Examination of Witnesses (Questions 60
- 65)
MONDAY 7 JULY 2008
PROFESSOR SIR
CHRIS LLEWELLYN
SMITH, PROFESSOR
JONATHAN BILLOWES,
DR STEPHEN
GARWOOD AND
DR GRAHAM
BALDWIN
Q60 Chairman: Good, just for the
record. In terms of our European counterparts, do you feel that
they are supporting much more strongly the programmes for nuclear
engineering, particularly the masters and doctoral programmes?
Dr Baldwin: We are just looking
at our relationships and partnerships in Europe, so it is perhaps
a bit early to say whether they are being better supported. I
would feel happier commenting on the system that we are using
in this country. I think we have probably got a model that is
developing that is potentially is fit for purpose. The key is
that it is going to require quite a shift. It requires a shift
in the employers' and industrial organisations' understanding
of the needs of education. Then there is a two-way process because
it is then incumbent upon us within education to identify what
are the key issues and how we can work together to address those.
We need to incentivise employers, in terms of the engagement,
and the co-funding approach is an incentive. I also think that
the Higher Level Skills Pathfinder, which has funded considerable
development of programmes, has been an incentive and once you
have the opportunity to collaborate on development in the initial
phases with resource support, you then get the buy-in from the
employers and the recognition, by working together, that you can
meet the training requirements and you can significantly reduce
costs. There has to be greater partnership activity and greater
levels of employer engagement between universities and education
providers and the industry to ensure that the systems work. The
framework is there and in place but we have just got to begin
to exploit it better.
Q61 Chairman: Let me just come back
to you, Professor Billowes. In terms of the Research Councils
themselves, I presume that you bid for funding from both STFC
and EPSRC?
Professor Billowes: I do, and
STFC support the nuclear physics side and EPSRC support the nuclear
engineering side and perhaps applied nuclear physics.
Q62 Chairman: Does that cause a problem?
Do you feel that the pathway is there for some joined-up thinking?
Professor Billowes: Some things
can fall between the gaps and STFC are also beginning to see this.
They are beginning to get concerned about knowledge transfer from
nuclear physics into the industry, particularly in the applied
nuclear physics area which also covers reactor physics and nuclear
data. I have had personal experience of trying to see how to get
funding for people to specialise in physics of reactors and nuclear
data because it is not classed as world-leading research, so EPSRC
and STFC would not normally fund it as a standard grant.
Q63 Chairman: So there is some work
to do in that direction?
Professor Billowes: Yes.
Q64 Chairman: Can I finish with you,
Dr Garwood. In terms of Rolls-Royce, how much work do you do with
universities in terms of propulsion?
Dr Garwood: An enormous amount.[1]
Q65 Chairman: Do you fund that or
do you expect the State to fund that?
Dr Garwood: We fund it but, of
course, it is the Ministry of Defence's money. However, as you
probably know we are forming a small group looking at where Rolls-Royce
could operate within the energy business, in civil nuclear in
particular, in the future and we are looking at a UTC in this
area, too. Rolls-Royce itself puts £4 million of funding
into our nuclear research and development. It is swamped by the
Ministry of Defence money, which is about £100 million, but
it is still a significant contribution, which goes directly to
the universities, and is the seed corn money which concepts develop
from.
Chairman: On that note, I am going to
finish this first session. May I thank Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn
Smith, Professor Jonathan Billowes, Dr Stephen Garwood and Dr
Graham Baldwin. Thank you all very much indeed.
1 Note from the witness: "In the specific
area of Nuclear Propulsion research funded by the MoD via contracts
with Rolls-Royce, £1.5m of funding is currently in place
with UK universities. This is planned to increase with the development
of studies on the next generation of submarine reactor plant." Back
| 
