These may be heady times in Wales following a deserved Grand Slam on the rugby field, but an even bigger Grand Challenge awaits this country in the field of science and technology. Wales has solid, world-class research in its universities and has some notable, innovative anchor companies such as EADS, Tata Steel and BT with strong higher education sector links.
The Welsh Labour government realises much more can be achieved with the right focus, energy and resources, and has identified the challenge is now to reignite the ambition of our scientists to reach out internationally and build more enduring and productive collaborative partnerships.
Central to this will be challenging for and gaining a greater share of the various competitively funded research programmes available in the UK and EU. Currently Welsh universities win relatively low levels of these resources and businesses in Wales invest less in R&D than the UK average.
We need to focus more on the larger, more ambitious funding proposals involving international partners and using the various EU capacity building funds. While Wales has secured some investment in R&D capacity – the Low Carbon Research Institute and the Institute of Life Sciences being prominent examples – more is needed to achieve the Welsh government’s vision of a vibrant economy underpinned by a resilient science and technology base.
The Welsh Labour government acted decisively by appointing a chief scientific adviser and the new ‘Science for Wales’* vision is a response to a review carried out under his leadership. This strategy sees a strong base of enthused young people engaging with and taking up careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. This will strengthen the STEM base which can then be reoriented for commercial gain and so generate high quality, sustainable employment in Wales.
This Grand Challenge targets three strategic sectors, and these are life sciences and health, low carbon energy and environment, and advanced engineering and materials. To spearhead this innovation drive, the Welsh government has recently launched ‘Wales Stars’, a £50m fund to target top scientists across the world, encouraging them to set up projects in Wales.
With a reinvigorated HE sector and leading professors in the main three target areas identified above, Wales aims to make significant progress under the new Research Excellence Framework by getting the highest proportion of 3* and 4* quality research of all the nations in the UK.
Wales already has some excellent National Science Assets which can help light the touchpaper of wonderment and enthusiasm for the subject in young people, including the Darwin Centre and Techniquest. Now the challenge is to set up international research networks and boost the number of IP applications, and so leverage prospects for future jobs growth.
In the life sciences, for example, Cardiff hosts the MRC’s Genomics Centre while GE Healthcare is driving forward cutting edge stem cell research to facilitate novel drug discoveries. Meanwhile, Cardiff’s School of Pharmacy has secured licences for drugs to treat shingles and Hepatitis C.
Just consider how GlaxoSmithKline set up collaborative initiatives between academia and start-ups, such as Ceedd and Scinovo, while AstraZeneca partners with Columbia University on new therapies for type 2 diabetes. The Welsh government’s vision is to build a strong economy, with science a key pillar in the architecture.
By building the capacity to compete on a global stage in these key science sectors, Welsh Labour’s forward looking, innovative policy may be laying the foundations for attracting big pharma across the Severn to partner start-ups to meet this grand global challenge.
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David Phillips is a former research scientist and is a member of Progress
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*Science for Wales: A strategic programme for science and innovation in Wales. Welsh Government (2012)
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