Skills for Impact

Dr Simon CutlerBusiness & Innovation Unit

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

KT Scotland: Policy & Practice (3 April 2009)

BBSRC at a glanceBBSRC at a glance

MISSION• Fund first-class bioscience research

• Train scientists

• Support innovation and maximise economic impact

• Engage with public

STAKEHOLDERS• INDUSTRY: agriculture, food,

chemical, health, pharma

• PUBLIC: dialogue and consultation

• GOVERNMENT e.g DEFRA, FSA, RCUK

• SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

Why? Quality of Lifeand UK plc

BBSRC allocates over £420M p.a. from DIUS

Regional distribution of grantsRegional distribution of grants

Regional distribution of grants live on 1 April 2008 by number and value (excluding Institutes) (Total value £700M; 1840 grants)

bioenergy

environmental biotechnology

evolutionary biology

population biologygenome analysis

applied plant science

soil sciencebasic plant science

agricultural systems

basic microbiology

environmental change

applied microbiology

crop science

ageing

immunology

drug deliverytissue engineering

synthetic biology

3Rs

bioinformatics

animal welfare

animal physiology

animal disease

behaviour

diet & health

food borne pathogens

developmental biology

neuroscience

molecular biology

biochemistry

metabolic engineering

enzymology/biocatalysis

structural biology

chemical biology

cell cycle

recombination

gene action & regulation

cell biology

mathematical tools

for biology

bioprocessing

biotechnologyfood technology

bionanotechnology biomaterials

bioinformatic toolsbioimaging

methods development

technologydevelopment

biophysics

biological chemistry

genetics/genomics

systemsbiology

Stem Cells

CD

A B

Animal Systems, Health & Wellbeing

Plants, Microbes, Food & Sustainability

Technological & Methodological Development

Molecules, Cells & Industrial Biotechnology

Changes: four new committeesChanges: four new committees

Research, Innovation and Skills DirectorateResearch, Innovation and Skills Directorate

Janet Allen Celia Caulcott

Alf Game

Research Strategy Research, Innovationand Skills Delivery

Innovation and SkillsStrategy

PersonalAssistants

ProjectSupport

Changes: internal structureChanges: internal structure

excellence with impact

No escaping the new mantraNo escaping the new mantra……

Range of impactsRange of impacts

BBSRC Delivery Plan 2008BBSRC Delivery Plan 2008--1111Delivering Excellence with ImpactDelivering Excellence with Impact

• “Skills and Training” positioned under Economic Impact

• Warry Report: “…the output of highly educated people rather than research results is widely regarded as the most effective knowledge transfer mechanism.”

RCUK Expectations for Societal and RCUK Expectations for Societal and Economic Impact Economic Impact (18 Aug 2008)(18 Aug 2008)

"ensure that research staff and students develop research, vocational and entrepreneurial skills that are matched to the demands of their future career paths"

Skilled PeopleSkilled People

Collaborative Research

Collaborative Training

People &Information Exchange

Commercialisation& Development

BBSRC innovation activitiesBBSRC innovation activities

• delivers entrepreneurial awareness trainingto ~400 researchers p.a.

• challenge: to prepare plans, with help from expert mentors, for an imaginary start-up seeking equity investment

• in 14th year and jointly organised by BBSRC/UNIEI (+MRC, NERC, RDAs, Industry)

• regional workshops for teams of 5 postgrads/postdocs

• experiential learning in competition format

www.biotechnologyYES.co.uk

Next Closing Date: 17 June 2009

2008 YES Winners“Food for thought”

Exceptional entrepreneurial skills win Omega-3 team best young entrepreneur title

Ovega(University of Reading)a revolutionary new product which aims to produce vegetarian Omega-3 oil from food industry waste

Entrepreneurial qualities?Entrepreneurial qualities?

team worker vs leader?CONFLICT RESOLVERinspirational communicator

copes with sleep deprivation!visionarypersuasiveimaginativedecisivedrivencommittedable to see the big picturerisk takerthrives after failureunemployable?

Can these skills be developed through schemes such as YES?

Is an entrepreneur born or bred?

• reimbursed for 12 months Fellow’s salary to enable development of a commercial proposition or product (60% time)

• up to £6k support costs, plus T&S

• business training, delivered by University of Strathclyde (40% time)

• access to an academic mentor and industrial supervisor

• administered by The Royal Society of Edinburgh

• expect 5 Fellowships to be awarded per annum, with two closing dates in Mar/Oct, Fellowship to begin Oct/Apr

Next Closing Date: 19 May 2009

Enabling industry researchers to transfer their skills and experience into academia

• funding for highly-skilled research and technology leaders to take on a significant ‘science programme manager’ role

• manage innovation and business development, acting as liaison with industry partners or overseeing development of commercial potential of research

• applicants should have a PhD and 5 years of Industry experience and work for, or have recently worked for, a commercial organisation

• Fellowship provides two years salary with no fixed starting point

Next Closing Date: uncertain?

• Awards recognise commitment by BBSRC-supported scientists to ensuring economic and/or social impact is captured from their research - cash prizes

• 20 Excellence with Impact applications – assessed and awarded 2011 (3 from Scotland)

• 22 Innovator of the Year applications (1 Scot) – 6 shortlisted

• Awards dinner held on 24 March 2009

• Phil Willis MP, Chair of the IUSS committee presented at the awards, hosted by Alvin Hall, “Financial Commentator”

Incentives to reward impactIncentives to reward impact

Next IoY Closing Date: December 2009

Incentives to reward impactIncentives to reward impact

Prof Steven Jackson(Cambridge)

• open to all BBSRC-funded PhD students in the final two years of their degree

• work with a wide range of groups to produce a briefing note on a policy area of interest to student and Parliamentarians

• Fellowship provides a fully-funded three month extension to the studentship

A three month secondment to POST to gain experience of policy work

Parliamentary FellowshipsParliamentary Fellowships

Next Closing Date: October 2009

• Ellen Colebrook, JIC“I am working with the Innovation Universities, Science and Skills (IUSS) Select Committee…involved in: writing briefings; launching the committee’s latest report; putting together information on possible future inquiries; and working on upcoming pre-appointment hearings for potential Research Council Chairmen (including BBSRC’s!). Working with the Committee is giving me an invaluable insight into how science policy is made and scrutinised, the workings of parliament and Government, and how scientists can best engagewith this process”

• Rachel Joynes, RVC“Nutritional Standards in Schools, focusing on new introduced objectives to promote healthy eating practices within English schools. The project will analyze whether school food provisionsincluding breakfast clubs, school lunches, packed lunches, tuck shops and vending machines meet key nutrient-based standards. Furthermore, I hope to examine the measures that could be taken to improve the diets of children alongside the implementation and monitoring of food standards.”