Towards Better Exploitation and
Economic Impact:
Developing the EPSRC Partnership with
the University
Vince Osgood
Associate Director, Economic Impact
EPSRC
EXPLOITATION AND ECONOMIC IMPACT
Towards Better Exploitation
• Context
• Vision and priority
• Delivering the vision
• Conclusions and way forward
• Issues for discussion
EPSRC Purpose
Context
• Support high quality basic, strategic and applied research, and
related postgraduate training
• Advance knowledge and technology to meet the needs of users and
beneficiaries
• Thereby contribute to the UK’s continued economic competitiveness
and quality of life
3
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Context
• Realising our Potential White Paper, 1993
• Lambert review, 2006 – business-university engagement
• DTI Innovation review, 2006
• Ten-Year Science & Innovation Investment Framework,
2004 – “output 2”: Better Exploitation
• Next Steps, 2006 – “step change” in exploitation
• Warry report, 2006 – increasing the economic impact of
the research councils
• Sainsbury review, 2007 – Race to the Top
Change of government focus from KT to economic
impact
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Current Position
• Starting from a strong KT base of activity, but not
complacent
 40% of research project portfolio collaborative with 2,000
organisations
 40% of research studentships on projects scoped by
business
 strategic partnerships with 30 organisations in 20 activities
•Strategic Plan, 2006 – partnerships are key
• KT & Economic Impact strategy, 2007 – published
after community consultation
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Vision
For the UK to be:
• The best place in the world in which to engage in
research and innovation
• Equally renown for knowledge transfer and
innovation as it is for research discovery…
while sustaining research excellence and quality
Excellence through impact – research & people
6
KT & ECONOMIC IMPACT STRATEGY
› Build on the changing
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environment in universities
Increase engagement with
research user stakeholders &
strengthen partnerships to
improve KT
Collaboration & co-investment
with TSB
Raise visibility of KT & economic
impact
Measure effectiveness of the
strategy
Shape RCUK KT & economic
impact strategy
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Delivery Plan Priority
• Knowledge transfer embedded in all 7 Delivery Plan
themes
• Activities includes research collaborative with business
& other user organisations, business led postgraduate
skills development, knowledge transfer & people flow
• £840M over three-year period – £500M through two
focused user-influenced programmes
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Delivery Plan, 2008-2011
Key objectives:
• Accelerate research exploitation through TSB & ETI
• Mission programmes form bridges with key
stakeholders to exploit research
• Increase targeted, user focused PhD training
• Enhance knowledge & people flow through partnerships
& funded initiatives
• Publicise opportunities for & successes in KT
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SUMMARY OF ECONOMIC IMPACT BASELINE
Delivering highly
skilled people into
the wider
economy
34% EPSRC-supported PhD students take up initial
employment in business and public services i.e. over
2,500 of our current students
1,700 PhD students are supported in collaborative
training partnerships involving 230 user
organisations
Delivering benefits to 159 licences and patents and 104 spinout companies
business through
have arisen from EPSRC research assessed over the
the exploitation of
last 2 years
excellent research Over 2,000 user organisations are currently collaborating
on EPSRC research grants
77% of users were satisfied with the research grant
partnership in which they had been involved
28 organisations engage with EPSRC through Strategic
Partnership agreements
Delivering benefits to
government and
public services
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Benefits include: better healthcare, improved transport,
flood control, crime prevention, anti-terrorism, and
10
combating climate change
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Key Strategies
• Increase business-focused skills development/
postgraduate training
• Accelerate the exploitation of research outputs to
enhance business pull and address societal grand
challenges
• Enhance opportunities for follow-on activities
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Increase business-focused skills
development/postgraduate training
Training more aligned to business requirements:
• Engineering doctorates – expand into other disciplines
• Knowledge Transfer Accounts – with signposting to
encourage KTPs, post doc secondments into
collaborating companies, strategic masters
• Industrial CASE directly to companies, KTNs,
RDAs/DAs
• Collaborating partner training using Doctoral Training
Accounts
• Entrepreneurship training
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Accelerate the exploitation of research outputs
Enhance business pull & address societal grand
challenges:
• Expansion of strategic partnerships, especially with
Technology Strategy Board, Energy Technologies
Institute
• Development of business engagement around
centres of excellence – Innovation & Knowledge
Centres; Innovative Manufacturing Research Centres
• Collaborative research projects supported in the
responsive mode
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Enhance opportunities for follow-on
activities
Promote opportunities to commercialise research
outputs from EPSRC supported research:
• Business Plan Competition
• Work with Regional Development Agencies/Devolved
Administrations and venture capital companies
• Follow-on Fund
• Industrial Fellowships – with Royal Society
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Success Features
• Demonstrate economic impact – a challenge
• Need help of business (IP exploiters) and
universities (IP generators) – partnerships are key
• Case studies of success stories – improve flow of
impact evidence and good news stories to EPSRC –
Connecting with Business
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Conclusions and the Way Forward
16
•
EPSRC’s relationship with the University is crucial if
together we are to deliver knowledge transfer and
economic and societal benefit to the UK.
•
How can we work more effectively together to make the
partnership work?
•
Draw up an action plan to strengthen the partnership
TOWARDS BETTER EXPLOITATION
Issues for Discussion
17
•
Recognising the University’s strengths in KT & how
EPSRC can help the University to build on these
•
Sharing information on KT successes, significant
business relationships, key performance indicators &
other evidence of impact from EPSRC investments
•
Developing best practices in building business
collaborations, reducing KT barriers & negotiating
effective intellectual property agreements