SUMMARY OF CST MEETING ON 13/14 June 2007
Attendees
1. The meeting was chaired in part by Professor Janet Finch and in part by Sir David King. The other members present were:
Professor Sir John Beringer, Professor Geoffrey Boulton, Professor Peter Davies, Professor Alan Gilbert, Dr Hermann Hauser, Professor Alan Hughes, Dr Sue Ion, Sir Keith Peters, Dr Raj Rajagopal, Professor Michael Sterling and Professor Kathy Sykes
Apologies were received from Professor Wendy Hall, Sir Paul Nurse, Dr Philip Ruffles and Dr Mark Walport.
2. Also in attendance for parts of the meeting were: Jonathan Adams (Evidence
Ltd), Fotis Kafatos (President of the European Research Council) and Philip
Esler (Chief Executive, AHRC)
Conclusions
Dinner with Fotis Kafatos
This provided CSR with an opportunity to discuss the ERC and the role of science and research in Europe with the ERC President. Topics discussed included:
- The ERC was fulfilling a new role in Europe, different from Framework Programmes or national funding. It has used its initial funding to launch a Starting Grant scheme for researchers. By funding and empowering the best young researchers the programme would help the EU retain and attract back its stars.
- ERC did not currently involve itself in schemes to improve the economic value of research, although this could be a possibility in the future, depending on funds. Such schemes could be focussed on transnational regions and focus on clusters of excellence within them.
Ongoing work includes:
- Strategic Focus: CST carried out a project to advise Government on what would be the best areas to focus resources for science, technology and innovation which could lead to applications in five years time. CST agreed the broad format of advice to present to the Secretary of State based upon the information gathering exercise that has taken place, workshop held on 13th June and road-testing event on 22nd June. Publication of report is yet to be finalised due to machinery of Government changes.
- Plastic Electronics: CST has visited an EPSRC-funded IKC based in Cambridge and a Plastic Electronics Technology Centre in County Durham as part of the information gathering process. Draft report will be produced over the summer and presented at the September CST meeting.
- The Research Endeavour: CST is considering how the UK should position its research base so that it is fit for purpose in 20 years time. The report has been road-tested and received broad support from HEFCE, Universities UK and the Royal Society. Final re-drafting of the report is being made. Following machinery of Government changes the draft report will be shown to new ministers in DIUS before publication
Other items discussed included:
- CST's future agenda - CST considered the topic of multi-disciplinary research as an new area of work. It was agreed to take this forward. Elements of the project would include: studying the literature that is already in the field; visiting examples of best practice; engaging with key players. A detailed outline of the project plan will be submitted to the September CST meeting.
- CST met with Philip Esler, Chief Executive AHRC. Items discussed included: There needed to be more emphasis on local networks - evidence indicated the strong role that Universities can play in regional development; The need to stimulate the connection between researchers and SMEs was of huge importance. There needs to be a mechanism to let universities know what SMEs require; Tracking what happens to researchers could be improved.
- CST met with Jonathan Adams, Director of Evidence Ltd. Discussions focussed on updating CST on a recent study showing the strong relative international performance of the UK research base in terms of achievement, productivity and efficiency.
The next CST meeting will be on 17/18 September 2007.