Science city plan needs brains

Jul 23 2007 by Andrew Mernin

ELECTRIC lighting, the steam engine and the UK’s first cloned human embryo - all products of the North-East’s science sector.

From Stephenson and his rocket to the mind-blowing genetic work taking place at Newcastle’s Centre for Life, the North-East has long been at the forefront of scientific endeavour.

As our £9bn science industry continues to grow, however, bosses are finding it increasingly tough to recruit locally as a huge impending skills gap looms overhead.

And, as businesses in the industry experience exponential growth, more and more jobs are being filled by people from outside the region. “Over the next eight years 16,000 new people are needed by chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the region,” says Stan Higgins, CEO of North-East process industry body, NEPIC.

“This is a global industry and so we have to recruit the best people from wherever they come from. There isn’t enough talent to satisfy the needs of the sector [here] so we’re recruiting people from the rest of the world.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a well-known champion of science, did give the region’s men in white suits some good news last month by vowing to put one pound in every 10 into education, science and innovation.

Although we are still waiting to see the specifics of Brown’s policy, history would suggest he is well attuned to the need to develop science as a major UK sector.

In his Budget speech for 2006 he said: “Every advanced industrial country knows that falling behind in science and mathematics means falling behind in commerce and prosperity.”

In his last Budget speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer in March this year, the current Prime Minister paid further lip service to the need for more investment into developing scientific and intellectual capital as well as physical.

Meanwhile his challenge made to Newcastle in 2004 to up its status as a science city has led to £55m being spent by One NorthEast and Newcastle University on developing the sector. But will Brown’s commitment to science be enough to fill the gap threatening an industry worth almost a third of our £30bn GDP?

According to Sarah Green, regional director of CBI North-East, Brown’s ‘one-pound-in-10’ policy is a good start, although a shake-up of the education system is needed.

“The Government has taken some positive steps to support science-based industries but, despite record investment, weaknesses remain in the schools system.

“Thousands of school pupils are being turned off science and potential scientists are being lost to other careers because of a stripped-down science curriculum, a lack of specialist teachers and uninspiring careers advice. For the North-East to reap the benefits of a knowledge-based economy, this has to be addressed.”

With his feet barely under the Downing Street desk, Brown also announced plans last month to move the office of science and innovation from the trade to the education and skills department.

For Mike Pitkethly, CEO of Newcastle-based Cenamps, a global centre for nanotechnology, micro and photonic systems, this will do little to aid the skills shortage as it fails to link science with related ‘marketable products’.

“It’s vitally important the development of technology from science has a strong industrial emphasis and there is a danger that moving the office of science could weaken the link between science and technology,” he says.

Since its inception in 2003, Cenamps – a not-for-profit company established by One NorthEast – has played a major role in developing the region’s rapidly emerging science sector. Specialising in bridging the gap between scientific and commercial innovation, the group has leveraged over £40m of funding from public and private sources into the regional economy, created 12 high-tech businesses and assisted over 130 high-tech businesses directly.

While Cenamps continues to aid the development of the North-East’s science and technology sectors however, it is at the education level where there is need for vast improvement if the skills gap is to be plugged. If the latest figures are to be believed, the education system has a long way to go before science and industry go hand in hand on the curriculum.

Research done by the Chemistry Industry Education Centre (CEIC) says that 85% of teachers have no industrial experience and are not confident in describing the chemical industry while only 10% of them refer to industry
as part of the science curriculum in the classroom.

Fortunately there are signs that things are beginning to change. While the uptake of science, technology, maths and engineering university courses has been in decline for the past 15 years, this year has seen an increase for the first time since the early 1990s. And there are an increasing number of initiatives aimed at getting children interested in science at an early age and eventually leading them into full-time employment in the region.

NEPIC and its members run several science education and industry familiarisation activities such as the Children Challenging Industry (CCI) and Primary Science Enhancement programmes.

With over 100 schools from across the region participating, CCI aims to change both misconceptions made by pupils and teachers about the science industry. And it seems that the programme really does make a difference. According to CEIC, six out of 10 children who had taken part in CCI lessons, followed by a site visit, remembered the project five years later. For older students, NEPIC also runs its Science Education Unit which engages with more than 50 secondary schools through a series of lectures, week-long activities and a mobile science laboratory.

The activities are supported by people from the industry to ensure the science the youngsters learn about is made relevant to their future careers. Among older pupils there is a certain degree of apathy towards science because many believe subjects like chemistry or physics will not lead to employment. Higgins says: “It’s important that people locally realise if they get the right qualifications there will always be jobs available.

“There’s been a myth around that [chemicals and pharmaceuticals] are declining industries due to things like the decline of ICI but nothing could be further from the truth.

March 2007 was the largest month in sales for the pharmaceutical industry on record. The problem is it’s a little bit like the air around us. We are everywhere in this community but no-one sees us.

“The industry has sales approaching £70bn and exports around £32bn and it is growing exponentially in the North-East. NEPIC, One NorthEast, Northumberland County Council and Tees Valley Regeneration are working on over 50 investment projects totaling over £50m.”

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The way ahead

ONE initiative that could play a major role in recruiting more locals into a career in science is the Newcastle Science City (NSC) development.

Headquartered at the former site of the Scottish and Newcastle Brewery, the project aims to increase the commercialisation of scientific and technological research in the North-East. As well as educating the public on a greater awareness of the benefits science can bring, it will also get involved in developing associated facilities elsewhere in the region. Newcastle is also one of six UK cities to have been awarded Science City status and is set to benefit from a multi-million pound fund to aid further growth in the science sector. The initiative could bring 20,000 jobs and 250 new science-driven business into the region.

Gillian Collinson, skills and higher education manager at One NorthEast, which has played a major role in the development of the project, says: “One of the key strands of NSC is public engagement and the development of links to education at every level. We are working with schools throughout the region to enhance the teaching of science, increasing participation in science and making it an attractive career choice for young people.

“Our aim is to drive up standards in participation and attainment in science in our schools, and we can only do this if it is seen as a realistic and exciting job option.”

Clearly there are a number of initiatives aimed at getting people interested in a career in science across the North-East but only time will tell whether their efforts will be enough to fill the many science opportunities with skilled local talent.

There’s no doubt the rapid transformation of the region from a centre for ship-building and mining into one for nanotechnology and life sciences has been nothing short of phenomenal in recent years. If the North-East is to truly reap the rewards of the industry, however, it is essential we maximise the good work which has been started in getting more skilled youngsters out of the classroom.

In figures:

58%: proportion of the UK’s petrochemicals industry based in the North-East.

16,000: number of new jobs in the science sector that need to be filled in the region by 2015.

250: number of science-driven businesses that Newcastle Science City aims to bring to the North-East.

£1 out of £10: amount that Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to invest in education, science and innovation.

15%: proportion of the region’s GDP made up by pharmaceutical and speciality businesses.