Reality check: alongside uncertainty comes opportunity

Investing in UK science may be cheaper after Brexit but the true cost to innovation system remains to be seen, says Holly Else

Published on

February 9, 2017

Last updated

February 16, 2017

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Working with businesses is one of the cornerstones of university activity. Across the country, there are clusters of specific industry excellence that bring together high-tech firms and academic expertise.

The South West of England is a major hub for the aerospace industry and involves the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth, for example, meanwhile the Midlands excels in advanced manufacturing with the help of the universities of Warwick, Birmingham and Aston.

In these clusters, many high-tech businesses work in close collaboration with universities to give them a leading edge. Local 鈥淐atapult centres鈥� also help to bring new ideas to market with the help of academics.

The departure of any major corporations from these clusters could not only result in job losses and a fall in business research and development spending, but there could be knock-on effects for suppliers, many of whom also work closely with universities, and the innovation system overall.

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But it is not all gloom and doom. Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant,听announced last week that it was investing 拢115 million in a new research centre at the University of Oxford despite the prospect of Brexit.

Rebecca Lumsden, head of science policy at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said that this was not a surprise because the university has leveraged a lot of funding to build significant expertise in areas important to the company.

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In fact, Oxford is in the top three when looking at industry income per academic across all disciplines (see table).

听	Research grants and contracts income from industry, commerce and public corporations (拢 per academic) 2013-14
Cranfield University	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 41,032
Imperial College London	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 34,251
University of Oxford	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 29,232
University of Cambridge	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 17,702
University of Strathclyde	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 14,179
University of Manchester	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 12,757
University of Sheffield	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 12,381
University of Aberdeen	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 12,179
University of Dundee	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 11,557
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine	听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 10,760

Source: Hesa. Institutions with fewer than 200 FTE academic staff excluded.

The reason many global companies chose to invest in the UK is the strength of the research base. The government must be careful not to undermine this by starving it of funding in the wake of Brexit, especially if academics are to lose access to European research funding.

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But alongside uncertainty comes opportunity and, as one commentator pointed out after the Novo Nordisk announcement, Brexit has made because of the falling pound.

holly.else@tesglobal.com