Theme Panel Member Briefing
Annex A - Version 1 (16 November 2005)
Project Background and Operational Framework
Summary
Great Western Research is a 5 year, £14m project which aims to catalyse and drive research
collaboration between South West HEIs in five carefully determined research themes: Materials, Applied
Mathematics, Sustainability (Social Science Perspectives), Psychology and Creative Arts. These are
described in summary in Annex A.
The principal components of GREAT WESTERN RESEARCH are:

The appointment of a total of 15, 3-year Postdoctoral Fellowships in the five research themes for
collaborative research across the principal researching HEIs

The provision of 130 Postgraduate Research Studentships in the collaborative research themes –
offered under joint supervision between HEIs in order to gain access to the latest research at the
interfaces. Studentships will be designed to meet business needs and will be jointly funded by
industry and SWRDA. Studentships can be held in any SW HEI UoA regardless of RAE 2001 grade
provided they are compliant with the current QAA Code for Postgraduate Research Supervision.

The establishment of a South West Postgraduate Training Network to provide collaborative, disciplinespecific research training.
1.
Aims
The fundamental concept of GWR is to promote collaborations between the highest quality research
groups in the South West in order to attract international interest and recognition and to support the
growth of the South West. The provision of research fellowships and research studentships is seen as an
effective way to catalyse research partnerships between research groups in SW HEIs and industry.
The overall aims of the GWR project are:

To build a strong cadre of research students and staff and to ensure the sustainability of
internationally-excellent research in South-West England

To catalyse the building of partnerships with major research funders

To build collaborative, interdisciplinary research at the interface of existing disciplines by engaging
with SWRDA and business research teams as proposed in the Lambert Report

To encourage growth in business funded R&D in the South West.

To prepare the South West region for the technologies of the future and to provide the new
technologists to lead change.
2. Outputs and Outcomes
A range of outputs and outcomes has been agreed for the project. Detailed definitions are given
in ANNEX B.
Direct outputs
We are aiming to recruit 15 research fellowships, 130 studentships and train 1150 PGR students
through a discipline specific training network. We will be expected to create 100 jobs mainly
through new postdocs appointed to university research projects and into industry. 60 academic
staff will be expected to collaborate with a new industry partner. There should be 80 industry
partners who have not collaborated with a particular academic or research group previously, 28
of which must be SMEs.
Indirect Outcomes
By the end of the project ie in 5 years we would hope to have secured the following:
20 collaborative research projects involving funding from research councils or other research
funders arising from the links developed through Great Western Research. At least four of these
projects should be with international partners. We also hope to create two new centres of worldclass research excellence arising from the collaborative approach. Overall we are hoping for an
increase of £2m in research funding from industry over the period of the project.
3.
Value of Studentships and Fellowships
A three-year research fellowship will be valued at £156k (i.e. £29k pa plus a contribution of £23K
pa to overheads, total £52k pa uplifted 5% annually). Receiving institutions must undertake to
continue the fellows on a permanent basis (or for at least 2 years) beyond the three years of
requested HEFCE funding.
A studentship will be valued at £50k i.e. £16.5k pa (including the fee); the registering HEI will be
expected to cover costs incurred above this figure and all costs of accommodation and other
overheads. Industrial partners may top up the studentship to a higher figure but the contribution
from the project will normally be capped at £8.25K pa.
In addition, business partners will be expected to pay a management fee of £830 per annum to
cover the administration of the project. This fee will be underwritten by the SWRDA in order to
allow the overall project to proceed.
4.
Management
A Project Director will be appointed in due course. A Shadow Strategy and Management Board has been
established with Professor Roger Kain as Chair. The Board will be setting up Theme Panels and a
Regional Research Board to advise it in making allocations for studentships and fellowships. The Board
has agreed that one of the bidding team, Mr Sean Fielding, Director of Communication and Partnership of
the University of Exeter, should act as interim GWR Executive Director.
Tel: 01392 263181 Fax: 01392 262356. Email: s.n.fielding@ex.ac.uk
Project background and Operational Framework - ANNEX A
FIVE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH FIELDS
Please note that the project areas identified under these headings are indicative and should not yet be
regarded as an exclusive list.
1.
MATERIALS
There is outstanding expertise available in the SW which can bring a multidisciplinary approach to
the research and supervision of postgraduate students. Six indicative areas are outlined below.
They are topical, offer scientific potential and in the longer term are likely to benefit the economy
of the South West.
The key areas might be:

Nanoparticles & Nanocomposites

Biomaterials

Carbons & Graphite

Joining & Bonding

Sensors & Actuators.

High Band Gap Semiconductors & Devices.
Regional relevance and business partners
The main regional impact of this work will be in the aerospace and advanced engineering
industries. This industry accounts for 9.9% of the total employment in the South West and a large
proportion of its high tech employment of 129,354 and a large proportion of overall research
expenditure. The proposals in this strand are in line with the opportunities identified for further
development in the AD Little study of regional strengths compiled in 2003.
2.
APPLIED MATHEMATICS.
This will cover two main areas: nanomathematics, to support the emerging nanotechnology and
nanoscience revolution; and earth system analysis and prediction, in particular in collaboration
with the UK Met Office.
a)
Nanomathematics
Nanotechnology and nanoscience is giving rise to the second industrial revolution. The US
Department of Energy has identified a key potential bottleneck for future development of the
field—lack of development of theory, modelling and simulation tools. A collaborative effort by
universities in the South West would address both of these issues by developing a coherent, yet
multidisciplinary, programme in the fundamentals of theory, modelling, and simulation at the
nanoscale. In addition to being truly active in the world-wide scene of nanoscience and
nanotechnology education and research, it can potentially have an important, and possibly crucial,
impact on the development of related commercial enterprises in the South-West.
Regional relevance and business partners
The electronics industry will not risk deploying billions of devices based on molecular electronics,
even when they can be built, unless they are thoroughly understood and manufacturing processes
are made predictable and controllable. The practical value of theory, modelling, and simulation for
industry facilitates rapid prototyping and product development. Hence, broad based tools in
theory, modelling, and simulation in nanotechnology and nanoscience are urgently needed and,
indeed, crucial for the success of industrial applications. This fact has been recognized, and is
currently being acted upon vigorously in the US.
Because theory, modelling, and simulation has been identified as a great enabler of nanoscience
and technology, it could potentially have a great impact on the development of commercial
enterprises in this area in the South West. Indeed, the (at the moment) uniqueness of this
proposed activity could actually encourage and attract potential start-up companies to the region.
However, it is important that we act now; this is a fast moving area.
b)
Earth Systems Analysis and Prediction.
Earth Systems analysis is a newly evolving discipline, which has been described as the ‘second
Copernican revolution’. It combines research into climate and environmental systems, how these
change with time, and their impacts on industry and society in general. It is of immense
importance to scientists, policy makers, industry and society as a whole. Answers to the many
environmental challenges facing mankind require this ‘whole systems’ approach. This in turn
requires research that is highly inter and multi-disciplinary, spanning mathematical and
computational modelling and analysis, physical and biological science, engineering, geology and
geography, economics and social science. Few universities have research excellence across this
entire range of disciplines, so it is essential to establish strong collaborations between a number
of universities who between them can address the issues with authority
Regional relevance and business partners
An obvious partner in the development of these proposed activities, and a beneficiary in terms of
the availability of suitably trained staff and stronger research links with South West universities, is
the UK Met Office. However, the impact of this proposal is far broader than that. Nearly all
businesses are increasingly aware of the impact of the climate and environment on their current
and future activities. Globally, some 70% of all businesses are significantly exposed to weatherrelated risks, and several trillion dollars of the world economy is estimated to be sensitive to
fluctuations in weather conditions. Supermarkets, water, energy, and insurance companies are
among the businesses that are now actively using weather forecasts to help improve their
competitiveness. In addition, many companies are now aware of climate change and the need to
adapt their business plans. The South West is well placed to become a leading centre for
environment-based businesses, but this will require the expansion of the pool of relevantly
qualified researchers that this programme will deliver.
3.
SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES ON SUSTAINABILITY
Environmentally sustainable development is simultaneously a social, political and economic
necessity and a research imperative. Whilst supranational and governmental bodies ranging from
the United Nations and the European Commission through to national governments and local
authorities (exemplified through Local Agenda 21) maintain a strong rhetorical commitment to
sustainable development, beyond the rhetoric there remains considerable doubt as to what such
development is and how feasible it may be. In democratic, capitalist societies, sustainable
development is only likely to be reached if it is economically sustainable, socially desirable and
politically viable. Finding solutions requires true collaboration amongst environmental scientists,
social scientists, engineers and the policy community. The South West universities have major
expertise and international research leadership in the academic disciplines relating to sustainable
development (who work in engineering, renewable energy, political science, economics,
management and business, accounting, geography, environmental science, the social
construction of knowledge, policy studies, water, and the rural economy).
It is essential that we develop analytically and theoretically rigorous understandings of
environmentally sustainable decision making. There is a need to identify issues where national
and regional performance deviates from expected performance, establish procedures for prioritysetting among policy areas (with both qualitative and quantitative assessments of the success of
such policies), improved tracking of environmental trends, and investigation into interactions
between environmental and economic performance, and into the factors that influence
environmental sustainability. Coupling environmental degradation and resource consumption with
economic and social development requires a major reorientation of public and private investment
towards new, environmentally-friendly technologies. Part of this coupling can be reached by
going from linear to cyclic thinking and processing.
Five indicative research areas might be:

Sustainable energy technologies

Sustainable policy and regulation

Sustainability and business

Comparative sustainable development

Sustainable transport technologies
Regional relevance and business partners
Currently the UK is lagging behind in sustainability. A pilot study by the World Economic Forum
estimated that the UK was in 91st out of 142 countries in terms of an environmental sustainability
index (based on 68 different measures). The importance of sustainability to businesses will be a
major growth area in the next decade. Low carbon fuel and renewable technologies, low energy
and carbon building design, energy assessment and market regulation are all areas in which there
are considerable opportunities for the South-West region to become a major player in the national
and international community. There are already strong links to a variety of businesses. Moreover,
regulation is likely to require companies to invest in sustainable futures and the application of
environmental and resource economics. Companies will increasingly need to include natural
resource sustainability as part of their business costs which will result in potentially major changes
to production design and technology. They will need a strong pool of relevantly trained political
scientists, sociologists, geographers, economists, scientists and engineers. A large number of
environmental organisations have their headquarters in the South West. Together with the Earth
Systems initiative (as described above) this will ensure that the South West is well placed to
become a leading centre for sustainability based businesses.
4.
PSYCHOLOGY
Nationally the discipline of psychology is in an extremely healthy state, and its research quality
bears comparison with the best in the world. The South West is very well represented in this
discipline, with departments having particular strengths in cognition and cognitive neuroscience
and social, economic and health psychology. Postgraduate demand is very strong. The RAE
2001 panel for Psychology noted that there remains a continuing need to develop skilled
researchers in the field; the OST RCs and charities fund seven times as many research
studentships in biological and other medical sciences as in Psychology.
Regional relevance
The bid will more than double the number of PhD students in cognitive neuroscience and
economic psychology across the three institutions. Its real impact will be considerably more than
this, however. It will allow the institutions together to make a real step-change in training in these
disciplines. Sustainability will derive from an increasing likelihood of gaining further Research
Council and Charity funding for research training (MRC, ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, Wellcome,
Leverhulme) and project grant funding (with associated studentships), increasing numbers
synergistically. This, in turn, will provide access to training at a regional level, and allow the three
institutions to compete with the best internationally as trainers in postgraduate research in
cognitive neuroscience and economic psychology.
5.
CREATIVE ARTS.
’The creative and media industries in the UK generate revenues of around £112.5 billion and
employ more than 1.3 million people, which is 5% of the total employed workforce. Exports
contribute around £10.3 billion to the balance of trade, and the industries account for over 5% of
GDP. The value of the creative industries to UK gross domestic product is, therefore, greater than
the contribution of any of the UK's manufacturing industry. In the year 1997-98, output grew by
16%, compared to under 6% for the economy as a whole.’
(UK Trade and Investment: Export Information. Figures compiled from details supplied by the
Department for Media, Culture and Sport, 2003)
The importance of the creative arts to the social health of the nation has long been accepted. As,
during the last ten years, the creative industries moved from the fringes to the heart of the UK
economy, it became apparent that the importance of their contribution to the economic health of
the nation is also vital. The nurturing and celebration of creative talent became a central tenet of
the political agenda, and the urgency of supporting research into the creative arts has become
correspondingly clear. In terms both of creation and reception, it has become an urgent matter to
facilitate the basic conditions for the development of a creative economy which can address itself
both to global and to local needs.
Four indicative components of collaboration within the field of Creative Arts might be:

Writing for live and mediatized performance

The digital and the virtual

Place, space and identity

Cultural histories: curation, archiving and interpretation
Regional relevance
All four of these research components are of relevance to the region. Partnerships already exist
between the academic institutions and a broad range of cultural providers within the South West.
As well as major institutions such as the BBC, English Heritage, and the NHS, these include
regional bodies such as Culture South West, and a wide range of arts, film and literary festivals;
theatres and theatre companies; arts centres; museums and galleries; municipal authorities;
visual arts organizations; dance agencies; video and digital media production companies. By
working in partnership with institutions and businesses, this Creative Arts collaborative field will
enhance the strength and importance of the creative industries to the economy of the South West.
Project background and Operational Framework - ANNEX B
Please note that outputs 4 and 10 have been removed from the table since they do not fall within the
responsibility of the Theme Panel Chairs.
Output
No
Title
Description
1
Research Fellowships –
15 New starts
15 Full-time research fellowships based in participating HEIs.
2
PGR 3-year bursary
FTEs – 130 New Starts
130 PGR students working in one of the defined areas receiving a bursary approved by
the Research Board. Funders of PGR studentships must be organisations which are
based in the SW region (ie the seven county RDA region) or which have substantial
business interests here. They will have to demonstrate how the studentship will have a
clear impact on the economic development of the SW region and meet a real business
need. Project funders can include businesses, social enterprises, and independent
government related researching bodies such as the Met Office and NHS Trusts. The total
number of public sector research establishments involved must not exceed 20. The total
number of projects with these organisations must not exceed 30. No single funding
organisation may normally undertake more than 6 separate studentships.
3
1150 PGR training
places
1150 PGR students taking part in collaborative discipline specific training co-ordinated by
the project Director.
5
20 Collaborative
Research projects
20 additional research projects attracting external funding either from research councils,
charities, government, EU or industry which have been won through collaborative bids
from GWR partners.
6
£2m additional research
funding from industry
£2m of additional funding achieved from industrial partners regardless of geographic
locations of the businesses. Can be achieved through collaborative projects via research
councils, DTI, EU etc. ‘Business’ includes NHS Trusts.
7
4 research
collaborations between
SW HEIs and
international
collaborators
4 research projects involving international partners. Can include other HEIs, multinational businesses, business based overseas, health organisations and charities. This
output will be a subset of 5.
8
100 PhD students
gaining employment in
industry R&D
Tracked employment of PGR students from participating institutions. The aim is to see
additional employment as a result of partnership activities.
9
2 Centres of world class
research excellence
established in the SW
We are hoping to see 2 world class centres established. Should be a natural
consequence and a subset of outputs 5 and 7 above. There is no absolute requirement
to attract industry money to these centres but it would be advantageous.
11
80 businesses within
the region engaged in
new collaborations with
the UK knowledge base
150 research collaborations are proposed (comprising 130 PGR studentships and 20
collaborative research projects).
12
28 SMEs involved
SMEs employ less than 250 employees and have a turnover of less than 40m Euros. A
minimum of 28 must be involved overall.
13
100 jobs created or
safeguarded
15 jobs will be created through the appointment of the Research Fellowships. 1 additional
job will be created for each £100K of research funding gained. By the end of the period an
additional 64 jobs will have been created or safeguarded as a result of PhD students
going into industry. Total target 100.
14
60 academic staff
collaborating with
industry
60 academic staff are expected to be involved as principal investigators, co-investigators
or supervisors in research projects and studentships. Most of these will have had limited
exposure to business engagement in the past.
The overall project must involve a minimum of 80 regional organisations which have not
previously undertaken research with the academics or research groups involved. Where
two or more organisations are involved in the same project they will count separately.
15
40 businesses assisted
– Non R&D support
40 businesses are likely to be involved in the project but will decide not to take part in any
of the R&D schemes on offer. These will be referred to other agencies or HEIs for
different levels of support, using the KESW network.