APPENDIX 15
Memorandum by the Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics is a leading international
professional body and learned society, with over 37,000 members,
which promotes the advancement and dissemination of a knowledge
of, and education, in the science of physics, pure and applied.
The Institute welcomes the opportunity to respond
to this important Inquiry.
The White Paper, Our Competitive Future:
Building the Knowledge Driven Economy, listed a number of
Government commitments and measures which would strengthen the
UK's capability to compete in the modern economy. These included
to:
— boost science spending in partnership
with the Wellcome Trust by an extra £1.4 billion;
— create a new reach-out fund to promote
English university interaction with business;
— launch a £25 million Science
Enterprise Challenge, creating up to eight enterprise centres
in universities;
— establish a national network of Faraday
Partnerships;
— launch a second round of Foresight
and provide £10 million for a second round of Foresight LINK
Awards; and
— provide funds for the Regional Development
Agencies to promote collaborative strategies building on regional
know-how.
The majority of these commitments have been
welcomed. However, one of the Institute's main issues of concern
relates to the role of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in
regional growth strategies. In the Institute's submission to the
House of Lords Science and Technology Sub-Committee II's Inquiry,
Science and the RDAs, it was stated that the RDAs are perceived
as not being fully engaged with science, engineering and technology
(SET) activity, which appears not to get the support it deserves
as a significant source of new business and economic growth.
The Sub-Committee in its final report, Science
& the RDAs: SETting the regional agenda[75],
concluded that there is a need for a rationalisation of all SET
activity to better facilitate its exploitation, and that current
accountability and targets for RDAs need to be revised to take
account of the importance of SET in economic development strategies
and to address the long-term nature of these activities.
In addition, one of the challenges identified
in the Institute's report, The Importance of Physics in the
UK Economy[76],
is that, despite some high-profile spinout activity in the UK,
there appears to be a low rate of commercialisation of academic
research in physics compared with other disciplines. To enable
the UK to reap more of the commercial benefits of its physics
base, university physics departments and related groups should
be encouraged to exploit more of their research in industry. There
is significant potential for exploitation and the RDAs are well
placed to enable some of the necessary interaction between universities
and industry. The Institute is committed to helping the UK physics
community to realise its full potential, and sees collaboration
with the RDAs as a means of achieving this.
The Institute suggests that the Select Committee
consider the Sub-Committee's recommendations on how to improve
the working relationship between the RDAs and the SET sector,
in order to support regional economic growth.
In addition, if the UK is to realise its full
economic potential in the medium- to long-term, then it will need
to increase and improve the supply of SET graduates. As highlighted
in SET for Success[77],
the report of Sir Gareth Roberts's Review:
". . . graduates and postgraduates in strong
numerical subjects, are in increasing demand in the economy—to
work in R&D, but also to work in other sectors (such as financial
services or ICT) where there is strong demand for their skills."
Physicists fall squarely into this category.
Physics is an integral part of our culture,
providing the foundations for many scientific disciplines. The
increase in wealth, economic globalisation, living standards and
the quality of life in the 20th century have been largely based
on technological progress, which in turn has relied heavily on
innovative research in physics. In addition, physics education
develops strong intellectual and practical skills, well matched
to the evolving needs of employers, and also provides the foundation
for all engineering and many scientific disciplines. However,
as reported in Physics—building a flourishing future[78],
the Institute's report into undergraduate physics in the UK, there
are concerns, which are jeopardising the contribution that physics
makes to wealth creation, innovation and economic growth. These
include:
— changes in the nature of mathematics
courses at school level have led to students being less proficient
and confident in the mathematical skills required by physics degree
courses;
— over the past 15 years, numbers taking
physics degrees have held approximately level (against increasing
higher education participation) with the proportion of women remaining
around 20%. In England, physics has lost its status as the most
popular science studied at A-level. Employer demands for scientists
and engineers are not being met. More needs to be done to increase
the flow of physics graduates into research in industry and academe,
and to increase the number of people with the skills of a physics-based
education for teaching, commerce, and the public sector;
— there is a crisis in the teaching
of physics in schools—a large majority of the teachers of
physics taught to the under-16s do not have a physics-based degree.
Only those with confidence and competence can teach their subject
well, engaging and enthusing pupils and motivating them to pursue
careers in science and engineering. Unfortunately, teaching is
not seen as an attractive career option for physics graduates,
and the number entering is low; and
— the economics of university physics
departments, including a chronic under-funding of laboratory infrastructure,
has led to the loss of several departments in the past ten years.
Larger areas of population and industry now have no convenient
access to a local university physics department offering teaching
or research. As the proportion of students living at home increases,
as industry becomes more dependent upon high-technology knowledge
and as the links between schools and universities become stronger,
these regions will suffer from a lack of proximity to university
physics.
SET for Success, reported that the "disconnect"
between the demand for skilled graduates and the declining number
of physical sciences, engineering and mathematics graduates on
the other hand, is starting to result in skills shortages. Furthermore,
any attempt to address the issues associated with this decline
requires action in schools, higher education, industry and the
Government.
In addition, the Institute's report, The
Importance of Physics in the UK Economy, highlighted that
physics underpinned 43% of UK manufacturing by 2000, and the percentage
is growing. While "conventional" physics based industries
(PBIs) are doing well compared with UK manufacturing as a whole,
exciting new areas of industry are emerging based on developments
in physics-based research over the past 20 years.
However, there are some worrying trends that
threaten to hinder the performance of PBIs over the next decade.
In particular:
— investment in PBIs does not match
that of other manufacturing sectors and there is limited availability
of venture capital for start-ups and small to medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs);
— commercialisation of physics-based
research is limited, despite its potential for exploitation;
— there is evidence of a growing problem
as the supply of trained physicists falls short of demand; and
— false perceptions of unattractive
career prospects and low salaries in PBIs are deterring students
from studying science and engineering.
These issues require immediate attention if
the UK is to maintain a healthy PBI base and UK PBIs are to continue
to contribute to the growth of the economy. For instance, a modest
increase in investment now could have a dramatic impact on the
amount of physics based industrial activity in the UK and the
success of its commercialisation. University physics departments
are starting to become more active in transferring technology
to industry and their attitudes to entrepreneurship are changing,
but an acceleration of effort has to be encouraged.
The Institute is playing its part by raising
awareness of the highlighted concerns at all levels, and urges
the Select Committee to review the recommendations detailed in
the Institute's reports, SET for Success, the forthcoming report
of the Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration[79],
and to scrutinise the Government's actions in response. If these
concerns are not addressed effectively, the capability of the
UK to participate in world-leading science and innovation will
be severely diminished.
26 November 2003
75 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200203/ldselect/ldsctech/140/14001.htm Back
76
http://industry.iop.org/PBI.html Back
77
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/enterprise_and_productivity/research_and_enterprise/ent_res_roberts.cfm Back
78
http://policy.iop.org/UPI/index.html Back
79
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consultations_and_legislation/lambert/consult_lambert_index.cfm Back
|
