Science Research Funding in Universities (Science and Technology Committee Report)

Baroness Morgan of Huyton Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2020 Grand Committee

[Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to take part in this debate, so comprehensively introduced by the noble Lord, Lord Patel, the committee’s excellent chairman. It was my real pleasure to serve a full term as a member of the committee; it was always stimulating and enjoyable. I was a member for this report. I draw attention to my entries in the register, specifically as chairman of Royal Brompton and Harefield Trust and master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge—I was previously at King’s College.

Of course, this report was written in a previous world, pre Covid, but the pandemic has served only to emphasise the vital importance of the UK’s science base and the main things that we highlighted in our report. It might be useful to look briefly at some of the themes partly from a Cambridge perspective, because sometimes tangible examples can help—others, frankly, probably know more about Cambridge than I do yet, and of course there are other fantastic examples around the country.

First, on impact, I will start with Covid. Cambridge is conducting hundreds of research-intensive projects. Specifically, there are 41 projects on Covid R&D, 36 on therapeutics, 16 on the effect on mental health, 15 on social behaviour during Covid, 15 on diagnostics, 14 on NHS demand, capacity and health, 11 on PPE and front-line facilities, 10 on Covid modelling and, crucially, 25 on post-Covid recovery, including 10 based on the economy. So they go much wider than just a narrow view of science.

There has also been a partnership with AstraZeneca on testing. Today, the university announced that it will be able to offer weekly Covid-19 testing for all students in college accommodation, to give confidence to them and to Cambridge more widely, as recommended by SAGE. One hopes that work will help in working out whether this is effective more widely across the HE sector.

Secondly, on place, we all know that we must enhance the role of universities in city and regional economies. Obviously, that has to fit with the Government’s industrial strategy—I confess that I am not completely clear where that is now up to, but it would be good to hear from the Minister how they fit together. Practically, it seems to me that universities have to provide cultural networks and professional expertise, financial support and market expertise to help nurture IP into commercially viable products, recognising however that there is still a capital gap, which the noble Baroness, Lady Young, talked about. We also need hard infrastructure and innovation districts, and, crucially, a resource and recruitment pool of highly-skilled students—that is fundamental.

Thirdly, innovation—a sort of magic dust—is very important in Cambridge, as it is everywhere else. Great universities need to attract and retain great people. In the Cambridge cluster, for example, 61,000 people are employed by more than 5,000 knowledge-intensive firms, with a total turnover of £15.5 billion. New initiatives and long-lasting initiatives both contribute to keeping great people. I cite the Whittle Laboratory, which has long done work with aviation and power, and, much more recently, Cambridge Zero, a new interdisciplinary climate change research project.

However, none of this research, impact and innovation is inevitable; it needs constant and consistent support from government, business and society. It is not a tap that can be turned on and off. Competition is global and fast-moving, and we need confidence for the future. Obviously, the spending review will be crucial. We have to maintain a focus on the funding of research and innovation, and broader investment in R&D. We need to maintain central funding and innovation funding—the whole, broad ecosystem. We need to strengthen existing partnerships and forge new ones around the world, and to be ambitious and global in our reach. Crucially, we have to invest in people, domestic and international; in STEM and STEAM at school; in post-16 high-quality pathways, teachers and technicians; and in high-quality HE courses. We have to be open and eager for international talent. We have to deal with the issues around visa and health costs, and consistently we have to mean what we say—and that means being joined up across government.