HEPI Conference, December 2 nd 2010 Competition V Collaboration : What Does the Future Hold? Professor David Greenaway University of Nottingham
Coverage 1.Changing Patterns of Competition 2.Drivers of Collaboration 3.Geography of Collaboration 4.The Future for Collaboration 5.A Case Study : Collaboration and Nottingham
Changing Patterns of Competition
Who competes? – Individual researchers – Disciplinary clusters – Higher education institutions – Nations
What Are We Competing Over? Funding (Research Councils, RAE / REF, EU……) Research resources (PhD students, key labs…..) Impact (citations, innovation, transformation….) Prestige (RAE, League Tables, Prizes……) Success (we just like winning!)
How is the Competitive Landscape Changing? Increased pressures on available resources Changing expectations of funding agenciesTo be competitive, need overlapping geographies Higher education becoming more globalised Geography of global competition changing – Old competitors opening up (eg US) – New competitors emerging (eg China and India)
Collaboration
Drivers of Collaboration Individual – Gains from trade (pooling, access, citations…) – Funding agency priorities (multidisciplinary research focus, geography….) Disciplinary – Critical mass / survival (scale, depth….) – Delivery (access to essential inputs, adding value) Institutional – Market access (diversification, penetration…..) – Visibility (brand development, league tables….) National – Spillovers (learning by collaborating, innovation and growth) – Prestige (league tables)
Geography of Collaboration Local Regional National International – Diffusion of knowledge does not respect boundaries
Collaboration Will Increase Grand Challenges are global (food security, energy technologies, public health…….) Growing linkage of research and innovation Strategic partnerships with Research Councils Falling trade costs Globalisation of higher education Increased business to business engagement Globalisation of business to business engagement Income diversification
Index, Trade Costs
HE Students Studying Overseas
Imports and Exports of International Students
Global Trends in Research Collaboration CountryGrowth in Collaborative Research Outputs (% increase) China214 India186 Australia162 Japan155 United Kingdom154 Germany153 United States148 France146 Canada142
More Collaboration Will Help Drive Success Individual (citations, impact, funding) Disciplinary (competitiveness, critical mass, spillovers) Institutional (competitiveness, leverage, survival) National (knowledge based economy, inovation, competitiveness)
A Case Study Collaboration and the University of Nottingham
Collaboration at Nottingham Well embedded in institutional DNA Collaborations at all levels (individual, disciplinary, institutional) Partnerships with: other Universities; Research Councils; SMEs; global businesses; public sector bodies Death of distance means collaborations are local and global
Local Collaborations Education – Biocity – Nottingham University Samworth Academy Business – Boots – Network of SMEs Public Services – Nottingham University Hospitals Trust
Regional / National Collaborations Higher Education – Midlands Physics Alliance (+ Birmingham and Warwick) – Midlands Energy Consortium and MEGS (+ Birmingham and Loughborough) – Manufacturing Technology Centre (+ Birmingham and Loughborough) Research Councils – BBSRC (Strategic Partnership) – EPSRC (Framework Agreement)
Regional / National Collaborations Business – Rolls Royce (UTCs + MTC) – Eon (MEC) – BGS (National Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage) – GSK (Carbon Neutral Laboratories)
International Collaborations innumerable individual, School and University collaborations Universitas 21 network International Campuses – University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus – University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Nottingham Malaysia
University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus Research and Knowledge Transfer Opportunities – Addressing national / regional priorities (engineering, pharmaceutical sciences) – Leveraging global priorities (Crops for the Future) – Diversification of research funding (EU, MOSTI) – Building new collaborations (University, business, public sector)
Nottingham China
University of Nottingham Ningbo China Research and Knowledge Transfer Opportunities: – Addressing local / national priorities (manufacturing, business and finance) – Leveraging for global priorities (sustainable energy technologies) – Diversification of research funding (MOST, Sustainable Manufacturing Key Labs) – Building new collaborations (University, business, public sector)
Conclusions Competition and collaboration are not mutually exclusive Collaboration has the potential to add real value With increased links between research and innovation and increased globalisation, potential for collaboration grows Enormous potential globally