The UK has the world’s best equipped research centres. It is internationally renowned for excellence in research and for the development of state-of-the-art technology. However, the success of technological undertakings in the United Kingdom increasingly depends on a close collaboration between industrialists and academics, as well as on the participation of society in the creative process.

The United Kingdom found that this is the best way of stimulating economic growth and technological innovations for the benefit of economy and, most importantly, for quality of life.

Find out how and why this strategy has been working in the United Kingdom, making our education programme in Science and Technology one of the world’s best and most interesting.

Generating Knowledge
If innovation is the key to competitiveness, knowledge becomes the most valuable resource in today’s economy. The UK is particularly creative in the science and technology area, having more than ninety scientists among Nobel Prize winners in Science, some of the world’s best scientific facilities and an excellent reputation in technological research and development.

As well as generating new knowledge in the form of research results, universities also contribute towards innovation through producing qualified professionals, creating new mechanisms and methodologies, generating technological solutions and developing new businesses and products.

In the United Kingdom, the industry also depends on academics to keep up with the ongoing changes, hire advisory services, obtain general information, and build its entrepreneurial image. British universities are innovation machines, and their most valuable product isn’t technology, but talent.

Innovation in Education
If knowledge is fundamental for economy, human resources are a country’s main wealth. When presenting the new strategy for 2001 in the document ”Opportunities for all in a changing world,” the National Secretary of Education said: “More than ever, success depends on education and professional abilities. If in the past abundant natural resources sufficed, today we depend on employment, social justice, and knowledge generated by our population.”

In the United Kingdom, the development of these abilities requires assurance that universities, schools, and colleges provide people with the knowledge and abilities they need to fit into the labour market. The employment of new technologies can serve these needs. Universities need this support in order to develop new learning techniques that are compatible with people’s lives. Part-time learning, opportunities for returning to study at a later stage of life, and long-distance education are some alternatives offered so that students can choose the one that best fits their objectives.

Partnership with the Industry
This quotation was extracted from the guidelines to the UK’s Science and Innovation policy, developed in 2000: “In knowledge-based contemporary economy, the mere generation of knowledge is not enough: we also need to take maximum advantage of it. Increasingly solid connections between industrialists and academics are a key element in this strategy. Today, all companies need to innovate, constantly developing new products and new forms of production. British science works closely with industry, helping businesses take advantage of research results and new methodologies, tools and techniques.

Academic researchers also work with other science and technology users, such as health professionals in hospitals, helping them develop new products and services that bring real benefits to their work routines. The policy document announced a series of measures that encourage deeper relations between researchers and industries in the public and private sectors. Some of these measures are: £140 million for the Higher Education Innovation Fund to help universities bridge the gap between research and industry and nurture small businesses; doubling the number of Faraday Partnerships initiatives in order to connect the technological knowledge base to business networks, and another £15 million so that scientific entrepreneurship support centres can help get the skills required by the industry into the academic curriculum.

Innovative users
Good products and services often don’t arise out of scientific research or technological advances – instead, they are created by people who use them and adapt science and technology to their own needs and routine. In the United Kingdom, special efforts have been made to include users in the innovation process, so that scientific knowledge and new technologies can bring practical benefits to everyone.