POLYTECHNICS and colleges in Britain deserve extra government resources
so they can expand their activities in research and development, according
to a report* published this week. The document, which examines the scope
for increasing research in these non-university institutions of higher education,
says that an extra Pounds sterling 23 million of government money in 1990/91
would represent 鈥榓 realistic estimate of the amount needed to realise the
potential within the sector鈥�. Most of the research would be applied or 鈥榮trategic鈥�.
The Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC), created in 1988
to pay out government money to these institutions, appointed a committee
including representatives of the education sector, industry and government,
to compile the report. The committee calculates that Pounds sterling 23
million 鈥榳ould soon attract an extra Pounds sterling 60 million into the
sector for research paid for by industry, commerce and the public sector鈥�.
The committee bases this estimate on its finding that 鈥榓ny public money
invested in the (polytechnic) research sector attracts up to 2.4 times that
amount in industrial and commercial funds鈥�.
The committee, chaired by Oscar Roith, a former chief engineer and scientist
at the Department of Trade and Industry, says that 鈥榮ignificant further
growth in research activities in the PCFC sector can be well justified鈥�.
It points out that in 1988/89, polytechnics and colleges spent about Pounds
sterling 80 million on research, only Pounds sterling 30 million of that
coming through the PCFC.
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This compares, it says, with Pounds sterling 800 million of state support
for research in the universities, disbursed through the Universities Funding
Council. The PCFC鈥檚 committee of enquiry, which included Sir John Fairclough,
the chief scientific adviser to the Cabinet, backed recent proposals by
the Department of Education and Science to transfer 4 per cent of the UFC鈥檚
budget to research councils. Then they 鈥� not the UFC as at present 鈥� would
cover overheads generated by university researchers who win research council
grants. This, says the committee, would be 鈥榓 significant first step鈥� towards
a more effective allocation of research funds, as polytechnics would be
able to bid for the money alongside universities (This Week, 7 April 1990).
The committee also recommends the creation of a working party to investigate
the relationship between the research councils and the PCFC sector. In 1988/89,
institutions from this sector won just Pounds sterling 6.7 million in research
grants from the research councils, 4 per cent of the total annual research
grant expenditure by the councils.
The committee recommends that Pounds sterling 35 million 鈥� Pounds sterling
23 million of it new money 鈥� be allocated selectively:
to support extra research in institutions with a proven track record;
to seed new fields of research activity;
and to establish 鈥榗entres of excellence鈥� that would undertake R&D
on a multidisciplinary basis for industry, commerce and the public sector.
To make sure that the money is well- spent, the committee urges polytechnics
and colleges to develop rigorous management, monitoring and accounting systems.
Funds should also be adequate to consolidate the infrastructure for research
and to sustain stability.
The committee, which visited six institutions funded by the PCFC and
commissioned a survey of all 29 polytechnics and many colleges, found that
expanded research activity was beneficial. For instance, it improves the
quality of teaching and the relevance of courses. And, it attracts staff
of higher quality into the sector, enhances the reputation and standing
of institutions, and advances knowledge over a wider range of disciplines,
says the report.
Underlining the importance of 鈥榩ump- priming鈥� money, the committee said:
鈥楽everal institutions have commented that, without the PCFC funds, they
could not have started the research that subsequently received industrial
support . . . The figures for the research that is already being carried
out suggest that money invested in this way yields rich rewards in subsequent
industrial and commercial sponsorship.鈥� The committee also praised the multidisciplinary
approach of PCFC sector research and commended the success with which polytechnics
and colleges identified 鈥榥iches鈥� where gaps existed in research work.
* Research in the PCFC Sector.
