Written evidence submitted by Imperial
College London (TIC 42)
CONTEXT
1. Imperial College London is the only university
in the UK to focus exclusively on science, technology, engineering,
medicine and business. Core to our mission since our foundation
has been the application of our research and education for the
benefit of industry, commerce and healthcare. Through a critical
mass of expertise in relevant core disciplines, we foster multidisciplinary
teams able to investigate and find solutions to social, economic
and industrial challenges.
2. The College translates its work into practice
by, for example, partnering with industry and the NHS, engaging
internationally, commercialising its research findings and providing
a dedicated consultancy service. During 2009-10, the College secured
£39.5million research income from UK and global industrial
sources, Imperial Innovations Group plc. attracted investment
for the College's portfolio of spin-out companies to the value
of £75million and Imperial Consultants provided advice to
over 250 companies, including SMEs. Notable industrial partners
include Servier, Qatar Petroleum, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, BP,
Rolls-Royce, Shell, BAE Systems, IBM, Statoil and Microsoft.
INTRODUCTION
3. Excellent scientific research, and its continued
advancement, is of vital importance to the UK's economy. The UK
is fortunate to have world-leading universities, of which three
(including Imperial College London) are in the top ten globally.
The most successful research intensive universities are also successful
at turning their research into companies and products for application
in industrial, healthcare and other settings. Nevertheless, more
needs to be done to capture the value of applied research and
spin-out activities for the benefit of UK businesses, employment
and wealth generation.
4. There are already examples of successful technology
innovation clusters in operation within the UK. Imperial College
serves as one, leveraging a critical mass of scientific, medical
and engineering expertise with innovation and entrepreneurship
support provided by Imperial College Business School and Imperial
Innovations Group plc. Other examples include Silicon Fen, based
around the University of Cambridge, and Warwick Science Park,
linked to the University of Warwick. Despite these examples of
good practice, the UK as a whole needs to be more efficient and
effective at exploiting research findings for the benefit of UK
technology industries.
5. Accelerating the organic development of innovation
clusters is intrinsically difficult. Technology Innovation Centres
(TICs) will therefore be most successful if they build upon existing
platforms of innovation. Key to achieving this will be ensuring
that TICs are scientifically, technically and geographically contiguous
with areas of research excellence, talent generation and industrial
concentration. Venture capital will also be required and will
depend upon the development of a widely accepted and coherent
strategy that meets the needs of industry.
What is the Fraunhofer model and would it be applicable
to the UK?
6. German universities tend to concentrate on basic
and theoretical research, with a dense network of intermediate
institutions operating in the space between them and industry.
These include the Max-Planck Society, focusing on fundamental
scientific research; the Leibniz Society, performing scientific
research into major themes and providing strategic infrastructure;
and the Helmholtz Society, which is responsible for the development
of technological solutions to major societal challenges. The Fraunhofer
Institutes are at the most industrial-facing end of these intermediate
institutions but maintain close links to
German universities, with several having departments
that are embedded into, or share facilities with, universities.
In contrast, the innovation landscape in the UK is much less facetted.
For example, the UK's world-leading universities cover a much
wider part of the innovation chain than German universities, combining
fundamental and applied approaches with extensive industrial-facing
activities.
7. The Fraunhofer Institutes undertake contract research
on behalf of companies, develop products and processes through
to technical or commercial maturity, generate patents and licences
and operate in the world's major economic regions. These activities
are already being delivered successfully by some of the UK's world-leading
universities. Particular examples of the College's achievements
are provided below.
Contract research
(a) During 2009-10, the College's income from research
grants and contracts was £297million, 13% of which coming
from industrial partners. Significant industrial awards during
this period included a new five-year partnership with Sainsbury's
(£1.3million) to research and deliver innovative and practical
solutions to mitigate the future impacts of climate change and
reduce Sainsbury's carbon footprint. The College also became a
partner in the ScottishPower Academic Alliance, with ScottishPower
and the University of Edinburgh. Funded by Scottish Power (£5million),
it will focus on carbon capture and storage with the aim of finding
technical solutions to the removal of carbon from exhaust gases
at fossil fuelled power stations.
Developing products and processes through to technical
or commercial maturity
(b) Through Imperial Innovations Group plc, the College
creates, builds and invests in pioneering technologies. Proof-of-concept
and incubation support provides the bridge from research ideas
to the point where they can attract seed investment and be transformed
into useful and commercial applications. For example, spin-out
company Respivert attracted £13million of venture capital
funding prior to its acquisition by Centorcor (a subsidiary of
Johnson & Johnson), retaining its team in the UK for next
stage development.
(c) The Imperial College Academic Health Science
Centre (AHSC) is an example of how the healthcare translation
pipeline is being accelerated in a university environment. A partnership
between the College and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust,
the AHSC aims to transform the health and quality of life of patients
and populations in London, the UK and globally by integrating
healthcare research, innovation, teaching and practice. These
activities are supported currently by the National Institute for
Health Research through its Comprehensive Biomedical Research
Centre designation, worth around £100million over five years.
Recent successes include the development a faster TB diagnostic
tool, vascular robotic surgery to treat complex aneurysms and
a digital plaster for real-time monitoring of a range of vital
signs.
Patents and licenses
(d) In 2008-09, the College's cumulative patent portfolio
was 1,476.
International engagement
(e) Through international collaboration, the College
is able to access applied research locations which require specific
research solutions and to extend the reach and impact of its research
findings. For example, building on our longstanding relationship
with Shell, in collaboration with Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Science
and Technology Park, we have formed the Qatar Carbonates and Carbon
Storage Research Centre. Through this 10-year, $70million research
programme, we are helping to develop fundamental and applied strategies
for enhanced natural gas production and carbon dioxide abatement
in complex carbonate reserves.
8. The College agrees that scientific research and
innovation should address national priorities and deliver sustainable
economic benefits to the UK. The underpinning purpose of the Fraunhofer
Institutes is therefore of direct relevance. Nevertheless, the
Fraunhofer business model needs to be adapted to the specific
circumstances of the UK and take account of the role that UK universities
already play in the innovation chain. TICs should therefore be
structured so as to achieve maximum leverage from the academic
excellence and technology transfer activities of some of the UK's
world-leading universities. Bespoke business models for individual
TICs may also be necessary so that they address particular sector
and industrial needs.
Are there existing Fraunhofer-type research centres
within the UK, and if so, are they effective?
9. Existing centres of applied research excellence
and innovation embedded within university structures provide the
essential ingredients from which TICs can be developed. For example,
the College's Centre for Plastic Electronics (PE) brings together
fundamental and applied expertise in the departments of Physics,
Chemistry and Materials to address the design, synthesis and characterisation
of PE materials, the design and fabrication of PE devices and
the modelling of both. The Centre interacts with a cluster of
industrial partners, currently including AZ Electronic Products,
BASF, Bayer, CDT, Crystal Global, CSEM (Brasil), De la Rue, Dupont,
Teijin Films, Flexink, G24i, Kurt Lesker, Merck, Molecular Vision,
Ossila, Philips, Pilkington, Plastic Logic, Plextronics, Polyera,
Solar Press, Solenne, Solvay, Sumitomo, Toshiba and VTT. The Centre
has a current grant portfolio of some £34million and involves
over 150 students, postdoctoral researchers and visitors. Molecular
Vision Limited, which has developed a diagnostic technology platform,
was spun-out from the Centre's work. Since 2004, it has secured
non-dilutive funding of £2.3million in the form of joint-development,
contract research and grant income and issued equity in return
for £2.17million. Cambridge Integrated Knowledge Centre,
University of Cambridge, is a similar centre of excellence in
PE. The combined expertise and industrial networks based around
these two centres provide an attractive platform on which to base
a TIC in Plastic Electronics.[40]
10. Over 600 academic staff and researchers are involved
in energy-related research at the College. Building on this capacity,
the College's Energy Futures Lab (EFL) supports the deployment
of low carbon energy technologies, generates new energy solutions
and provides robust strategic and policy advice to industry and
government. Hosting a Doctoral Training Centre, it works with
various industrial partners including BP, Shell and Qatar Petroleum.
It is also guided by strategic, scientific and technical advisory
boards comprising both senior academic staff and experienced practitioners
from the energy sector including McLaren Group, Deutsche Bank,
the National Grid, Centrica, Mainstream Renewable Power, Rolls
Royce, International Power and Shell. Since its formation in 2005,
EFL has generated new research investment of £67million,
£60million of which came from industry. Spin-outs include
Novacem, which has developed a carbon-negative cement and was
recently awarded a £1.5million TSB project in collaboration
with RioTinto, Laing O'Rourke and WSP Group. In July 2010, Novacem
announced the first closing of a £1million Green Cement Bond,
together with the participation of Lafarge as the first subscriber,
and has received over £1million equity funding from Imperial
Innovations Group plc, Royal Society Enterprise Fund and the London
Technology Fund. Other successful energy spin-outs include Ceres
Power, an AIM listed fuel cell company employing over 120 staff
and with a product manufacturing facility in Horsham, together
with Nexeon (novel Li-ion batteries) and Evo-electric (motors
for electric and hybrid vehicles).
11. The College's Institute of Biomedical Engineering
(IBME) draws together scientists, medics and engineers to apply
their extensive expertise to the development of medical diagnosis
and treatment solutions. With purpose built laboratories and state
of the art facilities, IBME attracts early career researchers
from across the UK and around the world. Collaborating with industry,
government and healthcare providers to guide technology development
priorities and ensure proof-of-concept and early stage product
development, notable partners include GE Medical, Cardinal Healthcare
and companies spun out of IBME's work, such as DNA Electronics
and Toumaz Technologies. Recent solutions developed by IBME include
a real-time gene testing innovation to indicate how patients are
likely to respond to different drugs, novel approaches to tissue
engineering and a new type of retinal prosthesis. RepRegen Limited,
is an example of a spin-out company emerging from IBME's work.
Specialising in the field of regenerative medicine with initial
applications in orthopaedics and oral care, it completed a funding
round of £1.2million in 2009.
12. The UK's world-leading universities have developed
sophisticated technology transfer infrastructure with proven track
records of engaging professionally with industry and of commercialising
technology. For example, over 150 professionals are involved in
such activity across Imperial, Oxford, Cambridge and UCL. Imperial
Innovations Group plc has assisted in the development of all the
spin-out companies discuss above. Other examples of successful
businesses generated with its support include Circassia (medicines
to control immune system responses), which has raised £32.5million
investment since 2007; Plaxica (polymers derived from sustainable
resources), with investors including Invesco Perpetual, NESTA
and the Carbon Trust; and Cell Medica (cell therapies) with collaborative
research funding projects supported by the TSB and Leukaemia and
Lymphoma Research totalling over £2million.
What other models are there for research centres
oriented toward applications and results?
13. TIC-like organisations in Taiwan, Japan, Korea
and Germany are delivered on a significant scale and involve levels
of public funding that would not be possible in the UK under present
economic conditions. For example, the National Institute for Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology in Japan, has an annual budget
of £830million, 66% of which is provided by government. The
only way that the UK will be able to compete globally, is to ensure
that its strategy for TICs builds upon those areas in which it
is already world-leading and is aligned closely to the needs of
businesses within the UK.
14. Technology innovation clusters comprise geographical
areas in which industry, world-leading research-intensive universities
and university spin-out companies are based. Silicon Valley and
Stanford University is an example of how innovative businesses
are attracted by, and emerge from, environments where there is
a critical mass of multidisciplinary expertise. There is also
a need for a continuous supply of new talent with experience of
excellent research. Hence, innovation is enhanced and developed
further by proximity to the broader science base and areas of
doctoral and postdoctoral training.
15. Laura Abramovsky's and Helen Simpson's research
underscores the importance of geographical location. It found
that certain sectors locate their R&D facilities near to excellent
research departments. The presence of science parks, themselves
likely to be linked to university presence, was also found to
be an important factor. In the case of those industries with less
evidence of immediate co-location with universities, the study
identified that firms that did locate near to relevant research
departments were more likely to interact with universities.[41]
16. A national TIC strategy should not be used as
an instrument of social policy. A regionally focused approach
will dilute funding and is unlikely to ensure that TIC locations
will resonate with industrial need.
Whose role should it be to coordinate research
in a UK-wide network of innovation centres?
17. It is likely that individual TICs will be most
successful if they are able to adapt to the particular circumstances
in which they operate. To achieve this, a sufficient level of
autonomy and flexibility will be required. Decision making should
therefore be informed by a stakeholder board with significant
industrial and academic knowledge and experience.
18. Various streams of government funding support
university-industry engagement. For example, work by Jonathan
Haskel and Gavin Wallis provides strong evidence of market sector
productivity benefits from public R&D spend on Research Councils.[42]
HEFCE Higher Education Innovation Funding
(HEIF) also plays a valuable role. Whilst increased national benefit
would be gained if investment was targeted towards those institutions
with the most successful track records in these areas, HEIF provides
vital support in the development and delivery of the College's
industrial-facing, proof-of-concept and incubation activities.
Similarly, a significant proportion of the College's industrial
partnerships are co-funded by public sources, with the involvement
of the industrial partner sometimes being conditional upon a matched
funded element. The allocated TIC resource should therefore be
managed carefully so that the sustainability of any new initiative
is not maintained at the expense of other excellent research and
innovation activities, or the valuable relationships universities
already have with UK and global industry.
19. Excellent research and innovation requires world
leading facilities, which are becoming increasingly expensive
and sophisticated. TICs will also need to be of a significant
scale and scope to have a sufficient critical mass with which
to be world-leading and attract industrial and venture capital
investment. Hence, the resource committed at present is likely
to support only a small number of high-quality TICs.
20. It should be noted there are six Fraunhofer Centres
in the USA and Representative Offices in Japan, China, Indonesia,
Korea and the United Arab Emirates. This international dimension
ensures access to world-leading research, global industry and
applied locations. It will be important for the UK model to maintain
an international outlook and collaborate globally where this will
add value.
What effect would the introduction of Fraunhofer-type
institutes have on the work of Public Sector Research Establishments
and other existing research centres that undertake Government
sponsored research?
21. Public Sector Research Establishments (PSREs)
play an important role within UK research and innovation, providing
specialist facilities, capacity and expertise that might not be
possible within universities and industry. Significant aspects
of the College's research rely upon access to PSRE facilities,
such as the STFC's Rutherford Appleton and Daresbury laboratories.
Our research is also enhanced through partnerships with PSREs,
including the National Physical Laboratory and Atomic Weapons
Establishment. TIC-like organisations in Japan, Taiwan, Korea
and Germany co-exist with, and work alongside, large scale national
facilities. As such, UK TICs should be integrated fully within
the UK's existing research and innovation network and should not
lead to a reallocation of public resource.
22. TICs offer an important opportunity to build
upon the UK's existing strengths in research and innovation and
translate them into sustainable economic returns for the nation.
However, if implemented without due regard to the UK's particular
circumstances, they also have the potential to cause harm. To
ensure that TICs complement, rather than detract from, the UK's
existing strengths, they will need to augment the work of the
very best UK universities and other leading innovation assets.
Of central importance is the need to create a meaningful community
and network that links basic and applied research, talent, enterprise
and venture capital.
Imperial College London
December 2010
40 Declaration of interests: Imperial College amd the
University of Cambridge are developing a joint proposal for a
TIC in Plastic Electronics. Back
41
Laura Abramovsky and Helen Simpson, Geographic proximity and
firm-university innovation linkages: evidence from Great Britain,
The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, working paper no.
08/200 (June 2008). Back
42
Jonathan Haskel and Gavin Wallis, Public Support for Innovation,
Intangible Investment and Productivity Growth in the UK Market
Sector, IZA discussion papers series no. 4772 (February 2010). Back
|
