Darling launches science drive
October 24th, 2006 - Posted in Education, ScholarshipAlistair Darling has launched a new international scholarship scheme with the aim of bringing the best foreign students to Britain.
The trade and industry secretary said on Monday that Britain’s universities should follow the example of football’s Premiership and attract the best international talent.
It is hoped that a Royal Society international fellowship scheme will become a globally-recognised brand to rank alongside Oxford University’s Rhodes scholarships.
In a speech to the Royal Society, Darling was expected to say: “To be the best you need to work with the best. This new scheme aims to attract the best in science to Britain.
“It will push our world-class science base further and help give us a business edge.”
Darling was set to highlight new figures showing that top UK universities are catching up with the USA in terms of translating academic research into business opportunities.
UK universities are now producing about the same number of patents per £1m spent on research as their US counterparts and are creating a proportionally far higher number of ’spin-out’ companies.
“In 1997, we looked to the USA, who had been taking the lead in championing links between science and business for 20 years,” said Darling ahead of the event.
“Today, some of our top UK universities are catching up with the best in the US and produce far more start-up companies per £1m of research overall.
“In the last three years alone, 25 university spin-out companies have floated on the stock market with a valuation of over £1.5bn.”
He was also due to announce plans to open the first international UK Research Council office in Beijing, designed to exploit increasing science investment in the country and make Britain the “partner of choice” for Chinese companies.