Winning Formula for Science ; When It Comes to Investment in Science, the UK Has Apparently Never Ha

Jun 14, 04:25 PM

Current Headlines: By Joanna Geary

"It's a fabulously exciting time for science," says Mark Smith, "I took on this role two years ago, and I couldn't have timed it any better."

Prof Smith, head of the science faculty for the University of Warwick, is one of a number of academics convinced the Blair/Brown era has been a golden one for British science.

"At the moment, the UK is the envy of all other serious science playing nations, simply because of the money being put in to the discipline," he explains "Quality science requires quality, expensive infrastructure and, in last ten years, that has been put in place. The Government has not been afraid to back high-risk research and that is going to have big rewards in the long term."

This renaissance for UK science, has also profited higher education in the West Midlands, which has long prided itself on its scientific expertise.

"Warwick University, for example, has always had a great reputation for physics - it has the fourth largest undergraduate intake in the UK," says 44-year-old Prof Smith, an expert magnetic resonancing.

"The region is doing better than many. If you look at both Birmingham and Warwick their management ally put the impetus on science at a time when other institutions are closing their departments

"Take Warwick's physics department as an example - five years ago it had 31 full-time academics, now there are 45. That's a real sign of the expansion and investment."

Now the region's burgeoning scientific community is tapping into a new funding stream that aims to further boost Birmingham's global position in science and, in turn, improve the region's economic prospects.

Science City could see up to pounds 80 million ploughed into research and development over the next ten years.

When the title was bestowed upon Birmingham in Gordon Brown's 2005 Budget, many were mystified as to what the accolade meant.

It was assumed that Science Cities - the list also includes Manchester, Nottingham, York, Bristol and Newcastle - would attract central government funding to boost science research and development.

Not so, according to Jane Holmes, of regional development agency Advantage West Midlands. "Science City is little more than a brand," she says.

"It it entirely down to individual regional development agencies how much they allocate to Science City and how they spend it. Many Science Cities are focusing on developing science parks, but we wanted to do something different.

"As a region, we have at least two of best UK universities but we have one of the lowest levels of investment in private R&D in the UK.

"By allocating up to pounds 60-80 million to help create a world- class research base, we want to kick start the region's R&D industry and create some groundbreaking technologies that can be exploited."

The project is also unique in that it encourages rival universities to work together to bid for projects in energy futures, advanced materials and translational medicine.

"Getting universities to work together is something of a first," explains Ms Holmes.

"But the academics love it because they have new people who can bring something to the party. The universities complement each other in their research and, ultimately, that strengthens the region's abilities.

"It's a fantastic opportunity to exploit the international level research going on here and create beacons of excellence. The result is that the whole is greater than sum of its parts."

The first collaboration to receive funding is a pounds 6.2 million hydrogen energy project between Birmingham and Warwick universities.

The duo are also bidding for Science City funds to expand their research into energy efficiency - an area being ignored by the UK's top institutions and providing a real opportunity for the West Midlands to take a lead.

Prof Smith, who also oversees the Science City project for Warwick, is excited about prospects for the future.

"Science City acts as a catalyst for research," he says.

"Take the hydrogen project as an example. We received pounds 6.2 million from AWM, another pounds 2 million funding was drawn in from elsewhere and the University of Birmingham has just secured a further pounds 1.5 million.

"Yes, there was research going on before but now we have a pounds 10 million hydrogen project catalysed by Science City. The obvious advantage to the region is that we now have the ability to develop far greater critical mass by working collectively than we would do as individuals.

"The results is that we're bringing expertise together in a way that is only going to boost our standing internationally."

'Science City acts as a catalyst for research... the result is that we're bringing expertise together in a way that is only going to boost our standing internationally'

Prof Smith, head of the science faculty for the University of Warwick

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