The Challenges and Opportunities for UK Research

Professor Adrian Smith

Director General, Science and Research, BIS

HEPI Autumn 2010 Conference, December 2nd

Central Spending Review 2010

• The Science & Research programme budget protected with a 4 year, flat cash, ring-fenced settlement.

• Science & Research community played a vital role in convincing No. 10 and HMT that research is a key investment in the future.

• “When money is short we should ruthlessly prioritise those areas of public spending which are most likely to support economic growth, including … our science base”

George Osborne, Spending Review statement, October 20th 2010

Science & Research settlement compared with other departments

Cash changes for main departments over the Spending Review period

HMRC

Scien

ce &

Res

earc

h

Defenc

e

Educa

tion

DWP

Health

Trans

port

Home

Offic

e

DECC

BIS (t

otal)

DfID

Inte

lligen

ce

DEFRA

Loca

l Gov

t

DCMS

Just

ice

FCO

-40.0%

-30.0%

-20.0%

-10.0%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Spending Review Challenges

• Flat cash is still an 8.9% cut over the period. Challenge to make up as much as possible from efficiency savings (Wakeham etc.), minimising the actual cut in volume of research.

• Capital: the community’s two top priority projects, UKCMRI and Diamond Light Source Phase 3, are confirmed. But capital elsewhere will be tight.

• Conclusion: flat cash is “painful but manageable” – Lord Rees, The Royal Society.

Competitor nations

Long term international investments in Science and Research

US Doubling basic science spend 2006–16

GermanyExtra €18bn for science, research and development for 2010-2015, on top of current budgets of c. €30bn p.a.

China 25% increase in central government funds to the science and technology sector

FranceResearch and HE to receive additional €1.8bn per year (2001-2011), of which research will receive €804m.

Russia2.6% increase 2009-2010, only defence and research budgets were not cut.c. 45% increase in funding for HE and university research over next decade (additional US$3bn 1)

Sweden Central government funds for R&D will increase by over 10% between 2009-2012

Finland Research expenditure increasing by 6% (nominal)

Challenges

Technology Strategy Board

• Regional Development Agencies have been abolished. Their business-led technology innovation work, such as R&D grants, will now be handled by the Technology Strategy Board.

• RDAs were a major funding stream (along with HEIF) for knowledge exchange infrastructure, such as science parks and university incubators. There will be significant challenges in ensuring the future viability of these ventures.

The Browne Review

• Aims to put funding of undergraduate courses on a sustainable footing, by shifting bulk of payment from Government to the individual.

• It is hard to predict how these changes will affect the research pipeline, in particular at the level of taught postgraduate courses. These are often the stepping stone to research training.

Migration

• Challenge of reconciling Coalition commitment to reduce immigration with the research need to attract the brightest and best from around the world. Salary alone is not an effective filter.

• Home Office announcement (Nov 23rd) has clarified the situation.

• For Tier 1 visas (no job yet), academics and scientists can get in through the Exceptional Talent and Exceptional Promise categories, limited to 1000 p.a.

• For Tier 2 visas (job confirmed), academics and scientists can get in for jobs requiring high level qualifications, with a cap applied monthly.

Progress in improving the STEM pipeline

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

2005 2010

GCSE entries in single science subjects - a more rigorous grounding than Double Science

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

More to be done at A Level

010000200003000040000500006000070000

2005 2010

A Level entries by subject - welcome upturn in Maths, but continued upturn needed in other

sciences

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

Mathematics

Further Maths

Opportunities

Reorganisation of BIS

• BIS was formed in 2009, from the merger of DIUS and BERR.

• There was always going to be a process of rationalisation, the current public spending environment making this even more important.

• The groups of Science & Research, Innovation and the Higher Education part of Universities & Skills will form Knowledge and Innovation Group. I have been appointed Director General of this expanded group.

DG Group Allocation of Directorates

Market Frameworks Consumer & competition policy

Corporate law & governance, Europe

International trade, investment & development

BEGD (excluding Office for Life Sciences)

Employment relations

Business & Skills Advanced manufacturing and services

Economic development

Enterprise

Skills

Further education & skills investment

Information economy

Office for Life Sciences

RDA Transition and closure

Knowledge & Innovation Innovation

Public sector innovation

Higher education

Financial support for learners

Research base

UK Space Agency

Chief Scientific Adviser (BIS)

Chief Economic Adviser & BRE Economic Analysis

Deputy Chief Economic Adviser

Better Regulation Executive

The New Policy Structure of BIS

Close working

• Academic and governmental communities have become closer in recent years.

• Within Government, there is now a Chief Scientific Adviser in every department (except the Treasury).

• CSAs meet regularly with the Chief Executives of the Research Councils.

Interdisciplinary research

• Recognition that the “grand challenges” facing humanity: ageing populations, energy needs, environmental changes etc. cannot be adequately tackled within a single discipline (or even country).

• Six cross-council programmes involve input from all the Research Councils, plus various other bodies across government.

Cross Council Programmes

• Major response to strategic challenges for the nation – and the world

• Coordinated impact greater than sum of the parts

EnergyEnergyLiving With Living With Environmental Environmental

ChangeChange

AgeingAgeingGlobal Global UncertaintiesUncertainties

Digital Digital EconomyEconomy

Food SecurityFood Security

International collaborations

• Some of the most complex scientific projects, such as the Large Hadron Collider and nuclear fusion, are well beyond the resources of the UK alone.

• We are involved in international collaborations such as CERN, the European Space Agency and ITER (through the EU), as well as many smaller Research Council projects.

• In tough financial times we have been making good progress in negotiating down subscription costs.

Technology Innovation Centres

• £200m has been earmarked over the next four years for Technology Innovation Centres, to be overseen by the TSB.

• They will be based on the model advocated by Hermann Hauser and James Dyson – similar but not identical to the Fraunhofer Centres in Germany.

• The aim is to provide a stronger bridge between research and technology commercialisation, de-risking the investment process for businesses.

Clusters

• TICs are part of a ministerial strategy to develop TICs are part of a ministerial strategy to develop clusters. where scientific facilities, world-class clusters. where scientific facilities, world-class universities and hi-tech businesses are grouped universities and hi-tech businesses are grouped in close proximity.in close proximity.

The Key role of Higher Education

• Receives two-thirds of S&R budget!• Implications of Browne/SR ?• Greater mission diversity?• More HEI shared use of R resources?• International R positioning?