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UK Korea Women in SET Forum

Lord Sainsbury of Turville,  Former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science and Innovation
DTI Conference Centre, London,  12 October 2006

Ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to welcome you here to the Department for Trade and Industry for the second UK - Korea Women in Science Forum.

I have taken a close interest in the UK - Korea relationship since my early days as a Minister – in fact my very first trip abroad as Minister for Science & Innovation was to Korea. At the end of next month I have a fourth visit planned in order to take part in meetings aimed at further strengthening the already excellent science links between our two countries. Korea and the UK are both dynamic, modern economies with a solid foundation in science and technology and our two countries have highly complementary areas of expertise and excellence. Obviously an important part of our relationship is what we each have to learn from the other - that is why events such as todays are so useful.

The UK Government believes that success in science is vital to Britain’s prosperity, and a supply of scientists, engineers and technicians is critical to our future economic success. Here in the UK we have 1% of the world’s population, but we undertake 5% of the world’s science, produce 9% of the world’s scientific papers, receive 12% of the citations of scientific papers, including 13% of the world’s most cited papers.

The Government sees the quality of UK science as a major asset. It is why we are world leaders in science-based industries such as pharmaceuticals, and it is the explanation for the rapidly increasing number of high-tech spin-off companies from our universities. In the last two years alone 20 spin-off companies from our universities had IPO’s, and today those companies have a market value of over £1.3bn.

That is why we have increased the Science Budget substantially. In 1997/98, the Government’s science budget was £1.3 billion and by 2007/8 this will rise to £3.3 billion.

We have also set ambitious goals for the future. The 10-year Science and Innovation Framework outlines the Government’s long-term objective for the UK economy, which is to increase the level of knowledge intensity in the UK as measured by the ratio of R&D across the economy to national gross domestic product from its current level of around 1.9 per cent to 2.5 per cent by 2014. This will mean that our need for world-class scientists will grow significantly in the years ahead.

To meet this challenge and because we believe passionately in equality of opportunity, we are determined to make certain that all women have the opportunity to develop their careers in science and technology to the fullest extent. There must be no barriers to women being able to play a full part in the exciting advances taking place in science and technology today.

Many of the UK’s science, engineering and technology (SET) businesses already recognise these arguments but often the practicalities of recruiting and retaining women seems too difficult. That is why in 2004, the Government set up the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET to help maximise the opportunities for professional women in SET. The UKRC represents the largest concentration of knowledge, effort and funding in the UK focusing on the participation and position of women in SET.

The UKRC is defining and promoting effective practices to enhance the career opportunities for women in SET. It is working to embed equality practices into organisations in addition to raising the profile of women in SET. The UKRC provides information services, statistics and carries out research on various women in SET initiatives.

Over the last year alone the UKRC has supported over 200 women with science or engineering qualifications. It is supporting a further 122 women in trying to find them work placements or training progression. They have established links and are in contact with over 250 companies. They have been involved with 3 employer awards and 5 networking schemes and have allocated 9 grants and 26 bursaries.

The Athena SWAN Charter focuses specifically on higher education. 25 universities are signed up as Charter members and 11 awards having been made to date. The ‘UKRC Award for Diversity and Inclusion’ is a category in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence Awards, and the ‘UKRC Women in SET Award’ forms part of the Working Families’ Employer Awards.

To date over 500 women have been supported through the RETURN campaign, with over 50 women having achieved positive outcomes, ranging from embarking on further study such as an MSc or PhD, through to employment in SET.

In addition to the UKRC and other Government-led initiatives we need to collaborate internationally with the best researchers and companies around the world to ensure that we continue to stay at the leading edge of science and innovation.

We have great admiration for what you have achieved in Korea in recent years, and I am delighted that recently we have seen a number of extremely valuable collaborations between the UK and Korean organisations in areas such as genome work, nano and bio-nanotechnology, sustainable development, energy technologies, ICT, mobile technologies and space science. One important example of such collaboration is the venture that has resulted in today’s event, and it is particularly encouraging to see so many Korean delegates here supporting this important partnership.

The UK government welcomes this collaboration. By taking a global approach we can tap into the best ideas, and achieve better results. Today’s discussions will provide valuable insights into UK and Korean policy frameworks, and also a practical exchange of information and experiences, for example on leadership roles for women in research careers and on industry initiatives in both our countries.

I would very much welcome some early feedback on the outcome of today’s event, as I am sure that the issue of “women in science” will feature in the discussions which take place next month in Korea.

I am, therefore, very pleased to open this event which aims to build on the existing exchange of experience, collaboration and partnership between the UK and Korea. We have in the U.K. set ourselves challenging targets, and by working together we believe we are both more likely to achieve our ambitions and dreams.