Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) Why Should the Taxpayer Fund Science and Research? a perennial question with evolving answers.

Transcription

1 Why Should the Taxpayer Fund Science and Research? a perennial question with evolving answers. Professor Graeme Reid Inaugural lecture, 20 May 2014

2 Science and research as a public good The Sovereign has the duty to. maintain certain public works and certain public institutions, which can never be for the interest of any individual.because the profit could never repay the expense to any individual.though it may frequently do much more than repay it to a great society Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations Book IV, 1776

3 The private sector generally does not have the incentive to invest in knowledge made publicly available because it could not earn a return. The Government therefore funds this type of research, particularly the more fundamental, long-term research that is unlikely to have immediate application Gordon Brown, Charles Clarke and Patricia Hewitt, Science and Innovation Investment Framework, , HM Treasury, 2004

4 Of course, scientific endeavour is inherently worthwhile in its own right. It is driven by our deep curiosity about the world around us. Our urge to understand - a mark of our humanity, shared across history and cultures. George Osborne, Cambridge, April 2014

5 The social and economic value of science and research 1675 Charles II founds Royal Greenwich Observatory to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting of the art of navigation

6 1913 Medical Research Council founded in response to a pressing need for research into tuberculosis

7 How much do taxpayers spend on science and research? UK science & research funding ,000 Research Councils Funding m 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 Higher Education Funding Councils EU Defence Civil Departments 2, Year Source: Campaign for Science and Engineering (CASE) analysis of SET statistics

8 How much do taxpayers spend on science and research? 3 a week for each person in the UK Calculcated by NCUB from ONS data

9 Science has been protected in relative terms % change in departmental budgets *DFID +49% Intelligence services DfID NHS (Health) Science Education MOD HMRC DECC BIS HO FCO DCMS Defra Transport DWP MOJ DCLG Source: HMT

10 International comparison of research funding

11 Even with private sector innovation included, UK s total investment is only average Estimated total R&D and innovation investment as % of GDP (2011) Private sector financed non-r&d innovation (unadjusted)*** Private and third sector financed R&D (unadjusted)** Government financed R&D* USA Finland UK France Germany * Government funded Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD); ** GERD minus Government funded GERD (unadjusted for industrial structure); *** See separate methodological note (unadjusted for industrial structure) Source: OECD, IMF, Corrado et al 2010 data, BIS analysis

12 UK research performance % of downloaded world publications % of world s most highly-cited papers % of world citations % of researchers 4.1 % of global research funding 3.2 % of world population 0.9 Source: Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base 2013, Elsevier / BIS, 2013.

13 The UK s science output is strong across a broad range of research fields UK s field-weighted citation impact across ten research fields in 2002 and 2012 World World 2002 World Humanities Clinical Sciences Health & Medical Sciences Business 0.5 Biological Sciences 0 Social Sciences Environmental Sciences Engineering Mathematics Physical Sciences Elsevier Report: International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base 2013

14 The UK s science output is strong across a broad range of research fields World Humanities Business UK Clinical Sciences Health & Medical Sciences Biological Sciences World Humanities China Clinical Sciences Health & Medical Sciences ocial Sciences Engineering Mathematics Environmental Sciences Business Biological Sciences Physical Sciences 0 Social Sciences Environmental Sciences Engineering Mathematics Elsevier Report: International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base 2013 Physical Sciences

15 Centre for Sustainable Heritage Prof. May Cassar UCL

16 Does the science and research base make efficient use of public money? UK has the highest Citations per in the G8 1 Research Councils and HEFCE have lower overheads than international peers 2 Universities have grown their external income by over 40% over the last decade to 3.4bn pa 3 UK universities among the best in the world for collaboration with business 4 1.) International Comparative performance of the UK Research Base, Elsevier, December ) BIS analysis 3.) HEBCI survey, HEFCE, ) World Economic Forum global competitiveness report, 2013

17 Government and business R&D as % of GDP (2011) * Government financed Gross Expenditure on R&D; ** Total Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) minus Government financed GERD Source: OECD, 2013 BIS analysis of 2011 data

18 the UK s outstanding university sector should be a strong attractor for overseas funding of R&D in the private sector and the location of R&D activity in the UK. There is support for this proposition on both qualitative and quantitative grounds.

19 Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) The impact of research

20 What are the returns on taxpayers investments? Creating new businesses Delivering highly skilled people to the labour market Businesses improving their performance Economic and Social Impact Improving public policy and public services. Attracting R&D investment from global business

21 Highly-skilled people PhD graduates Source: The Scientific Century; Royal Society: 2010

22 Source: Encouraging a British Invention Revolution: Sir Andrew Witty s review of Universities and Growth Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) UK STEM graduates are concentrated in life sciences University qualifiers in STEM subjects

23 What are the returns on taxpayers investments? Creating new businesses Delivering highly skilled people to the labour market Businesses improving their performance Economic and Social Impact Improving public policy and public services. Attracting R&D investment from global business

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25 The Guardian 2011

26 DNA fingerprinting Sir Alec Jeffreys

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28 What are the returns on taxpayers investments? Creating new businesses Delivering highly skilled people to the labour market Businesses improving their performance Economic and Social Impact Improving public policy and public services. Attracting R&D investment from global business

29 Attracting foreign direct investment Proximity to customers Talented people High quality science Protection of intellectual property Ease of working with universities Cost of research

30 Research attracts investment

31 31 Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) Global competition for foreign direct investment Proctor & Gamble global R&D centres (San Francisco) Cincinnati Beckett R Ivorydale Mason Sharon W Winton Hill South Boston Bethel Hunt Valley Newcastle Gr. London Brussels (Rome) Germany Kronberg Schwalbach (Tel Aviv, Israel) (Bangalore) Beijing Kobe,Japan Caracas, Venezuela Singapore (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

32 Office of the Vice-Provost (Research)

33 What are the returns on taxpayers investments? Creating new businesses Delivering highly skilled people to the labour market Businesses improving their performance Economic and Social Impact Improving public policy and public services. Attracting R&D investment from global business

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35 Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute

36 Advanced Forming Research Centre: relationships with many businesses

37 Many relationships with one business Future Cities Centre Collaboration space for academics, business & start-ups IDEA London Incubation space Student Internships UCL & Cisco US student internships Visiting speaker programme Cisco CTOs, Fellows and Distinguished Engineers speaking at UCL

38 What are the returns on taxpayers investments? Creating new businesses Delivering highly skilled people to the labour market Businesses improving their performance Economic and Social Impact Improving public policy and public services. Attracting R&D investment from global business

39 Universities working with emerging businesses Transaction costs Absorptive capacity Timescales Awareness

40 77% of participants on the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme at UCL take on new employees we were introduced to business angels, investors and new contacts that presented immediate opportunities Jessica Rose Founder of London Jewellery School

41 University spin-outs Sold for: 330 million 720 million 242 million 99 million 542 million 291 million 6.6 billion

42 Universities working with business In 2012/13 universities secured nearly 3.6bn from external sources. 4,000 M 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1, Grand Total Contract research Collaborative research CPD and CE Consultancy Regeneration and development programmes Facilities and equipment related services IP (including sale of shares) Source: HEBCI surveys

43 This time next year we'll be millionaires! Source: Del Boy Trotter, Nelson Mandela House, Peckham (BBC).

44 Public opinion

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47 The Telegraph 2013

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50 The public support government funding of science % strongly agree % tend to disagree % tend to agree % neither agree nor disagree % strongly disagree % don t know Even if it brings no immediate benefits, scientific research which advances knowledge should be funded by the Government Government funding for science should be cut because the money can be better spent elsewhere Base: 1,749 UK adults aged 16+ Ipsos MORI Version 1 Public

51 International comparison of research funding

52 Why Should the Taxpayer Fund Science and Research? a perennial question with evolving answers. Professor Graeme Reid graeme.reid@ucl.ac.uk Inaugural lecture, 20 May 2014