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Rt. Hon. John Battle - Former Minister of Energy and Industry (May 1997 - Jul 1999)The Institute of Physics Annual Congress |
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INTRODUCTION I am pleased to be addressing the Congress during the fifth National Week of Science, Engineering and Technology. I will concentrate on three major themes today: Firstly, and appropriately for SET week - the need for researchers to engage with the public. Secondly, the Government's commitment to basic research. Thirdly, the need to contribute to strengthening the links between our Science Base and industry. 1. SET WEEK/PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING We should not underestimate the role played by physics, especially the most basic physics, in stimulating public interest in science. A survey carried out for PPARC showed that over two-thirds of physics undergraduates were initially attracted to study physics by the most basic physics; by topics such as astronomy, relativity, particle physics etc. More generally, over the past four years, media coverage of space science, astronomy, and particle physics stories has doubled. Many people were fascinated by Comet Hale Bopp which graced our skies this time last year, and the beautiful images from the Hubble telescope have been much admired. What is perhaps not so widely known is the strong European and British participation in Hubble. The UK has, in fact, won more of the observing programmes on the Hubble Space Telescope than any of the other European partners in the project, because of the quality of UK scientific proposals. Let no-one be in any doubt of the public appetite for interesting physics stories. I am sure we were all struck by the interest generated by last week's news of asteroid 1997 XF11, which is likely to pass near to the Earth in the year 2028. This story was a telling example of the importance of accurate measurements and sound data analysis, which often depend on physics based techniques. We need to build on this interest and communicate the fact that physics, and science in general, are part of our heritage and fundamental to our success as a nation. Both for our continued prosperity and, just as importantly, our quality of life. I am sure all of us recognise that science underpins our lives. We need look no further than the front pages of the newspapers to realise that many of the big issues facing us are rooted in science: biotechnology, energy use, food safety, climate change, the list goes on. In my first major speech on public understanding at the BA Festival last September I said how important it was to use these subjects as focal points for science communication. That we should use the subjects that interest people to open and deepen the dialogue between the experts and the lay audience. To use Margaret Beckett's recent words to the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee: "There is a continuing, real need to improve the levels of understanding between those who are developing new scientific techniques and those who use and benefit from them". To recall Thomas Aquinas: wisdom is about translating the complex into the simple, without reducing it to the naively simplistic. I am pleased to be able to tell you of the progress that we have made in this direction. Last week I hosted a meeting of interested parties to discuss the way forward with an initiative I have been developing to hold a public consultation activity this summer on the wider implications of developments in the biological sciences. Of course there are areas in the physical sciences where there are issues every bit as profound to consider. I am therefore delighted to be able to announce that, through the Office of Science and Technology's public understanding budget, my Department has agreed to sponsor a consensus conference on radioactive waste management. Recognising that this is an extremely complex subject, the aim of the project will be for a thoroughly briefed lay panel to reach a consensus on what are the key issues, as seen by the public, associated with the handling and disposal of radioactive waste. I hope that we can reclaim the adjective "nuclear" to its true scientific meaning, and move away from its identification with things that are bad. This consensus will then be fed into the ongoing policy process to help the development of UK strategy in this field. As well as talking about "public understanding of science", we should also be talking about "science's understanding of the public". The Institute itself makes a major contribution to engaging the public with science, engineering and technology and I would like to pay tribute to the Institute's work in this area today. I am especially pleased that the Institute has awarded around 30 grants of up to £500 to encourage participation in SET week. These grants are funding events like building scientific equipment from Lego, as well as supporting many other hands-on science events taking place across the country. I was very interested to hear about the Institute's series of public lectures, and your support for a Public Understanding Fellow, Professor Colin Humphreys of Cambridge University, who provides background information for journalists, as well as himself featuring in programmes and articles. This is an interesting model for helping excellent science communicators to further develop their work. The Research Councils also play an important role in this area. They recognise the value of promoting science, engineering and technology as an important component of the drive to maintain the flow of talented young people into science and engineering. One example is the Pupil Researcher Initiative, run jointly by the EPSRC, PPARC, and Sheffield Hallam University, which is aimed at raising the motivation and achievement of 14-16 year olds in science, precisely the age when youngsters tend to lose interest. Its activities have included:
It is vital that science is not marginalised. 2. GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT TO BASIC RESEARCH Although we must never be complacent, we can all be proud of the UK's Science and Engineering Base. Benchmarks and international comparisons show that the Science and Engineering Base is remarkably cost effective when compared with the G7 and other countries. With only about 1% of the world's population, the UK carries out 5.5% of the world's research effort and is a major force in research with an 8% share of world scientific publications and a 9.1% share of world citations. In absolute terms, this places the UK a clear second to the much larger USA, significantly ahead of larger countries including Japan, Germany and France. In relative terms, the UK is the most cost-effective producer of research of the G7 countries - UK research receives 168 citations each year for every million pounds the Government spent on civil R&D in 1991. The UK clearly continues to punch above its weight in scientific research. But I am well aware that we need to maintain investment in the Science Base. Many people tell me that we have lived for too long off past investment. There is no room for complacency, and I will say something later about funding. Before that, I want to praise some of the achievements of the Science Base. CERN Some of the most basic research supported by the Science Budget is undertaken at CERN. One of my ambitions, since being appointed shadow Science Spokesman four years ago, was to see it for myself. Last month I finally made it to Geneva and spent a fascinating day at CERN, meeting some of the enthusiastic people who work there - Suzy Goodsir and Alison Wright, to name but two. They are more than adequate role models to encourage more women into SET. I was also encouraged to hear how British companies are increasing their share of business at CERN, including being involved in the design and construction of some of the civil engineering for the Large Hadron Collider. CERN, which is a centre of scientific excellence and a compelling demonstration of the benefits of international collaboration, is a shining example of the broader benefits which can flow from basic research. Techniques developed for research at CERN have led to commercial production of scanners for medical imaging, and to systems which are now finding applications in the electricity supply industry for power line monitoring and fault diagnosis. Perhaps the most pervasive spin-off, which few people realise came from CERN, is the World Wide Web. It was developed in response to the need for particle physicists, working in collaborations drawn from all over the world, to share data and ideas. The Web has led to the recent explosive growth in the Internet. We are only just starting to get to grips with the implications of the Information Age. The fact that the Web was developed at CERN is a wonderful example of why Governments need to support and nurture basic research. Who could have guessed that public funding of CERN would lead to something with the educational, commercial and cultural significance of the World Wide Web? The Web is one of many examples of how the burning intellectual curiosity that makes people study physics, and other basic sciences, leads to applications that change the world. Applications that were not foreseen. Applications that are so far-reaching that it is easy to forget their origin in physics. History of physics - Britain's role Britain has a proud tradition in physics. Isaac Newton was the founder of physics. His work is still at the heart of modern physics and engineering. In the last century, James Clerk Maxwell unified previous theories of electricity and magnetism into four neat equations. Last year was the hundredth anniversary of J.J. Thompson's discovery of the electron at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, which was founded by Maxwell. As we approach the next millennium, our lives are becoming ever more dependent on electricity and electronics. From this microphone, to televisions and mobile phones, from fridges to microwave ovens - all of these devices, which we take for granted, owe their existence to modern science's ability to manipulate electrons and electromagnetic waves. It is seventy years since Paul Dirac, one of Britain's greatest scientists but sadly not well known outside the world of physics, published the equation that bears his name. The Dirac equation not only combined quantum mechanics and Einstein's special relativity, but also explained why electrons have spin and predicted the existence of anti-matter, which was eventually discovered in 1932. It is worth remembering that Dirac, a theoretical physicist, first went to University to study electrical engineering - a good reminder of how inter-related science and engineering are. Physics as an underpinning science Let me now turn to some more current examples of the importance of physics to everyday life. Physics-based techniques underlie metrology - the science of measurement. Measurement matters, whether we are buying fruit and vegetables, or pushing forward the frontiers of science. The National Physical Laboratory is the pinnacle of the UK's national measurement infrastructure. The fact that NPL is now operated by a private sector contractor in no way diminishes its contribution to the UK as a whole, nor the DTI's commitment to it. Recent work by the wavelength standards group shows that NPL is still at the forefront of science. They were the first to observe what might be the narrowest feature in the optical spectrum. This was cited by the American Institute of Physics as one of the Top 20 Physics Stories of 1997. It could in due course become the ultimate frequency standard. As I am sure many of you are aware, NPL is currently housed in an assortment of buildings many of which have passed their useful life. They do not do justice to NPL's position as one of the world's top three national standards laboratories. I am therefore particularly pleased that by late 2000, just as it reaches its centenary, NPL will be housed in a new laboratory building commensurate with its world-class standing. This is made possible by the Private Finance Initiative and demonstrates the long term commitment which the Government has to the work of the Laboratory. The synchrotron is another example of how physics underpins science as a whole, in this case through the development of advanced instrumentation. The Synchrotron Radiation Source at CCLRC's Daresbury Laboratory is used by researchers from across practically the whole field of science. Amongst its 2500 users is Dr John Walker of the MRC's Laboratory of Molecular Biology. He was the British winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work, with Professor Paul Boyer of the University of California, on the structure of the enzyme which makes ATP - "the factory for human energy conversion". This work has the potential to improve our understanding of ageing, and of a whole range of diseases of the nervous system, perhaps eventually opening up the prospect of their prevention and cure. I enjoyed learning all about it at his fascinating talk at the DTI yesterday - part of my Department's contribution to SET98. One of the major issues now facing CCLRC, and the other Research Councils, is the need to replace the SRS with a more intense synchrotron. The Research Councils are carefully exploring their requirements, and how the proposed DIAMOND synchrotron might be funded. I am delighted that the Wellcome Trust has pledged support and I hope that others will do so as well. The expectation is that DIAMOND could make a really important contribution, particularly to progress in the life sciences. But the case for DIAMOND will need to be considered against other scientific priorities. Relevant considerations will include the range of likely users, including industrial users, and the degree of financial commitment to the project that they are prepared to demonstrate. Comprehensive Spending Review In Opposition we deliberately froze spending totals for two years, so that we could break out of the annual cycle, to set budgets for the long term. The Government is doing this by undertaking a Comprehensive Spending Review of all public expenditure. There is a separate review for the Science Budget, which reflects the importance we attach to the Science Budget, which is ring-fenced within the overall DTI budget. The review is an opportunity to display the past successes and future opportunities flowing from the Science and Engineering Base. Independent of the outcome of the review, I can say that the Government is committed to a strong science base which leads the world. We will not be ready to announce spending totals until later this year. One of our manifesto commitments which is already being implemented, by Chris Smith, is NESTA - the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. It will be funded by the National Lottery, and will help to support some of the UK's most creative people to develop ideas which will eventually be translated into the new technologies which will shape the 21st Century. NESTA, which will support scientists, technologists and musicians, actors and artists and so on, is a useful reminder that the science base should not be seen in isolation to wider UK effort. Yesterday I announced a £21 million package of investments in European space programmes to develop satellite technologies and support projects on Earth observation. Data from Earth Observation is vital to help understand climate change. 3. GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT TO STRENGTHENING LINKS BETWEEN SCIENCE BASE AND INDUSTRY. Science base - industry links There are many productive links between the Science and Engineering Base and industry. The UK Science Base is especially successful - levering in considerably more private funding than elsewhere in the world. A good example is the Joint Research Equipment Initiative, which is run jointly by the Research Councils and the Funding Councils. The JREI provides equipment to Universities on a matching funding basis between Government and non-Government sources and it has proved to be an outstanding success, providing £80 million of equipment in the last round. Examples of awards include:
In fact, the JREI has been so successful that I was pleased to have announced earlier this year that it is to be an annual event. Physics base - industry links This afternoon, Margaret Beckett will be awarding the President's Partnership Prizes, to reward partnerships between our universities and industry. These prizes, worth more than £100,000 in total, are being awarded to the science and engineering departments, centres and units within our universities who have done most in the year under review to develop partnership activity. I am not going to steal the President's lines from this afternoon. But I can say that the judges were highly impressed with the quality of the competition entries. Physics-based disciplines are strongly represented among the entries, through entries from electronics and materials departments, and from inter-disciplinary centres. The message that I want you to go away with, whether from Universities, industry or the public sector, whether you call yourself pure or applied physicists, or engineers, or whatever, is that this Government is committed to breaking down artificial barriers and building worthwhile partnerships. Although applying the results of physics research may take a long time, or happen indirectly, industry can still benefit from contact with the most basic research. The term "technology transfer" is perhaps unhelpful as it is people and knowledge who are transferred. There are many good examples of where working with basic researchers has led to commercial benefit:
The Cassini-Huygens space mission, launched last year, is a good example of researchers in the Science Base working with UK industry. I recently visited a British company - Martin-Baker - which manufactures ejection seats and other products associated with aircrew safety and protection. Maybe high technology but nothing to do with basic science, you might think? Well, Martin-Baker built the parachutes which will slow the descent of the Huygens probe when, in 2004, it is released into the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan, from the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. These parachutes will have to operate in the hostile environment of Titan's atmosphere, at temperatures of minus 200C. The on-board software to deploy the parachutes, switch on the experiments and operate all the various mechanisms was also developed in Britain, by Logica. Britain is also providing two of the Principal Investigators on the Cassini-Huygens mission, from Imperial College and the University of Kent. All in all, twelve British Universities and laboratories have collaborated on Cassini-Huygens experiments. Foresight The Foresight Programme is the central plank in the Government's drive to stimulate competitiveness and innovation in the UK. It is "joined up thinking" brought to life. Foresight aims to secure sustained wealth creation and enhanced quality of life, by bringing together business, the science base and government to identify and respond to future opportunities in markets and technologies. The programme is currently spearheaded by 16 panels comprising industrialists, academics and Government officials and each panel represents a different sector of the UK economy. Since coming into office less than a year ago, the Government has revitalised the Foresight programme. New Foresight initiatives which the Government have introduced include the Foresight LINK awards, where up to £10 million of DTI funds will be provided towards basic research projects bringing together business and the science base and to address Foresight priorities; and £5 million for the Foresight Vehicle LINK programme. Both initiatives emphasise quality of life issues as well as competitiveness. In Opposition we were very conscious of what was reported as patchy implementation of Foresight reports. So on taking up office, one of our first actions was to launch an audit of Foresight across Government - to assess the level of departmental activity in Foresight and to provide a benchmark against which we can measure future progress. One of the outcomes of the audit was the setting up of a new team of ministers - the Ministerial Foresight Group to co-ordinate activity across Whitehall, with a designated Minister in each Department taking responsibility for Foresight issues. This group met last week - its second meeting - and it demonstrated the high levels of enthusiasm for Foresight which now exist across Government. It is also beginning to develop a more coordinated approach to Foresight across Departments. We are now preparing to launch the next round of Foresight in 1999, five years after the first round. On 23 March, we will be publishing proposals for consultation on the next round. These proposals have not been cooked up behind closed doors. They draw together preliminary views from a number of organisations, including the Institute of Physics. Indeed, Mr President, I know that you personally have been in discussion with the OST to put across some excellent ideas for the structure and execution of the next round of Foresight. I think that you will find these ideas reflected in the document we publish. I hope that the Institute can now play an even more active role in drawing together your members' views as the consultation gets underway. From responses we will draw up a blue print for the next Foresight Round, which we aim to publish in October before the next round gets underway next April. My own Ministerial responsibilities extend from science to energy and industry, including environmental issues. This gives me the opportunity to ensure that our policies for industry and for energy take full account of science and technology, and equally that our science and technology policy takes full account of the needs of industry. As I hope I have demonstrated, science and industry have nothing to fear and everything to gain from improving these connections. Closing words - Enthusiasm for science, engineering and technology I would like to close by emphasising that physics is not a closed world. It is outward looking and out-reaching. I am encouraged to see that over one third of the Institute's members work in industry. I was struck, as I toured your exhibition this morning, by the enthusiasm and creativity; by people speaking, without prompting, of the connections between trying to deepen our understanding of the Universe, and practical applications that will affect our everyday lives. It is easy to underestimate the creativity inherent in science. As we approach the twenty-first century, we should not forget that our ability to keep ahead of the game on basic science is vital to our nation's future. |
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Other speeches by Rt. Hon. John Battle - Former Minister of Energy and Industry (May 1997 - Jul 1999)
(the following are available from the archive) |
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