THE first Irish White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) was published in October 1996. It was generally welcomed by the participants in Irish STI, educational, research institutes and industry.
As a research scientist, I warmly welcomed the White Paper in a Science Today column. The Minister for Science, Commerce and Technology, Mr Pat Rabbitte, has called for a debate on STI policy and I now return in more detail to the specific question of basic scientific research in Irish third level educational institutions. By basic research I mean research aimed at answering fundamental scientific questions. Applied research is aimed at solving immediate practical problems.
The White Paper on STI is a cautious document. It has been criticised by some as reading more like a Green Paper than a White Paper. In my opinion, and concentrating specifically on basic research at third level, I think the White Paper is too conservative, although certainly moving in the right direction.
But of particular concern to me are the several indications in the White Paper that the unloosening of the purse strings, to increase support for basic research at third level, will be done with a much greater reluctance than their unloosening for the greater support of other sectors of STI.
I am also concerned that our national policy on science is being drafted almost entirely in the context of promoting industrial growth and efficiency. I will return to this in an upcoming article.
The impetus behind the current interest in fostering STI in Ireland is the recognition that the modern world runs on science based technology. STI drives 60 per cent of Ireland's economic growth. If Ireland is to have a secure future as a high wage, high technology economy, our industries will have to become high technology innovative, i.e., develop the ability to continually develop new and useful high technology products.
The fundamental elements in the overall STI framework are the training of scientists and engineers in institutes of higher education (this training involves carrying out basic and applied research), basic and applied research programmes in institutes of higher education and elsewhere, and research and development carried out mainly in industry.
Basic research is an essential part of the overall framework. While all parties will agree with this, not all do so with equal enthusiasm. For example, some people feel that in our particular circumstances - a small economy with limited resources - we should invest relatively little in basic research and concentrate on supporting applied research and research and development.
The White Paper on STI was preceded by a Government commissioned report from the Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council published in 1995. The report was the first comprehensive indigenous review of Irish STI. It describes Ireland's weak performance and commitment to STI and recommends basic changes that must be effected in order to bring about developments in STI essential for our future well being.
The principal recommendation made by the report regarding third level research were as follows: (a) a substantial increase in funding, rising from £1.5 million to £6 million a year; (b) a scheme to fund all postgraduate students on Ph.D. programmes at a level not less than £3,000 per annum over three years; (c) a five year programme to address the equipment shortage - a £5 million a year fund should be established over and above existing levels, to address this problem; (d) a scheme to promote the regeneration of the permanent personnel component of the third level research endeavour; (e) third level should adopt a new research charter outlining a proactive attitude towards basic, applied and commercial contract research; (f) performance indicators should be identified for research and be published annually.
The main Government decisions in the White Paper regarding third level research are: (1) An agreement to provide additional funding from 1996 and beyond, as resources permit; (2) the White Paper notes that the Government doubled Ph.D. research grants to 2,000 in 1996. A scheme to fund post doctoral positions is under consideration; (3) the Government accepts the need to continually update research equipment. Funding will be provided as resources permit; (4) Forbairt will consult with third level research strengths when preparing regional development plans; (5) each third level college will publish a research policy statement - a "research charter".
These decisions are to be welcomed insofar as they go, but much remains to be done. Funding for basic research is only about 0.9 per cent of the total spending on science and technology (the comparable Danish figure is 25 per cent); £2,000 a year for a Ph.D. student is less than unemployment benefit. The annual capital equipment grant for the universities is £2 million. These figures speak for themselves.
I don't like that little phrase, "as resources permit", which is used, insofar as I can see, only in the section of the White Paper dealing with third level research. The White Paper takes on board the recommendations of the Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council report regarding third level research qualitatively, but is reluctant to commit fully to the quantitative aspect of these recommendations.
I am worried specifically that the Government may allow a general attitude towards funding third level, conditioned over many decades, to dictate a sluggish response to the urgent need to increase support for third level research. Traditionally the third level sector in Ireland was small, consisting primarily of the older universities, i.e., the NUI colleges and TCD.
When the Minister for Education looked out at the tripartite education sector in Ireland, he/she saw a large primary sector that spoke trenchantly and carried a big stick, a large secondary sector that spoke more softly but carried a big stick, and a small third level sector that spoke softly and carried a briefcase. In the world of affairs, power commands resources and the third level sector was in a weak position.
SCIENTIFIC research requires an expensive infrastructure of specialised laboratory spacestocked with expensive equipment. Traditionally, Irish researchers worked in a completely threadbare structure caused by gross under funding.
The State has cause to be grateful to the several generations of Irish scientists who gallantly soldiered on in very poor conditions, dutifully took on wave after wave of Ph.D. students for training and carried out worthwhile programmes of research. In addition, the Irish universities have established almost 250 campus, companies to date, generating about 2,500 jobs.
Research scientists as a breed tend to be quiet, undemonstrative people who make the most of the available resources and just get on with the job. This quality served the State well in keeping the flame alight through difficult years and has provided a healthy scientific base on which to build now that money is more fiuirseach.
However, this quiet unassuming manner is not best designed for shoving and jostling to ensure that basic research gets a fair share of resources. In this regard the recently founded Irish Research Scientists Association is a welcome development. The association has a clear vision of where research should be going and how it should be supported and it doesn't mince words when making its case.
Finally, I recall that Mr Rabbitte, in a recent press release, quoted a remark made by W.H. Auden: "When I find myself in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a drawing room full of dukes."
Although Mr Rabbitte probably had his tongue firmly in his cheek, there is nevertheless the rub that scientists could be much more forthcoming in engaging politicians in discussion. I have visions of the Minister and the scientific community greeting each other enthusiastically, each with outstretched upturned palms and exclaiming, "Gimme five".
Of course the Minister will mean 5,000 jobs and the scientists will mean £5 million, but, with patience and goodwill, both parties can satisfy their expectations.