S TelULX-Meolim @elaalsalelars SYallalecmr- lave mmK rola larelrerey s Committee Tancclaarenecelatclmmeliiatsc late -AVeahina (=e)m daa l= Y-vye¥eg]q am@ elelalalt s Ninth Report of Session 2006-07 “ | 21687 HC 472-1 WELLCOME LIBRARY General ( Ollections H| iill} 1 22503011503 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Interiiau...a. - olicies and Activities of the Research Councils Ninth Report of Session 2006-07 Report, together with formal minutes Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 25 July 2007 HC 472-1 Published on 31 July 2007 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £13.50 The Science and Technology Committee The Science and Technology Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Office of Science and Innovation and its associated public bodies. Current membership Mr Phil Willis MP (Liberal Democrat, Harrogate and Knaresborough)(Chairman) Adam Afriyie MP (Conservative, Windsor) Mrs Nadine Dorries MP (Conservative, Mid Bedfordshire) Mr Robert Flello MP (Labour, Stoke-on-Trent South) Linda Gilroy MP (Labour, Plymouth Sutton) Dr Evan Harris MP (Liberal Democrat, Oxford West & Abingdon) Dr Brian Iddon MP (Labour, Bolton South East) Chris Mole MP (Labour/Co-op, Ipswich) Dr Bob Spink MP (Conservative, Castle Point) Graham Stringer MP (Labour, Manchester, Blackley) Dr Desmond Turner MP (Labour, Brighton Kemptown) Previous Members of the Committee during the inquiry Mr Brooks Newmark MP (Conservative, Braintree) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental Select Committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No.152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/s&tcom A list of Reports from the Committee in this Parliament is included at the back of this volume. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are: Dr Lynn Gardner (Clerk); Dr Celia Blacklock (Second Clerk); Dr Christopher Tyler (Committee Specialist); Dr Anne Simpson (Committee Specialist); Ana Ferreira (Committee Assistant); Christine McGrane (Committee Secretary); and Jonathan Olivier Wright (Senior Office Clerk). Previous Committee staff during the inquiry Dr Anne Simpson (Committee Specialist) Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Science and Technology Committee, Committee Office, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general inquiries is: 020 7219 2793; the Committee's e- mail address is: [email protected] — International Policies and Activities of the Research Councils 1 Contents Report Page Summary 1 Introduction The international nature of research Our inquiry The Structure of the Report UUNWv H 2 The UK’s position UK’s current position WWOO Measurements of success 3 Research Council activities & policy 11 Current activities 11 Strategy 12 Individual Research Council Strategies 12 Research Councils UK Strategy 15 Co-ordination 15 Visibility 17 International offices 18 Funding 20 Level of funding 20 Problems with funding 22 A dedicated funding stream? 25 Impact-of strategy on mobility and research careers 27 4 Government policy 32 Government initiatives Poe Global Science and Innovation Forum 32 Foreign Office activities 34 DFID activities 36 OSI activities 37 5 Involvement of other organisations 42 British Council 42 Royal Society 43 Co-ordination between organisations 44 6 Europe and research 46 Overview 46 Government and Framework 7 48 Research Councils and Framework 7 48 7 Conclusion 51 Conclusions and recommendations 52 2 International Policies and Activities of the Research Councils Abbreviations used in this Report Formal minutes Witnesses List of written evidence List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament International Policies and Activities of the Research Councils 3 eae Summary Research is an international endeavour. It involves international collaborations ranging from the researcher-to-researcher level to the country-to-country level. The international research scene is changing as the domestic research bases of countries such as China and India rapidly expand. It is crucial that the UK adapts its research support mechanisms accordingly. The Government has set itself the aim of being the partner of choice for potential collaborators and the Research Councils have a key role in helping the Government to meet this aim. The Research Councils have taken several steps to improve their international work including developing international strategies, creating a Research Councils UK (RCUK) international team, and establishing more offices abroad. Their activities still, however, lack co-ordination and are not sufficiently high-profile. We recommend that RCUK drives cross-Council co-ordination and the Councils develop ways of improving the visibility of their schemes. In order to reduce difficulties relating to funding, we recommend that the Research Councils establish a small central fund for travel grants and visiting fellowships to be administered by RCUK using simple application | methods. We also recommend that the Research Councils consult stakeholders on how | their policies relating to mobility could be improved. The activities of the Research Councils are complemented by schemes funded by Government departments, Learned Societies, charities and others. Within Government, international engagement is co-ordinated by the Global Science and Innovation Forum (GSIF). We welcome the work of GSIF but emphasise that it needs to increase its visibility, publicise itself and prove its worth. Co-ordination and communication is essential in order | to avoid overlap between similar schemes. We recommend that the RCUK international team take steps to improve co-ordination with other bodies and that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) work with relevant organisations to ensure that there is minimal overlap between different schemes. The main mechanism for supporting collaborative, trans-national research in the European Union is the EU’s Framework Programme. We are concerned that European programmes, such as Framework Programme 7, are less attractive to UK researchers because the programmes have a reputation for bureaucracy and are unlikely to cover the full economic costs of research. We recommend that DIUS works with the Research Councils to advertise the improvements in Framework Programme 7 and to devise a solution to cover the shortfall between Framework Programme 7 funding and the full economic costs of research. In order to assess the UK’s position and measure its success in relation to international collaboration and international research relationships, we recommend that the Government and Research Councils work to develop mechanisms for the systematic collection of data. We hope that the Research Councils will develop a more high-profile, coherent and co-ordinated approach to international work and that appropriate measurements are developed to demonstrate its impact. International Policies and Activities of the Research Councils 5 1 Introduction The international nature of research 1. Research is an international endeavour. International collaboration enables researchers to gain access to larger pools of ideas, emerging knowledge, and highly trained people. There is evidence both that collaboration between UK researchers and overseas researchers is increasing and that it can produce better research. A report by Arthur D. Little Ltd in November 2005 found that in 1992 20.5% of UK scientific publications had international co-authors, by 2003 this figure had almost doubled to 39.2%.' In April 2006, a study of the citation performance of papers with UK-only authors and UK-USA co-authors showed that papers that resulted from international collaboration were more frequently cited and were published in higher impact journals than those with UK-only authors.” There are also some disciplines such as particle physics or space science, where projects owing to their scale or the funding required, are undertaken by a number of countries working in partnership. Other disciplines, such as polar research, language research, and social research, can be entirely location-dependent.’ Finally, some of the challenges that face humanity, such as climate change or HIV/AIDS, transcend national boundaries and should involve the best scientists and engineers in the world working together. The success of the Human Genome Project illustrates the importance of enabling international collaborative research. 2. Whilst the UK has traditionally undertaken research internationally, the international scene is changing and it is crucial that the UK adapts its research support mechanisms accordingly. In 2003, the Department of Trade and Industry’s report, Competing in the global economy: the innovation challenge, highlighted the importance of trade liberalisation, the reduction in communication and travel costs, and the rise of global communications, in transforming the competitive nature of the global economy.’ These factors inevitably impact upon the research community resulting in, for example, increased mobility of researchers and students. The Royal Academy of Engineering states that the proportion of foreign students among PhD students in the UK is second only to the US (in absolute terms). In 2003, 51% of engineering doctoral degrees in the UK were awarded to foreign students.> The domestic research bases of countries such as China, India, and Iran are expanding rapidly and the UK needs to develop research relationships with these countries.° 3. The Government’s Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014 acknowledged the importance of international links, setting the objective of enhancing the 1. Arthur D. Little Ltd., Internationalisation of research and development in the UK - A review of the evidence, November 2005, p 45-46. 2 Professor Sir Gareth Roberts, international Partnerships of Research Excellence: UK-USA Academic Collaboration, April 2006, p 2 Ev 90 DTI, Competing in the global economy: the innovation challenge, December 2003, p 8 Ev 67; National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2004, 2004, chapter 3 a-WyHe . OEv 41 6 International Policies and Activities of the Research Councils UK asa prime location for research and development. The Framework recognised that one of the key features of the UK as an attractive research and development location was the internationally competitive nature of its science base. For these reasons, the Government set itself the aim that “the UK should be a ‘partner of choice’ for global businesses looking to locate their R&D, or foreign universities seeking collaboration with the science base or business.” 4. The Research Councils have a key role in helping the Government to meet this aim. Research Councils UK (RCUK) states that the Research Councils: recognise that to grow or indeed maintain the strength of the UK research base within the evolving global context, and to maximise the UK’s influence on the direction and exploitation of world research, they need to evolve their policies and target their investment decisions so that their communities can take full advantage of global opportunities.* The Research Councils also have to meet a Public Service Agreement (PSA) Target to “improve the relative international performance of the UK research base and improve the overall innovation performance of the UK economy.” This Report explores what the Research Councils can do to improve their current international activities and policies. Our inquiry 5. This inquiry is the third in our series of thematic scrutiny inquiries into aspects of the work of the Research Councils." On 6 March 2007, we announced this inquiry into the international policies and activities of the Research Councils, inviting evidence on the following points: e The strengths and weaknesses of existing Research Council and Office of Science and Innovation (OSI) mechanisms and activities to maintain and promote international collaboration; e International collaboration through the European Union Framework Programme, including resources enhancing partnership between the Research Councils and European agencies in the new Framework Programme 7 initiative and the provision of resources to stimulate UK participation in international programmes; e The effectiveness of collaboration between the Research Councils and the Government departments involved in international scientific activities, including the Office of Science and Innovation (OSI), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Science and Innovation Network and the Department for International Development (DFID); and 7 ~~ Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014, p 17 8 €Ev90 9 Ev154 10 Science and Technology Committee, Third Report of Session 2005-06, Research Council Support for Knowledge Transfer, HC 995-1; Science and Technology Committee, Fourth Report of Session 2006-07, Research Council Institutes, HC 68-1