medical Research to pay to meet carbon reduction targets? engineering institutions do more to Council: what should be the research 27 November 2013 contribute to economic growth? priorities for medical research over the next James Smith CBE, Chairman, The Carbon 24 September 2013 twenty-five years? Trust Professor Tim Broyd FREng FICE, Vice- 22 May 2013 Dr David Clarke FREng, Chief Executive, President, Institution of Civil Engineers Dr Sydney Brenner CH FRS HonFMedSci, Energy Technologies Institute Professor Jeremy Watson CBE FREng FIET, Senior Distinguished Fellow, Crick-Jacobs Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under- Vice-President and Trustee, The Institution Center, Salk Institute for Biological Studies Secretary, Department for Energy and of Engineering and Technology (The IET) Sir Paul Nurse PRS FMedSci, President, The Climate Change Patrick Kniveton FIMechE FIET, President, Royal Society and Director, Francis Crick Institution of Mechanical Engineers Institute An international initiative to drive down the Professor John Uff CBE QC FREng FICE, Sir Keith Peters FRS FMedSci FRCP FRCPE cost of solar and associated storage Barrister, Keating Chambers [Panellist] FRCPath FLSW, Emeritus Regius Professor 27 November 2013 of Physic, University of Cambridge Sir David King FRS, Foreign Secretary’s Maximising the use of public data: should Dame Kay Davies DBE FRS FMedSci, Special Representative for Climate Change, research and publically acquired data be Director, MRC Functional Genomics Unit Foreign and Commonwealth Office made more accessible? and Associate Head of Division of Medical Ian Simm, Chief Executive, Impax Asset 10 July 2013 Sciences, Department of Physiology, Management Professor Geoffrey Boulton OBE FRS FRSE, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford Chair, Royal Society Inquiry into Science as Sir John Savill FRS FMedSci FRSE FRCP, Maximising the value of UK strengths in an Open Enterprise Chief Executive, Medical Research Council research, innovation and higher education Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt FREng, Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of State 13 November 2013 Chairman and Co-Founder, The Open Data for Universities and Science, Department of Professor Sir John O’Reilly, Director General, Institute Business, Innovation and Skills Knowledge and Innovation, Department for The Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of Business, Innovation and Skills State for Universities and Science, The Armitt Review of the UK long-term Ben Ritchie, Senior Investment Manager, Department for Business, Innovation and infrastructure project pipeline Pan-European Equity, Aberdeen Asset Skills 16 April 2013 Management Professor Sheila M Bird OBE FRSE, Sir John Armitt CBE FREng, Chair, The Professor Geoff Rodgers, Pro-Vice Programme Leader, MRC Biostatistics Unit, Armitt Review of the UK Long-Term Chancellor for Research, Brunel University Institute for Public Health, Cambridge Infrastructure Project Pipeline Peter Marsh, Author ‘The New Industrial [Panellist] Professor Brian Collins CB FREng, Head, Revolution’ and former Manufacturing Department of Science, Engineering, Editor, Financial Times [Panellist] Can university-business collaboration be Technology and Public Policy, University used to maximise short-term economic College London Digital participation: how can digital access growth and reduce unemployment levels Tim Yeo MP, Chair, House of Commons be made available to everyone? in Wales? Select Committee on Energy and Climate 31 October 2013 3 July 2013 Change Professor Alan Alexander OBE FREng, Professor Colin Riordan FLSW, President Deputy Chair, Royal Society of Edinburgh and Vice-Chancellor, Cardiff University Open Access: the Finch Working Group Inquiry into Digital Participation Sir Leszek Borysiewicz FRS FRCP FMedSci report on expanding access to published Lorraine McMillan, Chief Executive, East FLSW, Vice-Chancellor, University of research findings Renfrewshire Council Cambridge 6 March 2013 Dr Alan Blackwell, Reader in Sir Terry Matthews OBE FREng, Chairman, Dame Janet Finch DBE DL AcSS, Chair, Interdisciplinary Design, Computer Wesley Clover Working Group on Expanding Access to Laboratory, University of Cambridge Edwina Hart MBE CStJ AM, Minister for Published Research Findings Economy, Science and Transport, Welsh Professor Douglas Kell, Chief Executive, Improving the career paths for MSc and PhD Government Biotechnology and Biological Sciences students, and postdocs (Round-table Research Council discussion in Cambridge) Cities of the future: science, innovation and Steven Hall, Managing Director, IOP 17 October 2013 city management Publishing Dr Steven Hill, Head of Research Policy, 19 June 2013 Higher Education Funding Council for Steve Quartermain, Chief Planner, Threats and opportunities: scientific England Department for Communities and Local challenges of the 21st century Harry Armstrong, PhD Student, Babraham Government 6 February 2013 Institute, Cambridge Sir David King KB ScD FRS HonFREng, Sir John Beddington CMG FRS FRSE Dr Helen Ewles, Research Associate, Chair, Future Cities Catapult HonFREng, Government Chief Scientific Department of Pathology, University of Richard Bellingham, Director, Institute for Adviser, Government Office for Science Cambridge Future Cities, Strathclyde Business School, Dame Sally Davies DBE FMedSci, Chief University of Strathclyde Medical Officer and Director General of House of Lords Luncheon for Learned and Sir Mark Walport FRS FMedSci, Government Research and Development, Department of Professional Societies Chief Scientific Adviser, Government Office Health 11 October 2013 for Science Sir Mark Walport FRS FMedSci, Government Jonathan Bamford, Head of Strategic Chief Scientific Adviser Designate and Liaison, Information Commissioner’s Office Director, The Wellcome Trust

40 March 2015, Volume 21(5) fst journal www.foundation.org.uk The Foundation is grateful to the following companies, departments, research bodies and charities for their support for the debate programme.

A I Mathematics and System Engineering Arts and Humanities Research Council Imperial College London Society for General Microbiology AstraZeneca Innovate UK (Formerly Technology Society of Biology Strategy Board) Atkins Limited Society of Maritime Industries Institute of Mathematics and its B Sovcomfl ot (UK) Applications BAE Systems Stemnet Institution of Chemical Engineers BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT Syngenta Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Institution of Mechanical Engineers T Research Council J The Academy of Medical Sciences BP Japan Society for the Promotion of The British Standards Institution BPE Innovation Science The Institution of Engineering and BRE Group JISC Technology British Academy Johnson Matthey The Kohn Foundation Brunel University K The Lloyd’s Register Foundation King’s College London C The Medical Schools Council Canterbury Christ Church University L The Michael John Trust Caparo Group Landscape Institute The Nautical Institute Cardiff University Lloyd’s of London The Royal Academy of Engineering Catlin Group Lloyd’s Register London School of Hygiene & Tropical The Royal Commission for the Exhibition Chartered Institute of Plumbing and of 1851 Heating Engineering Medicine The Royal Society City & Guilds of London Institute London South Bank University The Wellcome Trust City University London M Transport Systems Catapult Comino Foundation McLaren Racing Ltd TWI Cranfi eld University Medical Research Council D M e t O f fi c e U Department for Business, Innovation Monterey Bay Aquarium Research University College London and Skills Institute University of Aberdeen Department for Environment, Food and N University of Birmingham Rural Affairs National Oceanography Centre University of Bristol Department of Health National Physical Laboratory University of Cambridge E Natural Environment Research Council University of Chichester Economic and Social Research Council Natural History Museum University of Dundee Energy Institute Nottingham Trent University University of East Anglia Engineering and Physical Sciences University of Edinburgh Research Council P Parliamentary and Scientifi c Committee University of Glasgow Environment Agency Premmit Associates University of Kent ERA Foundation Q University of Leeds G Queen Mary, University of London University of Nottingham GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Queen's University Belfast University of Reading H University of Sheffi eld Heads of University Centres of R Biomedical Science (HUCBMS) Risk Solutions University of Southampton Health and Safety Executive Rolls-Royce University of Strathclyde High Value Manufacturing Catapult Royal Society of Chemistry University of Warwick Higher Education Academy RPS Energy W Higher Education Funding Council for S Wheatsheaf Group England Science & Technology Facilities Council Wiley-Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons HR Wallingford Group Ltd Smith Institute for Industrial Willis The Journal of The Foundation for Science and Technology

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