Memorandum 62
Submission from The Royal Society
KEY POINTS
- For engineering to thrive in the UK, it
is vital that the country has a strong science and maths base.
- The number of UK-domiciled students at
undergraduate and postgraduate level in engineering has remained
broadly static over the last 10 years, at a time when student
numbers generally have increased significantly.
- It is important that the different areas
of engineering are able to work well together.
- Engineers are vital to the success of the
UK's economy, and to our ability to innovate successfully.
- The Royal Society itself is taking a series
of practical initiatives to promote engineering and engineering-based
innovation in the UK.
1. The UK science and engineering base
For engineering to thrive in the UK, it is essential
that the country has a strong science and engineering base. It
is vital that sufficient numbers of people choose to study STEM
subjects, including engineering, at university level.
2. Higher education trends in engineering
Our reports A degree of concern? and
A higher degree of concern analysed trends in STEM subjects
at higher education level in the UK. The analysis of engineering
subjects revealed that during the period 1994-95 to 2004-05 the
number of both first degrees and masters degrees awarded to UK-domiciled
students in various engineering subjects remained fairly static.
This is in a context of an increase of over 20% in the total numbers
of first degrees awarded to UK-domiciled students in all subjects,
and an increase of 65% in the number of masters awarded. PhDs
awarded in engineering over the period were more volatile, however
by 2004/05 numbers were broadly similar to 1994-95. Again, this
was in the context of a rise of 63% in the number of PhDs in all
subjects. Engineering therefore has not experienced the growth
that some other subjects have seen.
UK higher education in engineering is highly
international, with many non-UK students choosing the UK as a
destination to study engineering. Compared to other subjects,
engineering has one of the highest proportions of non-UK students
at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. In civil engineering
for example, in 2004-05 non-UK students accounted for 31% of undergraduates,
69% of masters graduates, and 59% of PhD graduates. The UK is
clearly globally competitive in terms of attracting overseas engineering
students to the UK, and the UK benefits greatly from this. However,
an obvious follow-on issue that must be tackled is why some engineering
courses are not as successful at attracting similar levels of
demand from UK students.
3. Diversity
Engineering is diverse, comprising many different
disciplines-including civil engineering, chemical engineering,
pharmaceutical engineering, electrical engineering, structural
engineering, and computing engineering. For engineering to have
as strong an impact as possible it is important that these different
areas within engineering are able to operate well together when
necessary.
4. Innovation
The value of engineers is increasingly recognised
in all sectors of the economy, from traditional and high value
manufacturing to economically important service industries, and
cutting-edge areas such as biotechnology. The expert advice offered
by engineering consultancy services is vital to major infrastructure
and development projects in the UK and abroad. Engineers are highly
prized by employers in non-engineering sectors because they offer
particular skills. Engineering is highly applications-focused,
which, for example, makes engineers particularly attractive to
City employers for their highly developed problem solving and
analytical skills. Elsewhere, their understanding of design principles
in the development of processes and solutions makes them desirable
to business services providers. Engineers are therefore contributing
to the UK's overall innovation performance in a range of settings,
in both STEM and non-STEM fields. They are playing an important
role in the economy and society.
5. The Royal Society and engineering
Since its foundation in 1660, the Royal Society
has always been strongly committed to promoting the application
of scientific knowledge. This remains a core value. For example
the Society has recently established an Enterprise Fund to provide
funding for the crucial early stages of commercialisation. The
fund aims to support innovation and very early stage high risk
research with potential for breakthrough discoveries and commercial
application. The fund will be run on a commercial basis and will
leverage the Society's unique advantages, including the outstanding
technical and scientific network, the extensive policy activity
and the flexible time horizons for investment. Engineers also
take an active part in many Society schemes, for example our University
Research Fellowship (URF) programme, conference grants and the
Industry Fellowship Scheme.
The Society hosts an annual "From labs
to riches" event, aimed at promoting innovation and wealth
creation in science, engineering and technology amongst a mixture
of academic entrepreneurs, financiers, journalists and prominent
industry figures.
We are taking specific steps to encourage actively
the nomination of excellent engineers for election to the Society:
candidates based in industry may require special attention.
March 2008
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