UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT
SPAIN
Making investment go further
Investment in R&D has suffered in Spain from the
impact of the economic crisis. Fiscal constraints caused a cut in
public R&D expenditure from 2011 onwards and business R&D
expenditure began declining as early as 2008.
To minimize the impact of this financial drought, the government
has taken a number of steps to improve the effectiveness of
investment in R&D. The Law for Science, Technology and Innovation
adopted in 2011 simplifies the allocation of competitive funding
for research and innovation. The rationale behind this scheme is
that legal reform will encourage foreign researchers to move to
Spain and stimulate the mobility of researchers between the public
and private sectors. The Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and
Innovation and the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research
and Innovation, adopted in 2013, follow a similar rationale.
New policies are being designed to facilitate technology
transfer from the public to the private sector to promote
business R&D. In 2013, several programmes were launched
to provide risk and equity funding for innovative firms, one
example being the European Angels Fund (Fondo Isabel La
Católica) providing equity funding to business angels.
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT
BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
Innovation a priority investment
The UK is known for having a strong science base,
a rich supply of high-level skilled professionals and for being a
pole of attraction for globally mobile talents. The business world
is adept at creating intangible assets and the county counts a
large services sector, including financial services.
Policies focus on strengthening the UK’s ability to innovate
and commercialize new technologies. In 2013, investment
in research and innovation joined the list of priority areas for
investment detailed in the National Infrastructure Plan.
Regional development agencies were dissolved in 2012, after
the government decided that all programmes and funding for
research and innovation should be co-ordinated henceforth
at the national level. It is the ministerial Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills which manages science and
innovation policies at the national level, sponsoring the seven
UK research councils, the Higher Education Funding Council
(HEFCE) and the Technology Strategy Board.
Research funding can either be competitive and project-based
for researchers from universities and public research institutes,
through the country’s research councils, or it can be disbursed
through the HEFCE for England and its counterparts in
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. HEFCE provides annual
grants for research, knowledge transfer and infrastructure
development. These annual grants are conditional on the
institution’s research being of a minimum quality. HEFCE does
not stipulate how the grant for research should be used by
each institution.
The Technology Strategy Board is responsible for funding
business innovation and technological development and for
a range of programmes targeting innovation, such as the use
of tax credits to fund business R&D. SMEs are entitled to a
deduction of 125% in corporate tax for qualifying expenditure
and large companies to 30% deduction. In 2013, a Patent Box
scheme was launched which offers a reduced rate of tax to
profits from patents.
A pole of attraction for students
The UK has generally been an attractive destination for
students and researchers. As of 2013, it not only hosted the
largest number of ERC grantees of any EU country but also
the largest number of non-nationals conducting ERC-funded
research (Figure 9.7). Exports of education services were
worth an estimated £ 17 billion in 2013, representing a key
source of funding for the UK’s university system. This system
has come under pressure in recent years. In an effort to reduce
the public deficit, the coalition government tripled student
fees in 2012 to about £ 9 000 per year. To sweeten the pill, it
introduced student loans but there is some concern that part
Box 9.4: The Ogden Trust: philanthropy fostering physics in the UK
The Ogden Trust was set up in 1999
by Sir Peter Ogden with £ 22.5 million
of his personal wealth. The Trust
originally provided high-achievers
from state schools with scholarships
and bursaries to attend leading private
schools. In 2003, it broadened its scope
to students wishing to study physics
or an associated degree at a leading
British university up to the completion
of their master’s degree.
The Trust also runs a programme which
allows alumni to secure paid internships
at UK universities for the purpose of
conducting research in physics or to
gain work experience in physics-related
companies.
To address the shortage of school physics
teachers with qualifications in physics,
the Trust has launched the Scientists in
Schools programme to provide funding
for postgraduate, PhD and postdoctoral
students to gain experience teaching
physics before entering teacher training.
Source: Adam Smith, master’s student in physics
and Ogden Trust scholar
268