Annex A to EPSRC Submission—Sustaining
the Core Physical Sciences and Engineering
SUMMARY
1. At a time when the competitiveness and
productivity of advanced economies depends increasingly on science
and scientists[37],
there is a turning away from science, particularly among the young
and particularly in the core physical sciences (figure 1). The
problem was elegantly and comprehensively analysed in the Roberts
Report ("SET for success: the supply of people with science,
technology, engineering and mathematics skills"). This is
a long-term problem needing long-term solutions (some of which
were initiated with the implementation of the Roberts Report).
2. There is an even more immediate problem,
however. The UK's research capacity in engineering and the physical
sciences is heavily dependent on the university sector. But the
base of permanent staff is shrinking in these core subjects (relatively
and, in some cases, absolutely see for example figure 2) as is
research income and research outputs such as the number of published
papers. Partly this results from a deliberate shift of resources
toward new scientific opportunities in the life sciences. But
partly it is an accidental consequence of the turning away from
the hard sciences, where resources in universities largely follow
student whims.
3. This paper is concerned with sustaining
the UK's research capacity in important areas of the physical
sciences and engineering by increasing the quantity of high quality
research, reducing the dependence of that capacity on student
numbers. That dependence has already led to the closure of 79
university departments in six years in these fields. There is
wide concern about the national and regional implications—for
example the Institute of Physics has talked of "physics deserts".
4. Action is required to meet the needs
of the UK economy and to facilitate further progress in other
areas of science.
WHY IT
MATTERS TO
THE UK ECONOMY?
5. The physical sciences and engineering
are remarkable for their importance and pervasiveness throughout
the economy. Work by SPRU has demonstrated that:
— industrial R&D managers in all
sectors rank research in computer science, engineering and materials
as the scientific disciplines most important to them;
— while the pharmaceuticals sector
shows a high reliance on the life sciences, in other sectors the
physical sciences and engineering are more important and more
pervasive (see, for example, figure 3);
— industrial sectors dependent on engineering
and the physical sciences represent about 85% of all UK exports;
— the industrial sectors with the highest
dependence on engineering and the physical sciences are those
with the fastest growth of added value per employee (figure 4);
— postgraduate scientists trained in
engineering and the physical sciences are employed widely throughout
the UK economy, including particularly the private service sector
(figure 5).
6. It matters even more in that, as the
report of the Lambert Review states, UK industry is increasingly
looking to the university research base to undertake much of its
research. It is essential that university research is of adequate
capacity and balance.
7. These concerns are not unique to the
UK. In the USA, where there has been a similar swing away from
the physical sciences and engineering, concerns are being voiced
that the economy no longer has an adequate research base in these
fields.
WHY IT
MATTERS TO
OTHER AREAS
OF SCIENCE?
8. Much of the rapid and exciting research
progress in the life and medical sciences has depended on earlier
breakthroughs in the physical sciences (eg x-ray crystallography
and synchrotron radiation, nmr, amino-acid sequencers, optical
tweezers, bioinformatics). This trend will continue. For example,
a survey of leading scientists, conducted by PREST, showed that
the fields in which excellence is required to sustain the respondent's
research were:
— for medicine: bioinformatics, imaging
technology, physical sciences in general, engineering;
— for biological sciences: biophysical
chemistry, computational biology, bioinformatics, chemistry and
chemical engineering;
— for earth and environment: mathematics,
physics, chemistry, computer science, engineering.
9. The same messages are confirmed in the
BBSRC and NERC Strategic Plans.
WHY ACTION
IS NEEDED
NOW?
10. The reduction in the UK's research capacity
in engineering and the physical sciences has happened over a long
period and it is not easy to call the point at which some redress
is needed. For example, universities' total external research
income in engineering and the physical sciences has fallen from
43% in 1985-86 to 33% in 1999-2000. Figure 6 shows the rate of
change in recent years. What is clear, however, is that contraction
will continue unless positive action is taken to stop it. Further
decline could severely hamper improvements in competitiveness
in the UK economy. And the restored research capacity has to be
in the UK; if it is elsewhere we will begin to lose the ability
to understand and use developments elsewhere and will not maintain
the research environments necessary to produce trained people.
WHAT IS
NEEDED?
11. There is a need to restore research
capability without undue reliance on undergraduate student numbers.
This will require ongoing and concerted action by a number of
bodies. EPSRC is taking a lead by piloting Science and Innovation
Awards which are designed to strengthen capacity in areas of economic
and scientific importance that are especially at risk. A continuing
programme of these awards will be needed to halt the decline.
Figures
Figure 1: Trends in numbers taking
A levels, first degrees and doctorates in different fields (from
the Roberts report)
Figure 2: Relative change in Wholly
Institution Funded HEI staff numbers for different fields.
Figure 3: Importance of academic Research
in Materials and Biology for Industrial R&D Managers
Figure 4: Changes in added value per
employee for industrial sectors in which engineering and physical
sciences are most relevant (high EPS) and least relevant (no EPS)
Figure 5: Distribution of Postgraduate
Scientists between Sectors compared to Total Workforce.
Figure 6: Relative change in HEI's
external research income in different fields
37 Used in the generic sense to encompass the full
spectrum of science, engineering and technology. Back
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