APPENDIX 22
Supplementary memorandum from Research
Councils UK
LETTER TO RESEARCH COUNCILS UK
As part of the House of Common Science and Technology
inquiry into Research Council Support for Knowledge Transfer,
it has been decided to evaluate three specific Research Council
schemes in this area. We would therefore be grateful if you could
obtain and send information regarding inputs and outcomes for
the following schemes:
1. RCUK Business Plan Competition[13]
(since 2001).
2. CASE Studentships (since 2000).
3. NERC Connect A & B (since 1996).
1. Business Plan Competition
For the Business Plan Competition, the Committee
would like to evaluate the overall cost of the scheme against
its full output (ie in addition to the number of prize winners).
We would therefore like information on the following:
The total cost of the scheme since
its inception, both indirect and direct, including such items
as:
(ii) the source and size of any industry
sponsorship, money or otherwise and
(iii) staffing and advertising costs.
The direct impact of the scheme,
as indicated by data such as:
(i) the number of entrant companies;
(ii) their home institution;
(iii) the number of qualifiers at each stage
of the competition;
(iv) the subsequent activities of entrantsboth
entrant companies and the individual members, including those
who were not awarded prizes (eg how many subsequently went on
to exploit their inventions and/or made use of what they learnt
during the competition).
The indirect impact of the scheme
as best as it can be ascertained through available information,
including:
(i) formal feedback from participants, home
institutions, sponsoring or attending companies and judges; and
(ii) informal feedback from the above stakeholders
or other observers.
2. CASE Studentships
The Committee would like to determine the annual
cost (since 2000) to the UK Government and host companies of the
scheme. It would be grateful to receive information as follows:
(i) the cost of awards (broken down by Council
and sector of Industrial Partners); and
(ii) numbers of awards per Council.
The Committee would also like to receive data
indicating the impact of CASE since 2000, in response to the following
questions:
(i) how many CASE students have gone on
to work in the industrial research sector (and of those, how many
were hired by their host companies)?;
(ii) how many have gone on to work in the
academic research sector?; and
(iii) how many students have left research
to undertake employment in other sectors?
The Committee also wishes to assess any additional
areas of impact. What information is kept on the nature of any
continuing relationships or further collaborative work generated
by the scheme?
Finally, the Committee would also like information
on:
(i) whether there any significant differences
between different Research Councils in the way the scheme is administered,
including evaluation methods?;
(iii) satisfaction rates for the Studentships,
in respect of the host companies, institutes and students themselves?.
3. Connect A & B/Partnership Research
Grants
The Natural Environment Research Council has
been running these schemes since 1995-96. Connect B has been replaced
by Partnership Research Grants. The Committee would like to see
information that will help to answer questions such as:
how many applications have been received
for each scheme per annum; and what advertising is undertaken
to promote the schemes to research bodies and industry?;
how many grants have been made each
year, and what was the total value?;
what were the total annual costs
of running the schemes? and
what steps are taken to measure the
effectiveness of these schemes in supporting knowledge transfer?
Due to the short timeframe of the Committee
inquiry, it would be appreciated if you could supply the relevant
information by the 19th April. Please do not hesitate to contact
me if you have any queries.
April 2006
RESPONSES
HOC S&T COMMITTEE
INQUIRY INTO
RESEARCH COUNCIL
SUPPORT FOR
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER:
BUSINESS PLAN
COMPETITIONS (APRIL
2006)
Background
1. The Research Council (RC) Business Plan
Competition (BPC) aims to both assist in the creation of new business
ventures from the research base and raise awareness of research
commercialisation issues and opportunities amongst academics.
The 2005-06 RC BPC is the first to involve all eight RCs. This
Competition builds on the success of earlier pioneering bioscience
competitions initiated in 1999 by BBSRC/MRC and subsequent competitions
involving various councils.
2. The aims of the RC BPC are:
to encourage public funded researchers
to consider the exploitation of research;
to provide training to make publicly-funded
researchers more aware of the key issues for commercialising research
outputs;
to assist knowledge transfer by facilitating
the development of spin out companies, viable business services,
joint ventures and licensing agreements.
3. The Competition is open to public-funded
researchers working in universities, PSREs and all other institutions
eligible to receive support from the research councils. The researchers
should be working within the remit of the sponsoring councils.
The Competition is open to individuals or teams of researchers,
postdoctoral workers and PhD students. It is expected that the
plans submitted propose business ventures that contribute to the
UK economy.
4. The format of the BPC is as follows:
One-page Expressions of Interest
requested;
Round 1: Eligible entrants
invited to attend a two day training workshop covering commercialisation
issues;
Teams submit a five-page outline
business plan which is assessed by a panel of external judges;
Round 2: Successful teams
benefit from a mentoring and coaching network, before preparing
a full business plan to be assessed by external judges;
Around five teams invited to compete
in a high profile Final.
5. The current Competition was launched
in October 2005, with the Final planned for December 2006.
Scope and Impact
6. Summary information on the scope, including
costs, and impact of all RC BPCs organised to date is attached
at Annex 1.
7. BBSRC/MRC obtained significant industrial
sponsorship for the Bioscience BPCs (£250k for the first
one alone, including donation from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation
for training elements of the competition) with additional support
from DTI. Subsequent competitions have attracted further sponsorship.
However, the most impressive form of sponsorship has been the
BPC's ability to attract in kind support from mentoring organisations
involved in Round 2 of the competition, and from external judges,
guest speakers etc. For instance, the 41 teams progressing to
the mentoring stages of the 2003-04 Joint RC BPC benefited from
143 mentoring days provided by 27 companies, an invaluable resource
and of real value to participants in developing robust and professional
business plans.
8. Case studies highlighting the outputs
from past BPCs can be found at Annex 2a & b. (not published).
9. In relation to impact, BBSRC commissioned
an external evaluation of the first two Bioscience BPCs: "Bioscience
BPC: report on commercial activity of participating teams".
The review showed that there were ten companies established as
a result of first two Bioscience BPCs, having raised collectively
£2.3 million investment. Also, two companies launched following
BPC subsequently secured SBRI funding totalling £400k. The
full report is available upon request. A follow-up Review has
recently been commissioned in order to track bioscience entries
to the first two Bioscience BPCs and the first Joint RC BPC.
It should be noted that evaluation and follow-up
monitoring is an integral component of the current Joint RC BPC
and will feed into plans for any future competitions. However,
it is too early to assess the impact of the first Joint RC BPC
and therefore limited information is available at this time.
10. The following comments from the Bioscience
BPC Review indicate the impact of the BPC on participants:
"I would not have set the company up, but
for the Business Plan Competition."
"The competition has had a definite knock-on
effect in terms of stimulating my colleagues to look at commercialising
their work."
"The Competition gave me the ability to
approach companies with confidence in a way that it could only
have dreamt of before."
"The Competition was extremely well organised,
with just the right number of meetings. Having a coach to talk
issues through with and to help make sense of things was immensely
valuable."
"I had had the idea for some time and the
Competition was the stimulus for me to give it a go."
For the current Joint RC BPC, illustrative comments
relating to the Round 1 training workshops alone include:
"I liked the programme and learnt a lot.
Though I have attended a few workshops on business plans, entrepreneurship
& commercialisation of technology, I have no doubt in saying
that yours is a very balanced approach to theory & practice
(case studies & Belbin exercises). In addition, the delivery
by each member of your team was excellent."
"I thought the RC business plan competition
was excellent and I am looking forward to writing the five page
business plan over the coming weeks. . . . Hope to see you again
at the next round."
"I would just like to thank you and all
your team for an excellent learning experience. I have learnt
a lot and will hopefully be able to apply this in various ways."
11. There are many positive examples of
the indirect impact the BPCs have had on "stakeholders".
One such example is documented in the House of Commons S&T
Committee uncorrected oral evidence session of 29 March 2006 on
RC support for Knowledge Transfer, Q162 by Dr Malcolm Skingle,
GSK; "BBSRC started the bioscience business competition.
I always say when those business plans first came out my mum could
have done a better job. In the early years of the competition
many of the business plans were of poor quality but through iterations
with external advisers within the business competition the quality
has improved and now, at GSK, we interact with the companies that
are coming out of the competition. It has been successful and
other Research Councils are now also sponsoring it. I see that
as a positive thing."
House of Commons Science and Technology
Committee Inquiry into Research Council Support for Knowledge
Transfer 2006
In a letter dated 5 April 2006 the House of
Commons Science and Technology Committee requested information
in relation to CASE Studentships as set out in table one below.
In response to this request information relevant
to each Council is attached at Annexes 1-8.
Table OneInformation requested
by House of Commons S&T Committee
The Committee would like to determine the annual
cost (since 2000) to the UK Government and host companies of the
scheme. It would be grateful to receive information as follows:
(i) the cost of awards (broken down by Council
and sector of Industrial Partners); and
(ii) numbers of awards per Council.
The Committee would also like to receive data
indicating the impact of CASE since 2000, in response to the following
questions:
(iv) how many CASE students have gone on
to work in the industrial research sector (and of those, how many
were hired by their host companies)?;
(v) how many have gone on to work in the
academic research sector?; and
(vi) how many students have left research
to undertake employment in other sectors?
The Committee also wishes to assess any additional
areas of impact. What information is kept on the nature of any
continuing relationships or further collaborative work generated
by the scheme?
Finally, the Committee would also like information
on:
(i) whether there any significant differences
between different Research Councils in the way the scheme is administered,
including evaluation methods?;
(iii) satisfaction rates for the Studentships,
in respect of the host companies, institutes and students themselves?.
Annex 1: Arts and
Humanities Research Council
INFORMATION ON
AHRC COLLABORATIVE DOCTORAL
AWARDS
INTRODUCTION
The AHRC's Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDA)
scheme was launched in 2004, and the first cohort of CDA students
took up their awards in October 2005. At the time of writing,
the second round has just been completed, and that cohort of students
will take up their awards in October 2006. The scheme is thus
at an early stage of its development, which limits some of the
information available for report.
1. Cost to AHRC of collaborative doctoral
awards
Financial year |
CDA awards cost to AHRC |
Cost to collaborating organisations |
2005-06 (actual)* |
£395,000 |
£43,000 |
2006-07 (actual and projected commitments) |
£1,160,000 |
£52,000 |
* NB this represents six months spend, as the first awards were made in October 2005.
|
The cost to the AHRC consists of the amounts paid
in student awards, tuition fees, research training and similar
costs;
The cost to the collaborating organisation consists
of the contribution made by the collaborating organisation to
the student. Other costs to the collaborating organisation (staff
time, provision of resources etc) are not included.
2. Number of AHRC collaborative doctoral awards
Academic year | New CDA
awards |
Number of new CDA students |
Stock of CDA students |
2005-06 |
41 |
43 |
43 |
2006-07 |
49 |
52 |
95 |
|
|
|
|
A number of CDA awards are made each year to support
two students concurrently, and a number are also made to support
three-year programmes, in which studentships will be offered over
a period of three years.
Collaborating organisations by sector |
2005-06 awards |
2006-07 awards |
National museums and galleries |
13 |
15 |
Regional and local museums |
6 |
7 |
Libraries and archives |
5 |
3 |
Heritage |
5 |
7 |
Archaeology |
1 |
|
Commercial |
2 |
|
Theatre/Performance/Drama |
3 |
5 |
Film |
|
1 |
Media/Arts/Design |
4 |
5 |
Legal |
|
2 |
Health/Social/Local government |
2 |
4 |
Total | 41 | 49 |
3. Impact of CDA scheme and CDA student destinations
| | |
The first cohort of AHRC CDA students will complete their
PhD in 2008 at the earliest, so no data on career destinations
is currently available.
4. Continuing relationships or further collaborations
generated by scheme
Again, the CDA scheme is at too early a stage for such information
to be available.
5. CDA scheme administration
The AHRC's Collaborative Doctoral Awards scheme was launched
in 2004 to encourage and support partnerships and research collaboration
between higher education institutions and non-academic organisations
in support of students undertaking doctoral student in the arts
and humanities.
The aims of the scheme are:
to encourage and develop collaboration between
HEI departments and non-academic bodies.
to establish links that can have benefits for
both collaborating partners, providing access to resources and
materials, knowledge and expertise and which also provide social,
cultural and economic benefits to wider society.
to provide opportunities for PhD students to gain
first hand experience of work outside an academic environment,
with the student supported by both an academic and non-academic
supervisor, and to enhance the employment related skills and training
a research student gains during the course of their award.
to encourage collaborations from any area within
the AHRC's subject remit and with a full range of organisations,
bodies and businesses, including the creative, cultural and heritage
industries, both large and small, across the private, public and
voluntary sectors.
Applications to the scheme are made in December each year
by the relevant academic department in partnership with a collaborating
organisation. Those partnerships successful in being allocated
one or more collaborative studentships are then responsible for
appointing appropriately qualified research students, and for
informing the AHRC of such appointments. The Council applies the
same eligibility criteria in terms of the student's residence
and academic qualifications as are applicable in the annual open
competition for doctoral awards.
Applications are assessed by members of the AHRC's standing
postgraduate panels during January each year; the AHRC's Postgraduate
Committee then makes the final decisions in February about which
applications are to be supported.
The AHRC requires the completion of an annual progress report
each summer by the student and both the academic and collaborating
supervisors.
6. Satisfaction rates for CDA studentships
No information is currently available, but student feedback
will be collected from the annual reports sent to the CDA students
and their academic and collaborating supervisors, and collated
once the first CDA studentships are completed.
Annex 2: House of Commons Science
and Technology Committee Inquiry into Research Council Support
for Knowledge Transfer 2006
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
BBSRC INFORMATION REGARDING
CASE STUDENTSHIPS
1. Cost of Awards to BBSRC and host companies since 2000
Overall expenditure on CASE awards is as follows:
Financial Year | BBSRC
Expenditure
(£k)
| Company
Expenditure*
(£k) |
2000-01 |
7,370 |
2,496 |
2001-02 |
8,210 |
2,527 |
2002-03 |
8,060 |
2,348 |
2003-04 |
8,100 |
2,348 |
2004-05 |
8,900 |
2,328 |
* The calculation of Company Expenditure is based purely
on the direct financial contribution required from the company
to the student (£2.5k stipend enhancement), and to the university
department involved (£1.4k to cover additional research costs).
It does not include, for example, staff time at the host company,
or the costs to the company of providing placements or additional
training.
Sector of industrial partner: a recent survey of companies
involved in BBSRC CASE schemes in the period 2001-03 showed the
following breakdown:
Sector |
% |
Agriculture |
14 |
Biotech |
14 |
Chemical |
6 |
Environmental |
1 |
Food |
10 |
Healthcare |
7 |
Miscellaneous |
3 |
Pharmaceutical |
38 |
Tools |
6 |
|
|
The breakdown for current PhD CASE students is not available,
but we have no reason to think that it would vary significantly
from the above.
2. Number of Awards since 2000
Financial Year |
Total CASE awards |
New starting CASE awards |
Total BBSRC Studentships |
2000-01 |
640 |
232 |
1,920 |
2001-02 |
648 |
210 |
1,910 |
2002-03 |
602 |
176 |
1,879 |
2003-04 |
602 |
188 |
1,926 |
2004-05 |
597 |
196 |
1,873 |
3. Data on the impact of CASE since 2000
| | | |
BBSRC does not collect first destination data on students
completing studentships broken down by CASE and standard PhD awards.
The following data shows the breakdown of first employment destination
across all studentships, as returned annually to OST:
Year degree started |
1997-98 |
1998-99 |
1999-2000* |
Total number of leavers |
612 |
589 |
526 |
of which, destination known |
537 |
543 |
322 |
Known destinations | %
| % | % |
Permanent academic employment | 1
| 1 | 5 |
Fixed-term academic employment | 38
| 39 | 31 |
Further training (excl. teaching) | 2
| 2 | 2 |
School teaching or teacher training | 2
| 3 | 2 |
Private sector, industry or commerce
| 24 | 21 |
17 |
Government or other public sector | 5
| 8 | 12 |
Other employment | 4 |
2 | 1 |
Not employed | 9 | 6
| 17 |
Overseas | 15 | 18
| 12 |
* Data collected on behalf of all research councils by HESA
4. Additional Impact
| | | |
BBSRC does not have data available on any additional types
of impact.
5. Differences between how Councils administer schemes
BBSRC uses three main schemes to support CASE studentships,
in order to target its support for industrial research training
and for collaboration between universities and companies. Each
scheme is based on funding being awarded on a competitive basis
to ensure that BBSRC is supporting the highest quality training
for students. Applications to all three schemes are assessed by
BBSRC's Studentships and Fellowships Panel, which includes industrial
representatives. The schemes are:
Industrial CASE studentships: an annual competition aimed
primarily at SME's. The company itself takes the lead in identifying
a suitable academic partner and the project which is wishes to
pursue, and for submitting the application.
CASE Partnership awards: in this scheme, major UK-based life-science
based companies which have demonstrated a previous strong commitment
to CASE are invited to apply for `quotas' of studentships. The
applications are assessed on the basis of the training programme
which the company can provide and its policies for academic collaboration.
Quotas are awarded to cover three years of student intake, in
order to provide a good planning horizon for the company.
Quota CASE awards: BBSRC's main studentship competition,
the Quota competition, awards studentships to university departments
on a competitive basis, and around one third of these awards will
be earmarked as needing to be CASE studentships. The academic
partner takes the lead in identifying a suitable academic partner
and agreeing the project to be pursued by the student.
6. Satisfaction Rates for the Studentships
BBSRC does not routinely collect information on satisfaction
rates.
Annex 3: Council for the Central Laboratory
of the Research Councils
CCLRC do not fund CASE studentships direct. However CCLRC
supports CASE studentships as the industrial partner. Data on
this will have been incorporated into the other Research Council
expenditure on CASE.
Annex 4: Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council Table A EPSRC EXPENDITURE ON CASE
EPSRC INDUSTRIAL CASE
FY |
Taken-up |
Award duration in years | Unit cost £
| Minimum Industrial Contribution |
EPSRC
Budget
forecast £ | Notional cost
to industrial
partners
|
2001-02 |
233 |
3 |
£38,129 |
£4,400 |
£8,884,057 |
£1,025,200
|
2002-03 | 242 | 3
| £39,175 | £13,058 |
£9,480,350 | £3,160,117
|
2003-04 | 318 | 3
| £44,700 | £14,900 |
£14,214,600 | £4,738,200
|
2004-05 | 323 | 3
| £48,257 | £16,086 |
£15,587,011 | £5,195,670
|
2005-06 | 257 | 3.5
| £59,464 | £19,821 |
£15,282,248 | £5,094,083
|
| |
| | | |
|
CASE FOR NEW
ACADEMICS
FY | Taken-up |
Award
duration
in years | Unit cost £
| Minimum
Industrial
Contribution |
Cost to
EPSRC | Notional cost
to industrial
partners
|
2001-02 |
72 |
3 |
£38,129 |
£4,400 |
£2,745,288 |
£316,800 |
2002-03 | 95 | 3
| £39,175 | £4,400 |
£3,721,625 | £418,000 |
2003-04 | 77 | 3
| £44,700 | £4,400 |
£3,441,900 | £338,800 |
2004-05 | 92 | 3
| £56,892 | £4,400 |
£5,234,064 | £404,800 |
2005-06 | 84 | 3.5
| £59,464 | £19,821 |
£4,994,976 | £1,664,992
|
| |
| | | |
|
EPSRC MATHS CASE
FY | Taken-up |
Award
duration
in years | Unit cost £
| Minimum
Industrial
Contribution |
Cost to
EPSRC | Notional cost
to industrial
partners
|
2001-02 |
21 |
3 |
£38,129 |
|
£800,709 |
£800,709 |
2002-03 | 29 | 3
| £39,175 | | £1,136,075
| £1,136,075 |
2003-04 | 20 | 3
| £44,700 | | £894,000
| £894,000 |
2004-05 | 20 | 3
| £48,257 | | £965,140
| £965,140 |
2005-06 | 20 | 3.5
| £59,464 | | £1,189,280
| £1,189,280 |
| |
| | | |
|
COLLABORATIVE DOCTORAL
TRAINING GRANT
FY | Taken-up |
Award
duration
in years | Unit cost £
| Minimum
Industrial
Contribution |
Cost to
EPSRC | Notional cost
to industrial
partners
|
2001-02 |
114 |
3 |
£38,129 |
|
£4,346,706 |
£0 |
2002-03 | 190 | 3
| £39,175 | | £7,244,510
| £0 |
2003-04 | 187 | 3
| £44,700 | | £7,325,725
| £0 |
2004-05 | 165 | 3
| £48,257 | | £7,375,500
| £0 |
| |
| | | |
|
ENGINEERING DOCTORATE
FY | Taken-up |
Award
duration
in years | Unit cost £
| Minimum
Industrial
Contribution |
Cost to
EPSRC | Notional cost
to industrial
partners
|
2001-02 |
135 |
4 |
£67,758 |
|
£9,147,330 |
£0 |
2002-03 | 145 | 4
| £70,981 | | £9,824,910
| £0 |
2003-04 | 145 | 4
| £73,304 | | £10,292,245
| £0 |
2004-05 | 145 | 4
| £81,000 | | £10,629,080
| £0 |
2005-06 | 165 | 4
| £84,148 | | £13,884,420
| £0 |
| |
| | | |
|
Notes:
1. Industrial partners for CNAA (from 2005) and Industrial
Case Awards (from 2002) were required to contribute a minimum
of a third of the EPSRC unit cost to the department and the mandatory
contribution to the student ceased.
2. Unit cost consists of Fees, National minimum stipend and
incidental costs.
Table B
EPSRC SUPPORT FOR CASE
FY | Industrial
Case
| Case for New
Academics | Maths Case
| Collab DTG | EngDoc | Total
|
2001-02 |
£8,884,047 |
£2,745,288 |
£800,709 |
£4,346,706 |
£9,147,330 |
£25,924,080 |
2002-03 | £9,480,350 |
£3,721,625 | £1,136,075
| £7,244,510 | £9,824,910
| £31,407,470 |
2003-04 | £14,214,600 |
£3,441,900 | £894,000 |
£7,325,725 | £10,292,245
| £36,168,470 |
2004-05 | £15,587,011 |
£5,234,064 | £965,140 |
£7,375,500 | £10,629,080
| £39,790,795 |
2005-06 | £15,282,248 |
£4,994,976 | £1,189,280
| | £13,884,420 |
|
| |
| | | |
|
FY | Industrial
Case
| Case for New
Academics | Maths Case
| Collab DTG | EngDoc | Total
|
| no.students |
no.students | no.students | no.students
| no.students | no.students |
2001-02 |
233 |
72 |
21 |
114 |
135 |
575 |
2002-03 |
242 |
95 |
29 |
190 |
145 |
701 |
2003-04 | 318 | 77
| 20 | 187 | 145
| 747 |
2004-05 | 323 | 92
| 20 | 165 | 145
| 745 |
2005-06 | 257 | 84
| 20 | | 165 |
|
| |
| | | |
|
Table C
FIRST EMPLOYMENT DESTINATIONS OF CASE
FIRST EMPLOYMENT
DESTINATIONS OF
CASE SCHEME AND
ENGINEERING DOCTORATE
STUDENTS FROM
SURVEYS IN
YEARS 2000-04
Industrial Case | 2000
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003
| 2004 |
Academic Sector (Fixed & Permanent Academic Appointments)
| 19 | 26 | 21 |
32 | 29 |
Private Sector, Industry or Commerce | 30
| 38 | 34 | 27 |
29 |
Other Employment | 3 | 5
| 7 | 8 | 4 |
Total known employed destinations (excludes not employed, further training and writing up)
| 52 | 69 | 62 |
67 | 62 |
Case for New Academics |
| | | |
|
Academic Sector (Fixed & Permanent Academic Appointments)
| | 1 | 9 |
6 | 8 |
Private Sector, Industry or Commerce |
| 1 | 4 | 11 |
11 |
Other Employment | | 1
| 1 | 2 | 4 |
Total known employed destinations (excludes not employed, further training and writing up)
| | 3 | 14 |
19 | 23 |
Note: CNAA Scheme introduced in 2001 |
| | | |
|
Mathematics CASE | |
| | |
|
Academic Sector (Fixed & Permanent Academic Appointments)
| 4 | 4 | 3 |
2 | 3 |
Private Sector, Industry or Commerce | 5
| 2 | 6 | 6 |
5 |
Other Employment | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | 3 |
Total known employed destinations (excludes not employed, further training and writing up)
| 10 | 6 | 11 |
9 | 11 |
Standard Case (Collaborative Doctoral Training Grant)
Academic Sector (Fixed & Permanent Academic Appointments)
| 12 | 5 | 0 |
0 | 1 |
Private Sector, Industry or Commerce | 29
| 5 | 0 | 1 |
1 |
Other Employment | 7 | 0
| 3 | 0 | 0 |
Total known employed destinations (excludes not employed, further training and writing up)
| 48 | 10 | 3 |
1 | 2 |
Engineering Doctorate
Academic Sector (Fixed & Permanent Academic Appointments)
| 4 | 3 | 4 |
4 | 6 |
Private Sector, Industry or Commerce | 21
| 29 | 22 | 19 |
18 |
Other Employment | 1 | 5
| 3 | 2 | 4 |
Total known employed destinations (excludes not employed, further training and writing up)
| 26 | 37 | 29 |
25 | 28 |
| | |
| | |
Note: EPSRC moved in 2003 to using the Higher Education Statistical
Agency (HESA) to collect the First Destinations data. HESA data
relies on people responding to surveys and therefore the data
we have does not represent the full picture.
HESA and the Research Councils (RC) are currently exploring ways
of increasing the record return response for the RC population
from the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey.
Annex 5: Economic and Social Research
Council
ESRC annual spend on CASE is currently about £3 million,
based on figures for 2005-06. A spreadsheet is attached under
separate cover (ESRC CASE figures) which summarises the details
of CASE awards since 1999.
Unfortunately the previous employment destinations surveys
and the survey now carried out by HESA on behalf of the Councils
do not allow ESRC to identify CASE students separately. ESRC cannot,
at present, provide aggregate data on employment sectors although
table A below does provide a breakdown of the awards by sector.
ESRC has however carried out a number of individual case studies
having followed up some of our CASE students. These are also attached
under separate cover.
Some other relevant points:
The CASE scheme only tells part of the picture regarding
collaborative research training and knowledge transfer activities
at the doctoral level. ESRC also funds a number of studentships
in partnership with government departments and the devolved administrations.
ESRC has recently carried out a review of some of its KT
schemes and therefore have some material on student and supervisor
satisfaction but have not been able to synthesise this in the
time available. ESRC could provide further information on this
in the next few weeks if required.
| YEAR
| | | |
| | | |
TOTAL | | |
| | |
| | |
APPLICATIONS/AWARDS | 1999
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005
| |
Number of Applications |
113 |
90 |
136 |
128 |
110 |
|
|
577 |
Number of Awards Commissioned | 64% (72)
| 66% (59) | 56% (76) |
57% (73) | 52% (57) |
| | 58% (337) |
Number of Awards Terminated | 21% (15)
| 15% (9) | 18% (14) |
10% (7) | 2% (1) |
| | 14% (46) |
AGE PROFILE (STUDENT) | |
| | |
| | | |
22-25 years old | 0% (0) |
5% (3) | 13% (10) | 29% (21)
| 39% (22) | |
| 17% (56) |
26-30 years old | 31% (22)
| 39% (23) | 37% (28) |
34% (25) | 28% (16) |
| | 34% (114) |
31-40 years old | 42% (30)
| 37% (22) | 32% (24) |
25% (18) | 16% (9) |
| | 31% (103) |
41-50 years old | 21% (15)
| 8% (5) | 14% (11) |
10% (7) | 14% (8) |
| | 14% (46) |
51-60 years old | 7% (5) |
10% (6) | 4% (3) | 3% (2)
| 4% (2) | |
| 5% (18) |
GENDER (STUDENT) | |
| | | |
| | |
Male | 42% (30) | 47% (28)
| 45% (34) | 45% (33) |
33% (19) | |
| 43% (145) |
Female | 58% (42) | 53% (31)
| 55% (42) | 55% (40) |
67% (38) | |
| 57% (192) |
COLLABORATING PARTNER | |
| | |
| | | |
Commercial Organisation | 23% (17)
| 23% (13) | 33% (25) |
19% (14) | 19% (11) |
| | 24% (80) |
Public Sector | 57% (41) |
52% (31) | 53% (40) | 62% (45)
| 65% (37) | |
| 57% (194) |
Voluntary Sector | 17% (12)
| 17% (10) | 10% (8) |
15% (11) | 9% (5) |
| | 14% (46) |
n/a | 3% (2) | 8% (5)
| 4% (3) | 4% (3) |
7% (4) | | |
5% (17) |
RESEARCH DISCIPLINE | |
| | | |
| | |
Area Studies | 1% (1) |
2% (1) | 3% (2) | 0% (0)
| 0% (0) | |
| 1% (4) |
Economics | 3% (2) | 2% (1)
| 1% (1) | 3% (2) |
0% (0) | | |
2% (6) |
Education | 0% (0) | 2% (1)
| 3% (2) | 1% (1) |
0% (0) | | |
1% (4) |
Human Geography | 17% (12)
| 29% (17) | 28% (21) |
30% (22) | 14% (8) |
| | 24% (80) |
Interdisciplinary Studies | 4% (3)
| 0% (0) | 0% (0) |
9% (7) | 2% (1) |
| | 3% (11) |
Interdisciplinary Studies in Science, Technology and Innovation
| 4% (3) | 7% (4) |
1% (1) | 1% (1) | 5% ( 3)
| | | 4% (12)
|
Management and Business Studies | 0% (0)
| 5% (3) | 9% (7) |
8% (6) | 7% (4) |
| | 6% (20) |
Multidisciplinary | 0% (0)
| 3% (2) | 1% (1) |
0% (0) | 0% (0) |
| | 1% (3) |
Planning, Environmental Studies and Housing Studies
| 15% (14) | 17% (10) |
17% (13) | 14% (10) | 12% (7)
| | | 16% (54)
|
Political Science, International Studies and International Relations
| 3% (2) | 0% (0) |
4% (3) | 0% (0) | 0% (0)
| | | 1% (5)
|
Psychology and Cognitive Science | 8% (6)
| 8% (5) | 11% (8) |
5% (4) | 14% (8) |
| | 9% (31) |
Social Anthropology | 3% (2)
| 0% (0) | 0% (0) |
0% (0) | 3% (2) |
| | 1% (4) |
Social Policy, Social Work and Health Studies
| 12% (9) | 8% (5) |
9% (7) | 12% (9) | 16% (9)
| | | 12% (39)
|
Social Statistics, Research Methods and Computing
| 5% (4) | 3% (2) |
3% (2) | 3% (2) | 5% ( 3)
| | | 4% (13)
|
Social-Legal Studies and Criminology | 3% (2)
| 2% (1) | 1% (1) |
1% (1) | 7% (4) |
| | 3% (9) |
Sociology | 17% (12) |
12% (7) | 9% (7) | 11% (8)
| 14% (8) | |
| 12% (42) |
REGIONAL SPREAD | |
| | | |
| | |
East of England | 6% (4) |
8% (5) | 11% (8) | 4% (3)
| 0% (0) | |
| 6% (20) |
London | 11% (8) | 10% (6)
| 18% (14) | 18% (13) |
12% (7) | | |
15% (51) |
North East of England | 13% (9)
| 12% (7) | 5% (4) |
14% (10) | 7% (4) |
| | 10% (34) |
North West of England | 25% (18)
| 22% (13) | 18% (14) |
20% (15) | 21% (12) |
| | 21% (72) |
Scotland | 8% (6) | 2% (1)
| 8% (6) | 8% (6) |
19% (11) | |
| 8% (28) |
South East of England | 12% (9)
| 19% (11) | 12% (9) |
7% (5) | 9% (5) |
| | 9% (32) |
South West of England | 6% (4)
| 3% (2) | 3% (2) |
3% (2) | 4% (2) |
| | 4% (15) |
Wales | 1% (1) | 0% (0)
| 0% (0) | 7% (5) |
11% (6) | | |
4% (12) |
West Midlands | 6% (4) |
7% (4) | 3% (2) | 3% (2)
| 5% (3) | |
| 4% (15) |
East Midlands | 0% (0) |
2% (1) | 4% (3) | 1% (1)
| 0% (0) | |
| 2% (5) |
Yorkshire and Humberside | 12% (9)
| 15% (9) | 18% (14) |
15% (11) | 12% (7) |
| | 17% (56) |
Northern Ireland | 0% (0)
| 0% (0) | 0% (0) |
0% (0) | 0% (0) |
| | 0% (0) |
| |
| | |
| | | |
Annex 6: Medical Research Council
Expenditure on Industrial CASE studentships is as follows:
| 2004-05 |
2005-06
(estimated) |
Industrial CASE studentships |
£400,000 | £400,000 |
| |
|
Due to unforeseen circumstances MRC have only been able to
provide the limited information above by the deadline 18 April.
However MRC can provide further information by 21 April if required.
MRC INFORMATION REGARDING
CASE STUDENTSHIPSHOUSE
OF COMMONS
SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
INQUIRY INTO
RESEARCH COUNCIL
SUPPORT FOR
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
2006
1. Cost of Awards to MRC and host companies since 2000
Overall new commitment to CASE awards from 2000-03 is as
follows:
Financial Year | MRC commitment to
new awards*
(£k)
| Company commitment to
new awards**
(£k)
|
2000-01 |
2,088 |
819 |
2001-02 |
2,356 |
924 |
2002-03 | 2,302 | 903
|
2003-04 | 1,232 | 693
|
| |
|
* These figures are estimated based on the average cost of
a studentship and data on the number of new studentships funded.
** These figures are estimated based on the minimum direct
financial contribution required from the company to the student
(£2k pa stipend enhancement), and to the university department
involved (£4k pa to contribute to research costs).
In 2004-05, 10 MRC Industrial Collaborative studentships
were awarded, with an estimated new commitment of £535k from
the MRC and at least £210k from industrial partners.
Since October 2004 the majority of MRC funding for PhD studentships,
including funding for CASE studentships, has been awarded to Universities
through Doctoral Training Accounts. Universities now have much
greater freedom to set up collaborative funding arrangements for
studentships with MRC funding. Arrangements can be negotiated
locally, and can involve either private sector or charitable funding
partners. Data on the number of collaborative studentships with
industrial partners awarded by Universities from their Doctoral
Training Account funding, the level of commitment from funding
partners, and the industrial companies involved are not yet available
(see Section 2).
SECTOR OF
INDUSTRIAL PARTNER:
The majority of industrial partners in MRC studentships come
from the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology sectors.
2. Number of Awards since 2000
Financial Year | Collaborative
awards
| Industrial
collaborative | Total MRC
Studentships
|
2000-01 |
15 |
24 |
404 |
2001-02 | 25 | 19
| 404 |
2002-03 | 20 | 23
| 392 |
2003-04 | 11 | 12
| 404 |
| |
| |
In 2004-05, 10 Industrial Collaborative studentships were
awarded. Accurate data on the overall number of studentships and
the number of collaborative studentships supported by universities
from their MRC Doctoral Training Accounts are not yet available.
Initial problems with collection of data on students funded via
this new funding mechanism are currently being addressed.
3. Data on the impact of CASE since 2000
The first destination data on students completing studentships
collected by the MRC is not broken down by type of PhD studentship
award. The following data shows the breakdown of first employment
destination across all studentships, as returned annually to OST:
Year degree started |
1997-98 |
1998-99 |
1999-2000* |
Total number of leavers | 430
| 401 | 423 |
of which, destination known | 370
| 247 | 269 |
Known destinations | %
| % | % |
Permanent academic employment | 0.8
| 2.0 | 1.9 |
Fixed-term academic employment | 40.3
| 40.9 | 39.0 |
Further training (excl. teaching) | 4.6
| 8.5 | 7.1 |
School teaching or teacher training | 1.4
| 0.0 | 0.0 |
Private sector, industry or commerce
| 11.1 | 13.8 | 14.5
|
Government or other public sector | 5.9
| 4.5 | 3.0 |
Other employment | 12.2 |
6.9 | 7.4 |
Not employed | 4.9 | 7.3
| 10.0 |
Overseas | 18.9 | 16.2
| 17.1 |
|
|
| |
* For starters from 2000 onwards, data are collected on behalf
of all research councils by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
4. Additional Impact
MRC does not have data available on any additional types
of impact such as continuing relationships or ongoing collaboration
arising from the schemes.
5. Differences between how Councils administer schemes
MRC currently supports Collaborative studentships in two
different ways. Both schemes seek to enhance links between academia
and industry in the provision of high quality research training,
and in each scheme students are jointly supervised by an academic
and an industrial supervisor. Students are based at a University
department or Research Institute, but can expect to spend a minimum
period of three months during the tenure of the award with the
collaborating industrial company. As a measure of its interest
and involvement, the industrial company is expected to make a
financial contribution to the cost of the studentship.
Industrial Collaborative Studentships: These studentships
are awarded via an annual competition managed centrally by MRC
Head Office, with the industrial partner as the primary applicant.
The industrial partner takes the initiative in establishing the
academic link.
Collaborative Studentships: Under this scheme, the academic
partner defines the research project and takes the initiative
in establishing a link with an industrial company and supervisor.
There is no annual competition and the MRC contribution to awards
is funded from the academic host institution's Doctoral Training
Account.
6. Satisfaction Rates for the Studentships
MRC has no current information on satisfaction rates for
collaborative or industrial collaborative PhD studentships.
Annex 7: NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
COUNCIL
CASE STUDENTSHIPS
NERC CASE Partners can be from industry, Government, private
or public sector companies based in the UK or overseas.
Year | 2000 | 2001
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004
| 2005 |
New CASE students |
90
|
74 |
108 |
106
|
104 |
99 |
Stock CASE students | 298 |
268 | 268 | 299 |
319 | 307 |
% total PhD students | 27% |
26% | 26% | 29% |
32% | 30% |
Cost to NERC for CASE students | £3m
| £3.2m | £3.9m |
£4.6m | £5.2m | £5.4m
|
Minimum cost to CASE Partners * | £0.3m
| £0.27m | £0.27 |
£0.3m | £0.32m | £0.3m
|
% of CASE Partners that are Industry or Private Sector **
| 37% | 34% | 38%
| 31% | 37% | 27%
| |
| | |
| |
* based on the CASE Partner having to pay the student at least
£1,000 per year. The CASE partner may pay a higher contribution
to the student or contribute either in cash or in kind to project
costs, but we don't collect those data electronically.
** based on the studentships starting in that year. The remaining
CASE Partners were classified as Government or public sector.
Unfortunately we are not able to provide details of industrial
sector in the time available.
NERC is unable to provide destination data specifically regarding
CASE Students. The table below shows the NERC data for destinations
for all our PhD students.
Year finished |
1998-99
|
1999-2000 |
2000-01 |
2001-02
|
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
Industrial sector* |
17%
|
10% |
6% |
8%
|
9% |
9% |
Academic Sector** | 25% | 21%
| 12% | 22% | 25%
| 16% |
Other employment*** | 10% |
18% | 11% | 9% |
8% | 8% |
Remainder **** | 48% | 51%
| 71% | 61% | 58%
| 67% |
| |
| | | |
|
* Industrial sector includes those classified as private sector,
industry or commerce
** Academic sector includes those classified as Permanent
Academic and Fixed Term Academic
*** Other includes school teaching or teacher training; Government
or public sector; other employment
**** Remainder includes all other categories: further training;
not employed; unknown (average around 40% of total are unknown)
NERC has no data on any continuing relationships or collaborative
work generated by the scheme.
NERC RUNS TWO
MECHANISMS FOR
CASE STUDENTSHIPS:
(a) Any of our PhD studentships can be awarded as a CASE
studentship, where there is involvement by a non-university partner
fulfilling the minimum requirements (time spent in the CASE Partner
and at least £1k per year from the CASE Partner to the student).
NERC awards around 250 PhD studentships per year through an algorithm
and we expect around 30% of them to be set up as a CASE awards.
(b) A separate competition is held once a year. This was
called the Industrial CASE competition, but has now been widened
to other UK public sector partners and is called the Open CASE
competition. In 2005 around 150 applications were received and
reviewed by a panel and 35 studentships were awarded. Previously
the scheme had funded 20 new studentships per year.
IN RELATION
TO SATISFACTION
RATES, NERC PROVIDES
THE FOLLOWING:
Submission data for all our PhD students show that around 80%
of NERC funded students submit their PhD thesis within four years;
A NERC survey in 2004 of interactions between NERC-funded
researchers and their users showed that 70% of the consulted users
had been involved in joint training projects such as CASE PhD
studentships. Of the identified methods of knowledge transfer,
users were most satisfied with the quality of PhD training provision
(though this did not separate CASE from standard PhD studentships).
95% of respondents said they would consider being involved in
CASE again.
Annex 8: Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council
CASE STUDENTSHIPS: COSTS
AND NUMBER
OF AWARDS
We have taken costs to mean the funds spent by Research Councils
and industry on CASE studentships each year. Industries have been
categorised by broad market sectors. We have given numbers for
total student stock to show the proportion of CASE against the
whole studentships programme. Detailed in following table:
Expenditure by PPARC on CASE awards
| Total
Expenditure by
Industrial
Partners
| Public
Sector | Defence
| Instrument | Hardware/
Software
| Health |
2000-01 |
£343,500
|
£97,500 |
£42,900 |
£15,600 |
£35,100 |
£0 |
£3,900 |
2001-02 | £368,000 | £111,860
| £59,925 | £19,975 |
£27,965 | £0 | £3,995
|
2002-03 | £376,715 | £107,865
| £51,935 | £31,960 |
£7,990 | £11,985 | £3,995
|
2003-04 | £325,735 | £110,565
| £61,425 | £28,665 |
£4,095 | £12,285 | £4,095
|
2004-05 | £421,553 | £109,200
| £50,400 | £21,000 |
£8,400 | £25,200 | £4,200
|
| |
| | | |
| |
NUMBER OF
CASE AWARDS
| Stock | Total
Studentships
| New CASE
Awards | New CASE-
Plus Awards
| |
2000-01 |
25 |
524 |
9 |
1 |
|
2001-02 | 28 | 543
| 6 | 2 | |
2002-03 | 27 | 564
| 7 | 2 | |
2003-04 | 27 | 577
| 8 | 2 | |
2004-05 | 26 | 596
| 7 | 1 | |
| | |
| | |
IMPACT OF
CASE
PPARC does not have information on how many CASE students
go on to work in the industrial research sector. We have information
(DHLE data) on the destination of postgraduate leavers funded
by PPARC however this data does not identify CASE students as
a separate category. The DHLE data shows that over the period
2000 to 2003-04, 22% of students took up employment in the private
sector.
We can provide additional information from a 2003 Career
Path Survey of former PPARC PhDs whose PhDs ended between 1995-96
and 1998-99. This survey data showed that six to eight months
after finishing their PhDs, 48% of former students were employed
in the private sector. Of those employed in private companies
75% worked in financial services, business services and computer
software design, solutions and management.
The 2003 survey sample of 186 respondents included 10 students
who had held CASE awards. The collaborating bodies on these CASE
awards were in the areas of defence and aerospace, supply of goods
and services for scientific research, natural resources and environment,
computing and public sector research.
The DHLE data shows that 40% of PPARC postgraduate leavers
were employed in academic research and 60% were employed in other
sectors.
The 2003 career path survey showed that 35% of former students
were employed in universities and 12% were employed in other Government
and public organisations.
ADDITIONAL IMPACT
We can provide information from the 2003 Career Path Survey
on career paths of CASE students, though it is worth noting that
this is a very small sample. Six out of the 10 CASE students had
collaborated with the organisation that had sponsored their CASE
studentship, although four of them worked for someone else. Two
still worked for their CASE collaborator.
PPARC developed a CASE -Plus scheme in 1999-2000. This was
an extension of CASE to help students become more effective in
prioritising technology transfer: CASE-Plus operates the same
way as CASE for the first three years CASE -Plus students then
go onto spend a fourth year working full-time as an employee of
the co-operating body. During the fourth year the student receives
a salary equivalent to that of new postdoctoral researchers, this
is jointly funded by PPARC and the industry employer. There have
been eight CASE-Plus awards to date.
ADMINISTRATION OF
SCHEMES
CASE and CASE-Plus applications are peer reviewed by a CASE
Panel of four members. Applications are assessed against the criteria
below:
1. scientific quality and value of the project;
2. educational value to the student;
3. novelty of the idea;
4. strength of industrial collaboration; and
5. impact on wealth creation and quality of life.
CASE Panel Members are asked to score each criterion. The
first three criteria merit a maximum of 10 marks, whilst the last
two merit up to 15 marks each. Thus a weighting is placed on the
criteria relating directly to collaboration with industry and
technology transfer.
SATISFACTION RATES
PPARC does not have this data but drawing again on the 2003
surveythe vast majority of those surveyed were "very
happy" (42%) or "quite happy" (50%) with their
current employment. Submission rates for PPARC studentships including
CASE have been at least 80% each year.
ADDITIONAL PPARC COMMENTS
Whilst CASE studentships constitute a small proportion of
our overall studentship numbers, we consider the CASE scheme to
be an important part of the package (along with the PIPPS schemes,
KITE Club and other awards) that we provide to facilitate links
between our researchers and industry.
House of Commons S&T Committee Inquiry
INFORMATION IN RELATION TO CONNECT A & B/PARTNERSHIP
RESEARCH GRANTS
The Natural Environment Research Council has been running
these schemes since 1995-1996 (note: In December 2005 Connect
B was replaced by Partnership Research Grants). The Committee
would like to see information that will help to answer questions
such as:
how many applications have been received for each
scheme per annum; and what advertising is undertaken to promote
the schemes to research bodies and industry?;
how many grants have been made each year, and
what was the total value?;
what were the total annual costs of running the
schemes? and
what steps are taken to measure the effectiveness
of these schemes in supporting knowledge transfer?
For numbers of applications, numbers of grants and total
value of grants, please see next page. We apologise for the gaps
in the data, but not all has been obtainable in the time available.
The schemes are advertised in NERC's Research Grants Handbook
and on the website, and in the e-Newsletter Using NERC Science.
For example, details of Connect A in the 2005 Handbook are
as follows:
This scheme is aimed at promoting partnerships between eligible
researchers (under rules for Blue Skies, see Section C) and potential
users of NERC funded research. The scheme is intended for pump
priming activities of two basic types: "Proof of concept"
proposals for a specific research activity relating to emerging
ideas from the science base that have potential application but
a high degree of technical risk and costs for workshops or seminars
on a theme of joint interest to the collaborating body and the
science base. Participants should be from both communities. The
maximum funding that may be sought is £4,000 for the total
Directly Incurred costs (ie the limit applies to 100% of costs
under this heading). In addition NERC will pay the appropriate
proportion (ie 80%) of Directly Allocated and Indirect Costs (see
Section D for details of cost categories).
There are no closing dates for CONNECT A applications. Applications
should be submitted on the Connect A application form available
from the NERC website and NOT through the Je-S system.
The costs of running the scheme are considered along with the
costs of administering NERC's Standard Grants Scheme, and form
a very small part thereof.
The effectiveness of the schemes in supporting knowledge
transfer is assessed annually by means of Output and Performance
Measures (OPMs) during the life of the projects and for three
years afterwards (this is likely to be increased to five years).
NERC CONNECT RESEARCH GRANTS AWARDED 1995-96 to 2005-06
| 1995-96 |
1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99
| 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05
| 2005-06 |
CONNECT A
Applications
|
3 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
9 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
New Awards | 4 | 7
| 1 | 2 | 2 |
7 | 6 | 1 | 5
| 1 | 1 |
Value New Awards (£k) | 21
| 34 | 5 | 10 |
9 | 32 | 35 | 3.4
| 27 | 5 | 5 |
CONNECT B
Applications | n/a
| n/a | n/a | 11
| 7 | 8 | 7 |
6 | 8 | 10 | 4*
|
New Awards | 5 | 5
| 7 | 5 | 0 |
2 | 9 | 5 | 5
| 2 | 3 |
Value New Awards (£k) | 429
| 413 | 1,189 | 539
| 0 | 142 | 655
| 1,008 | 437 | 249
| 733 |
| |
| | | |
| | | |
| |
Notes:
All figures are based on financial year.
Applications are shown in the financial year in which they were
received; new awards are shown in the financial year in which
the grant was awarded and became active.
* These applications are now called Partnership Research Grants
not Connect B.
OUTPUT AND
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
www.nerc.ac.uk/evaluation/opm/
This year Central Government will spend around £370
million of the UK Science Budget on the environmental sciences
through NERC. Council and the Office of Science and Technology
(OST) need to be assured that NERC is supporting excellent science
and training and providing best value for money.
Output and Performance Measures (OPMs) are one of the tools
used by OST, NERC Council and its Science & Technology Board
to help assess the delivery of this mission; and in priority setting,
resource allocation and the management of programmes.
We believe that in order to make the most effective use of
OPMs at an organisational level it is important that their collection
and use forms an integral part of the overall strategic planning
process.
Data on many of the indicators are held centrally within
Swindon Office. In addition, information on research outputs is
collected annually from current and previous grant holders and
from our research centres, Designated Data Centres and Services
& Facilities. In 2003 we introduced electronic collection
by Research Outputs Database (ROD).
This OPM information is collated into a report for Council,
and the data are analysed in detail, where possible drawing on
studies carried out by other funding bodies.
Data and information collected via the OPM exercise also
feed into the NERC Annual Report, and were used in the development
of NERC's Science Strategy and for Science & Management Audits
of NERC Research Centres. Examples of science achievements or
exploitation are always needed for briefings and speeches, and
may be written up as articles in "Planet Earth".
In addition, all Research Councils are required to report
annually to the Office of Science and Technology on an agreed
set of indicators. These are used to demonstrate progress in the
key areas of research, training, industrial competitiveness and
the promotion of science.
These data are a sub-set of the OPMs collected for NERC Council,
and include details of publications; major scientific achievements;
training and partnership awards; public engagement and public
understanding of science initiatives; and science into policy.
SELECTED INFORMATION
ON OPMS
FROM CONNECT
A AND B SCHEMES,
2002-05
to give an idea of the sort of information recorded,
and the success of the schemes.
It should be noted that data in OPMs may not cover all research
outputs because of incomplete reporting.
Publications information
Information on publications includes papers (refered and
other) in journals; books; book chapters; and other non-refereed
publications.
eg Research Publications in ISI Journals (from ROD database)
Programme |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
Connect A |
1 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
Connect B |
24 |
14 |
6 |
11 |
Knowledge Transfer* |
|
|
9 |
13 |
| |
| | |
* The Knowledge Transfer (KT) scheme was introduced in 2004;
it includes Connect B, Good Ideas, and Networks, therefore the
figures against KT cannot be attributed only to Connect B. Reports
on Connect projects are submitted for three years following the
end of the award, therefore in 2004 and 2005 the publications
against Connect B relate to publications from previous years'
awards.
IPR information
Data on patents and IPR income, eg from licensing, are also
collected. Such data are likely to appear in OPMs well after the
year of the award. eg:
2002-03 OPM
An HEI filed an international patent application concerning
personal-care compositions from work on a Connect A project looking
at UV-absorbing compounds from algae.
In HEI filed a UK patent application for a marine-mammal
phone-tagging system as a result of work on a Connect B project,
and another sold products or services related to a Connect B project
on seabed monitoring.
2003-04 OPM
An HEI sold products or services developed during a Connect
A project on the application of geophysics to contaminated land.
2004-05 OPM
An HEI sold products or services related to work on a Connect
B project investigating new platforms for oceanographic monitoring.
2005-06 OPM
Three HEIs sold products or services related to work on Connect
B projects.
Scientific achievements information
This is wide-ranging, eg (far from a complete list) development
of new sampling, detection or recording technologies; manufacture
of prototypes; improved understanding of natural phenomena or
processes; provision of information relevant to environmental
management or protection, eg identification of pollutant sources
or environmental indicators; new computer models; securement of
a book contract; development of an internet information resource/network.
Science-to-Policy information
This covers the provision of policy information to government
departments and agencies (eg the EA), including information on
agriculture and food, biodiversity, environmental change and impacts,
environmental technology, land use, natural resources, nature
conservation, planning, pollution, waste, and water. Grantholders
are asked to say how and to whom they communicated their information
or advice.
Prizes
Grantholders are also asked to record the receipt of prizes
related to their scientific achievements.
Connect A & B:
HEI RECIPIENTS AND PROJECT PARTNERS
CONNECT A: 2001-06
HEI |
Partner 1
| Partner 2
(if applicable) | Partner 3
(if applicable)
|
Brunel University | World Wildlife Fund
| International Snow Leopard Trust |
|
Cardiff University | Countryside Council for Wales
| | |
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology | Health Protection Agency
| | |
Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory | Partrac Ltd
| | |
Royal Holloway, University of London | Compass Hydrographic Services Ltd
| | |
University of Bimingham | Subsurface Geotechnical Ltd
| | |
University of Leeds | English Heritage
| City of York Council | |
University of Manchester | European Mercury Emissions from Chlor-Alkali Plants
| | |
University of Newcastle upon Tyne | European Science Foundation
| | |
University of Sheffield | Highspy Ltd
| | |
University of Sheffield | [data not available at short notice]
| | |
University of Southampton | BP
| Subsea 7 | Transocean |
University of Southampton | National Trust
| | |
University of St Andrews | Partrac Ltd
| | |
University of St Andrews | NSF
| | |
|
| | |
CONNECT B: 2001-06
HEI |
Partner 1
| Partner 2
(if applicable) | Partner 3
(if applicable)
| Partner 4
(if applicable) |
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
| Geovista Ltd | Canadian Geological Service
| | |
Imperial College London | Rio Tinto
| | | |
Kings College London | Environment Agency
| RMC Aggregates | |
|
Queen Mary's University of London | HR Wallingford
| Harwich Haven Authority |
| |
Reading University | Meteorology Office
| | | |
Reading University | Syngenta
| Astrazeneca | |
|
Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
| Conoco (UK) Ltd | Geotek Ltd
| | |
SAMS | Yeoman Morvern Limited
| | | |
The Natural History Museum | PDM Group
| | | |
University of Durham | Environment Agency
| Eden Rivers Trust | Defra |
|
University of Edinburgh | Defra
| | | |
University of Edinburgh | Meteorology Office
| | | |
University of Essex | Meteorology Office
| Environment Agency | United Utilities
| Radio Communications Agency |
University of Lancaster | Environment Agency
| | | |
University of Leeds | Environment Agency
| Yorkshire Water | |
|
University of Leeds | National Trust
| Environment Agency | |
|
University of Leicester | Electro-silica, Oil and Gas Ltd
| | | |
University of Liverpool | DSTL
| | | |
University of St Andrews | Wildtrack Telemetry Systems Ltd
| | | |
University of St Andrews | United States Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service
| | | |
University of Wales, Bangor | DSTL
| | | |
April 2006
|
| | |
|
13
Also known as the Joint Research Council Business Plan Competition. Back
|