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时间：2023-10-07 12:57:58 下载该word文档
ArecurringcriticismoftheUK'suniversitysectorisitsperceivedweaknessintranslatingnewknowledgeintonewproductsandservices.
Recently,theUKNationalStemCellNetworkwarnedtheUKcouldloseitsplaceamongtheworldleadersinstemcellresearchunlessadequatefundingandlegislationcouldbeassured,despiteanannual£40mspendbytheDepartmentofHealthonallkindsofresearch.
Weshouldtakethisconcernseriouslyasuniversitiesarekeyinthenationalinnovationsystemand,inthefaceofthecurrenteconomicturmoil,oneofthefew'getoutofjail'cardsstillheldbythenation.
However,wedohavetochallengetheunthinkingcomplaintthatthesectordoesnotdoenoughintakingideastomarket.ThemostrecentcomparativedataontheperformanceofuniversitiesandresearchinstitutionsinAustralia,Canada,USAandUKshowsthat,fromarelativelyweakstartingposition,theUKnowleadsonmanyindicatorsofcommercialisationactivity.
OurweaknessesshowupintheratesofUSpatentingandlicenseincomearisingfromourefforts,butthesehaveimprovedandthereisnoreasontobelievethatthistrendwillnotbecontinued.
Whenviewedatthenationallevel,thepolicyinterventionsofthepastdecade,suchasthesharpincreaseinresearchfunding,theevolutionoftheHigherEducationInnovationFundandthecontinuationoftheResearchAssessmentExercisehavehelpedtransformtheperformanceofUKuniversities.TheevidencesuggeststheUK'spositionismuchstrongerthanintherecentpastandisstillshowingimprovement.
Nowforthehealthwarning.Nationaldatamaskstheverylargevariationintheperformanceofindividualuniversities.Theevidenceshowsthatalargenumberofuniversitieshavefallenoffthebackofthepack,afewperformstronglyandtherestchasetheleaders.
ThistypeofskeweddistributionisnotpeculiartotheUKandismirroredacrossothereconomies.IntheUK,researchisconcentrated:lessthan25%ofuniversitiesareinreceiptof75%oftheresearchfunding.ThesesameuniversitiesarealsotheinstitutionsproducingthegreatestshareofPhDgraduates,sciencecitations,patentsandlicenseincome.Theeffectofpoliciesgeneratinglong-termresourceconcentrationhasalsocreatedadistinctivesetofuniversitieswhichareresearch-ledandcommerciallyactive.
Aspartofthedebateonthefutureofhighereducation,JohnDenham,theinnovation,universitiesandskillssecretary,challengedauthorstotakea10-15yearoutlookonthedirectionofthesector.
Myreport,IntellectualPropertyandResearchBenefits,highlightstheinterrelationshipswhichhaveevolvedaroundresearchfunding,graduateschoolsandtheeffectivecreation,managementandexploitationofintellectualproperty.Itseemsclearthattheconcentrationofresearchandcommercialisationworkcreatesdifferencesbetweenuniversities.
Aconsequenceofmorethantwodecadesofpolicyrecognisingandrewardingresearchexcellenceisfurtherdifferentiationinthesector.Atthesametime,weneedtoincreasethenumberofPhDstudentsacrossabroadrangeofdisciplines.ThiswillgenerateanopportunitytodevelopthegraduateschoolsatthoseuniversitieswithhighernumbersofPhDregistrations,toinvestinmorescholarshipsandtoexpandthetrainingopportunitiesforPhDstudentsbypromotingcourseslinkedtocommercialisationskillsandbusinessdevelopmentpractices.
Thecoreobjectiveforuniversitieswhichareresearch-ledmustbetomaximizetheimpactoftheirresearchefforts.Theirpurposeisnottogeneratefundstoaddtothebottomlineoftheuniversityortosubstituteotherincomestreams.Rather,theseuniversitiesshouldbegeneratingthewidestrangeofsocial,economicandenvironmentalbenefits.Inreturnforthescaleofinvestment,theyshouldsharetheirexpertiseinordertobuildgreaterconfidenceinthesector.
PartoftheeconomicrecoveryoftheUKwillbedrivenbythenextgenerationofresearchcommercialisationspillingoutofouruniversities.Ontheevidencepresentedinmyreport,therearethreedozenuniversitiesintheUKwhichareactivelyengagedinadvancedresearchtrainingandcommercialisationwork.