Sir Andrew Witty’s Independent Review of Universities and Growth
Response from the University of Warwick
The University of Warwick was established in 1965 and is a member of the Russell
Group of leading research-intensive universities. It has a strong reputation for excellence
in research and teaching and for innovation and links with business and industry.
The University contributes to local and regional economic growth and development in a
diverse number of ways: the University is the third biggest employer in Coventry, the
University of Warwick Science Park has 145 tenant companies employing over 1800
people and delivers facilities and business services to start-ups and established
companies. The Centre for Lifelong Learning provides a wide variety of certificates,
degrees and professional development courses for mature students and the University is
leading the development of the WMG Academy. The Warwick Arts Centre is the largest
arts centre in the Midlands, attracting around 250,000 visitors a year to around 2,000
individual events, and more than 15,000 local schoolchildren participate in activities run
by the Arts Centre’s Education Department every year. Our world class sports facilities
are used by many local clubs and members of the local community, and – every year –
over 2000 members of Warwick Volunteers, the University’s student volunteering society,
give their time to support over 70 local schools and community groups.
The University also makes a significant contribution to the sectors and technologies in
the Government’s industrial strategy and to maximising the associated benefits to the
region. In part, this is through engagement with the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP: the
University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and the University Director of Jaguar Land Rover
Programmes are on the board of the LEP.
Informal lines of communication and the sharing of responsibility for planning and
strategy flatten the hierarchy in institutional decision-making, meaning the University is
also well-equipped to respond swiftly to new challenges and direct its resources for the
most effective alignment of innovation funding with business need and international
research and development opportunities. In this context, a move towards – for example matched funding schemes would risk limiting the impact the University is able to make.
Autonomy and the flexibility to direct key competencies appropriately are critical to
ensuring the University is able to maximise the impact of structural funding and
collaboration with business and, thereby, its economic and social benefit.
The case studies below illustrate examples of good practice and successful ventures.
Jaguar Land Rover and WMG, University of Warwick
Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) has a long history of leading collaborative
research and development programmes with the automotive sector. In 2003 it launched
the £72m the Premium Automotive Research and Development programme, with Jaguar
Land Rover and a host of suppliers, assisting over 600 businesses resulting in over 250
new products and processes.
In 2010 WMG’s collaborative relationship with JLR stepped up a gear with 170 of JLR’s
Advanced R&D team co-locating at WMG, alongside existing academic researchers.
This co-located collaborative programme is valued at over £100m and is now set to grow
with the imminent development of the £92m National Automotive Innovation Centre on
the same campus, funded by HEFCE, JLR and Tata Motors. This will accommodate
upwards of 700 industrial and academic research engineers, as well as acting as an
education hub for schools, apprentices and others.
The economic and business benefits of collaborative R&D, located at the heart of JLR’s
home in Coventry and Warwickshire, and very close to two of its main production
facilities, are clear to JLR and critical to its innovation-driven expansion plans. As such,
JLR and WMG/University of Warwick dedicate significant resources to supporting the
local agenda, working with the Local Enterprise Partnership. Both the company and the
University sit on the Board of the LEP, and invest time and energy in supporting the
development of its strategy, working with a range of local businesses and public sector
partners.
The Science City Research Alliance
The Science City Research Alliance (SCRA) is collaboration between the University of
Birmingham and the University of Warwick, the two West Midlands universities with the
greatest concentration of research funding.
This long-term research collaboration began in early 2007 with an initial £57 million
investment in the research infrastructure of both universities. The objectives of the
programme were to further develop the research capability of the region to support the
long-term growth of key technology sectors and as part of wider activity to improve the
quality of life and prosperity of the region.
This was at the time when a new collaborative model for the universities and a new
approach to knowledge exchange with business was being considered. The programme
began in 2008 and will run until 2018.
Focusing on the key areas of Energy Futures, Translational Medicine and Advanced
Materials, the universities had a remit to work specifically with local and regional SMEs
as well as with the larger national and global businesses.
In the last four to five years this programme has developed 19 new patents and licenses,
demonstrated emerging new technologies, published over 100 papers, delivered more
than 700 presentations at conferences and seminars and developed major new research
projects in the key theme areas with both industry and university partners. Funding
levered against the initial £57 million investment currently stands at £130 million with new
industry and research council funding streams constantly being sourced.
SCRA has worked with 100 West Midlands businesses on in-depth collaborations (KTPs,
consultancy, analysis and product development as well as collaborative research). In
addition 10 new businesses have been created and 150 workshops and seminars have
been delivered for regional businesses. In addition to this, 260 new jobs have been
created, most of which are in high-technology businesses or the research base. In
excess of 1200 skills interventions have taken place (mainly in training industry and
researchers to use the universities state-of-the-art facilities) and there have been a range
of interactions with schools, including public engagement activities and demonstrators.
Research projects have ranged from diagnostic tools for the generation of biogas from
sewage, optimising combustion on new rotary engines, biocote on silver nanoparticle
technology to polymers in healthcare technologies and metabolic studies on the sideeffects of drugs.
The importance of this collaboration and its repercussions on business and industry
across the region specifically cannot be underestimated. SCRA continues to lever
funding against initial investments and the ability for the universities to access clean lines
of funding support have enabled them to initiate a ground-breaking university
collaboration, a model which is now being replicated and developed across both
universities both inside and outside of the region.
The interaction with a local company Paintbox is a prime example of the impact of SCRA.
Here was a company looking for opportunities to diversify into solar energy markets by
developing photovoltaic coatings. As well as providing expertise and aiding exploration
of funding options, the University was able to help the company secure a major new
contact. The managing director of Paintbox, James Sharp said;
“Paintbox has won a contract from BMW for the company’s prestigious Rolls Royce
operation. The contract is worth 100 million euros and will safeguard over 100 jobs and
create another 50. We won the contract in competition with companies in Germany and
we believe that a significant factor that tipped the balance in our favour was the
relationship with the University of Warwick and our access to the laboratory facilities of
the Science City project.”
(Quotation given during visit by Baroness Hanham, Under Secretary of State for the
Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and her team in June 2011)