VC open forum - research Jon Nicholl ScHARR

What are we trying to achieve? Eg reputation, income, knowledge, impact, better teaching Probably all of these and others, but are they all equally important?

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point however is to change it.”

Improving on Marx The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point however is to change it. improve it

Improving on Marx The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point however is to change it. improve it Rerum cognoscere causas et effecti

The impact agenda Included in REF, and will be included next time Required by funders Liked by governments We know it can work at many levels (knowledge, income, reputation, etc) – AMRC Fits with TUoS history and ethos

What is research going to look like? successful

What is research going to look like? successful

Increased collaboration is essential Difficult questions, big problems, grand challenges require research by large collaborations N8, NHSA, WR, SPHR,... Is this just STEMM, or is this true in the Social Sciences as well? Eg Big data

Collaborations or Partnerships? In WR we have Arguably the strongest group of Health Economists in the world Public health research to rival UCL (2 nd in UK and top 10 in the world) Collectively the most successful CTUs in the UK, better than Oxford The best and largest group of Health Services Researchers in the UK and possibly the world

Collaborations or Partnerships? In WR we have Arguably the strongest group of Health Economists in the world Public health research to rival UCL (2 nd in UK and top 10 in the world) Collectively the most successful CTUs in the UK, better than Oxford The best and largest group of Health Services Researchers in the UK and possibly the world Should we have made a joint submission to REF?

Areas to focus on? The need to focus on selected areas of excellence is an old, well-worn idea Our strategy should be much more invigorating, – If a focus is needed it should be on originality, innovation, potential, imagination, etc A key to securing our research future is to enable new areas to emerge

Achieving impact - translation Crick will be full of nematodes, fruit flies, and zebra fish – but probably not patients. Or at least only their genomes, proteomes, and phenomes Impact is achieved through translating basic research into innovations, evaluating their effects, and implementing the ones that work

Future research – achieving impact through translation Need to bring multi- disciplinary teams together across the whole translational pathway We need to decide not just what areas to focus on, but where in the chain

What’s the future of research funding? STEMMNon-STEMM UK GovtXXXX RCUKXXX CharitiesM Other -- Industry ? EU-? World – NIH, WHO, etc-?

Summary Focus on impact, supporting research across the whole translational pathway Develop collaborations and partnerships Don’t use a top down approach. Let areas emerge Thank you