Tomorrow's researcher needs not only to invent but to know how to turn innovation into jobs, writes Gerry Wrixon
I warmly welcome the Taoiseach's recent announcement of the Government's "Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation"; and the planned investment of €3.8 billion in research in Ireland over the period 2006 to 2013. This very significant scale of investment reflects a commitment on the part of the Government to developing the infrastructure that is critical to sustaining Ireland's economic growth into the 21st century.
Through the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions and the establishment of Science Foundation Ireland, the Government initiated the national strategy to establish this country as a 21st-century knowledge-based economy.
Unprecedented investment in infrastructure and people in the third-level sector has raised both the quantity and quality of research being carried out in Ireland. The future of economic development of this country is critically dependent on our commitment to research. Already the initiatives mentioned above and the success of the IDA have helped to attract the prized research divisions of hi-tech corporations in electronics, software, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals, making us the envy of other nations. The Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation is a key step in positioning us to consolidate and maintain this progress.
But success brings with it new challenges. Above all, we must have the courage to stay the course. Having established that our future is dependent on high-added value employment, we must continue to invest in the third-level sector that has underpinned our growth.
Above all, we must invest in people, the individual researchers (principal investigators - PIs) who develop the ideas and train the students who will drive our economy forward.
While we have been relatively successful in attracting and supporting the brightest PIs, we need to do more.
The economy is crying out for additional innovators, but the university sector has reached capacity in terms of the numbers of postgraduates we can produce. Our research laboratories are full; our infrastructure is creaking.
Therefore, the announcement of increased investment in people and infrastructure represents the urgently-needed next step in the Government's commitment to a knowledge-based economy, firmly grounded in the third-level sector.
In an increasingly global economy, where wealth creation follows innovation, our future depends on the generation and exploitation of new knowledge. The future for Ireland Inc will be based on strong research and development at the discovery stage: generating new knowledge, and turning ideas into products. It will be driven by researchers who are highly qualified, creative, flexible, innovative, and entrepreneurial.
The national target of doubling the number of doctoral research students is a bold ambition. It must happen, however it won't happen overnight. To build capacity and the supports for research activity will require people and time.
In this respect, the time-frame of the Government's strategy document is realistic. We will need to attract more PIs from outside Ireland to fill gaps in our research capability and to build more internationally-competitive research teams. And, like the US, we will need to attract the smartest students from around the world to contribute to wealth creation through innovation in Ireland.
The way we run our universities also has to change; we need greater efficiency, flexibility and agility in responding to a rapidly-changing global economic environment.
This process of restructuring is well under way in some of the leading Irish universities. UCC's strategy to reduce the administrative burden on academics will enable them to devote more effort to teaching and research.
The researcher of tomorrow needs not only to invent, but to understand how to turn innovation into jobs.
As well as increasing the number and quality of graduates, the nature of their training will not only comprise original ground-breaking research associated with the traditional PhD, but will also include exposure to a wide variety of postgraduate courses as well as structured training in business skills. These are vital components of the so-called Fourth Level Initiative.
In the past, Ireland has funded research in a somewhat fragmented manner in which different Government departments and funding agencies promoted and funded their own specific needs and priorities. The new strategy is the first time that the Government has taken a fully co-ordinated, interdepartmental approach to funding research. This does not lessen the importance of any particular sector, but ensures that all of the research agendas support the common objective to develop Ireland as a world-class economy, not only in information communication technologies and biotechnology, but in other areas of strategic importance such as the marine, the environment and the energy sectors. I particularly welcome the strategy's tangible support of the indigenous agricultural and food sector and, in particular, that of functional foods. This research area will be a major driver of the future competitiveness of the food sector in Ireland, and the strategy's plan to support research and development into this key topic is highly significant.
Increasing levels of research activity in the university sector must also be accompanied by effective translation of new knowledge into innovative products and services.
An increasing emphasis on technology transfer is therefore a key element of the national Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation. New ideas must result in increased levels of economic activity. This presents challenges for the university sector: to capture and commercialise intellectual property and to cultivate a new entrepreneurial culture in our young people.
This strategy must be sustained in the long-term, and meaningful co-operation between universities and industry is vital in order to drive effective technology transfer and Ireland's move up the value chain in terms of the quality of the jobs being created. Companies such as Netgear, which recently opened their European headquarters in Cork, and other important new ventures such as Altana, Centocor, and Amgen, to name but a few, have all been attracted by the exciting story that Ireland has to tell and the obvious commitment of the Government to promoting a research-led, industry-friendly culture.
The level of investment announced in this strategy is very significant; with an increasingly global market for researchers, Ireland must present evidence of sustained investment to attract and retain the world's best researchers to underpin an internationally-competitive research and development culture.
Delivery of the exciting vision set out in the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation will enhance the quality of life for future generations of Irish citizens, and is a major contributor to establishing the road map for future economic development.
Prof Gerry Wrixon is president of University College Cork