1. ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL
EPSRC Strategy and Priorities for our next Delivery Plan CPHC Conference 27 April 2015
ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL

2. What I am going to talk about
What we are facing
EPSRC bid
ICT Theme
Looking ahead

3. What is about to happen? UK General Election on 7 May
(Comprehensive) Spending Review
Settlement for science
Settlement for each Research Council
Next EPSRC Delivery Plan

4. The next 12 months? Assuming a workable government…
Nov 2014
Jan 2015
May 2015
Sep 2015
Dec 2015
Autumn
Statement
Election
Spending review
announced
Budget SR
results
Science budget
allocations
Government
EPSRC
Strategic
Plan
published
Stakeholder engagement on plans and priorities
Spending review bidding process
allocation
Delivery Plan published March 2016
…and that it isn’t an accelerated timetable

5. Some context….

6. Performance of the UK research base
UK punches above its weight
0.9% of global population
3.2% of R&D expenditure
4.1% of researchers
15.9% of most highly-cited articles
Source: International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base – 2013, Elsevier.

7. Research investment: 2000 - 2011
Source: DG Research and Innovation – Economic Analysis Unit

8. OFFICIAL - SENSITIVE

9. Government priorities for science and innovation
Eight Great Technologies
Advanced materials
Agri-science
Big data
Energy storage
Regenerative medicine
Robotics and autonomous systems
Satellites and space
Synthetic biology
Key industrial sectors
Aerospace
Automotive
Construction
Education
Information Economy
Life Sciences
Nuclear
Offshore Wind
Oil and Gas
Professional and Business Services

10. EPSRC strategy and priorities

11. About EPSRC

12. Extra Capital EPSRC has received
Further capital investment under discussion

13. One vision…… Two goals….. Three strategies…..
Our vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world to research, discover and innovate
Two goals…..
RESEARCH and DISCOVER
RESEARCH and INNOVATE
Three strategies…..
Balancing capability
Building leadership
Accelerating impact

14. 9,000 115 Building Leadership DOCTORAL STUDENTS SUPPORTED
CENTRES FOR DOCTORAL TRAINING

15. Accelerating Impact

16. 115 Research areas Balancing Capability
For EPS subjects, the UK is 2nd in the world
in terms of the proportion of the top highly cited publications
115 Research areas
Challenge
Capability

17. Our single message Strong economies are science economies.
They invest in research, discovery and innovation.
Strong economies are built on the growth and productivity driven by the engineering and physical sciences
EPSRC is the most effective means of delivering a world leading, innovative research base that can build a strong UK economy

18. EPS underpins growth and productivity
Engineering is pervasive and highly dynamic, with engineering research underpinning almost every economic sector and contributing an estimated £280 billion in GVA to the UK economy in 2011 Physics-based businesses account for more than one million jobs in the UK and contribute £77 billion to the UK economy directly The UK’s ‘upstream’ chemicals industry and downstream’ chemistry-using sectors contributed a combined total of £258 billion in value-added in 2007, equivalent to 21% of UK GDP, and supported over 6 million UK jobs Maths research alone underpinned a contribution of over £200 billion to the UK economy in 2010
Sources:
Assessing the economic returns of engineering research and postgraduate training in the UK (Technoloplis 2015)
Importance of Physics to the UK economy (IoP, 2012)
The economic benefits of chemistry research to the UK (EPSRC, RSC, with Oxford Econmics 2010)
Mathematical sciences – leading the way to economic growth (EPSRC and CMS with Deloittes, 2014)

19. ICT Theme strategy and priorities

20. What we are and have been doing
Our governing body, EPSRC Council, asked us to start doing some thinking in preparation for the spending review
They gave us a framework to do our thinking against
We were asked to engage with Strategic Advisory Teams initially
Following this, we have been engaging more widely, through workshops, visits and other meetings
So at this stage, we have our current thinking, which we are sharing, to discuss and get the research communities’ impressions of
EPSRC Council set out several things we need to ensure we achieve.
That it should fit with the Strategic Plan
It should encourage multidisciplinary working
Our working with InnovateUK (Technology Strategy Board) and the Catapults should be enhanced
People should be protected
An appropriate balance between different mechanisms should be (research training, fellowships, research grants)
Ensuring long term capability for the Theme
Arguments for getting more or preventing less funding and thinking on how to respond to changes in funding profile

21. Current thinking for next Delivery Plan
Main priorities for the ICT Theme
Ensuring the ICT academic research ecosystem in the UK is healthy, works effectively, and has impact
Ensuring it is at the heart of UK efforts to contribute to a world leading capability in key strategic areas
Ensuring the ICT academic research landscape adapts to scientific progress in fundamental areas and technological developments arising from other disciplines and in practice
Ensuring the ICT Theme makes a positive contribution to the health of other disciplines and Themes
This is where we have got to in our thinking, haven taken the advice of the ICT Strategic Advisory Team, on what the priorities should be for the ICT Theme in the next Delivery Plan.
Ensuring the ICT academic research ecosystem in the UK is healthy, works effectively, and has impact. Which means making sure we have a portfolio which includes fundamental, basic, underpinning, and applied research, hardware and software research, and spans computer science, communications, electronics, to photonics… That there is communication and collaboration between researchers from different parts of this portfolio, and connection with users of research so that there is a satisfactory link to practice.
Ensuring it is at the heart of UK efforts to contribute to a world leading capability in key strategic areas. These are give on the next slide.
Ensuring the ICT academic research landscape adapts to scientific progress in fundamental areas and technological developments arising from other disciplines and in practice. For example, the development of areas of ICT research through the application of new mathematics, findings from the experiences of the Digital Economy Theme and thinking around responsible research and innovation.
Ensuring the ICT Theme makes a positive contribution to the health of other disciplines and Themes. This would include the involvement of ICT researchers in the efforts of the Quantum Technologies Theme and Healthcare Themes, and the Advanced Materials initiative, as this is essential in order to achieve real progress in these areas.

22. Key strategic areas
Ensuring the ICT Theme is at the heart of UK efforts to contribute to a world leading capability in key strategic areas
Big Data Analytics - where the contribution of ICT researchers is integral to the development of capability and capacity
Future Intelligent Technologies – including robotics and autonomous systems, where the smart element of these is critical to their effectiveness
The Internet of Things - which builds on strength across a range of ICT research areas
Human-like Computing - offering the prospect of computation which is akin to that of humans, where learning and making sense of information about the world around us can match our human performance
Safe and Secure ICT – ensuring the reliable and responsible development of ICT, including cyber-security
The focus on these five strategic areas, which have arisen from consideration of both how the landscape is developing, government priorities, and opportunities and challenges these areas present, is to ensure ICT research is at the heart of UK efforts to contribute to a world leading capability in these strategic areas (which are dependant on significant improvements in both hardware and software and draw on the whole ICT landscape, from computer science, communications, human interactions, electronics, to photonics), and will give the UK competitive advantage.
Alongside ensuring a healthy and appropriately balanced portfolio which includes fundamental, basic, underpinning, and applied research, hardware and software research, and spans computer science, communications, electronics, to photonics, we think that it is important to ensure the ICT research in the UK makes a strong contribution to these areas.

23. How might we do this?
Depends on what sort of settlement we get, but…

24. How might we do this? With more funding
Collaborative research programmes involving researchers from across the ICT landscape
Fellowships and strategic packages to increase capacity and capability
Invest in infrastructure and translational activities
Extend coverage of CDTs
With less funding
Develop and focus on priorities in strategic areas
Keep space for research that will lead to new areas
Protect support for people, for example student funding, fellowships, etc.
Focused efforts on translation and encourage CASE conversion
This slide notes some ideas for how we might address the suggested priorities and strategic areas given in the previous slides.

25. What next?

26. Engagement and more thinking
Discussing this with the research and user communities
ICT SAT
Theme visits to universities
ICT workshops
Feedback from networks, societies etc.
Regional workshops Autumn/Winter 2015
Preparing for various scenarios on 8 May
Preparing for various funding scenarios
Working out what this might mean in terms of funding priorities and shaping the portfolio – this work still has to be done
Note, thinking we have done so far has been shared with EPSRC Council, and they are broadly supportive, but they stressed the need to consider interfaces and engage with the research and user communities on this.
We have not finalised what the positions on the various research areas might be or successors to the current set of cross-ICT priorities.

27. Vision, Hearing & Other Senses
Theory of Computation
Maths of Computing
Optical Devices and Subsystems
Artificial Intelligence
Microelectronics Design
Optical Communications
CMOS Device Technology
Non-CMOS Device Technology
Architectures and Operation Systems
Information Systems
ICT Networks and Distributed Systems
Optoelectronic Devices and Circuits
HCI
Software Engineering
Verification & Correctness
Image and Vision Computing
Natural Language Processing
Speech Technology
Music & Acoustic Technology
Biological informatics
Graphics & Visualisation
Databases
Programming Languages & Compilers
Displays
RF & Microwave Devices
RF & Microwave Communications
Digital Signal Processing
Human Communication in ICT
Vision, Hearing & Other Senses
Theory of Computation
Maths of Computing
Optical Devices and Subsystems
Artificial Intelligence
Microelectronics Design
Optical Communications
CMOS Device Technology
Non-CMOS Device Technology
Architectures and Operating Systems
Information Systems
ICT Networks and Distributed Systems
Optoelectronic Devices and Circuits
HCI
Software Engineering
Verification & Correctness
Image and Vision Computing
Human Communication in ICT
Natural Language Processing
Speech Technology
Music & Acoustic Technology
Biological informatics
Graphics & Visualisation
Databases
Programming Languages & Compilers
Displays
RF & Microwave Devices
RF & Microwave Communications
Digital Signal Processing
So one might consider how this view of the portfolio should look given the four priorities and four strategic areas described earlier.
Pervasive &
Ubiquitous
Computing

28. AND
Getting the funding settlement we think we should get

29. Which means Demonstrating the benefit to the UK that:
Has been delivered from research and research training that HAS been funded
Will, and is being, delivered from research and research training being funded NOW
Will arise from research and research training that we will fund in the FUTURE

30. Thank you for listening!
Dr Liam Blackwell
ICT Theme Leader
Tel: