SUMMARY

  Broadly speaking, the University of Warwick is concerned that the Research Councils and the OSI do not give a high enough profile to international research collaboration. We believe that their policies and activities do not consistently support international research collaboration and that too little is done to encourage the participation of international collaborators in research applications.

THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EXISTING RESEARCH COUNCIL AND OSI MECHANISMS AND ACTIVITIES TO MAINTAIN AND PROMOTE INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION.

  1.  The University can identify examples of good schemes and initiatives but, overall, it seems to us that the profile of the work Research Councils do to promote international research collaboration is not high and that evidence of good support mechanisms is patchy.

  2.  There are some excellent examples of the Research Councils promoting international collaboration. The EPSRC has been very helpful in helping in the development of links with China, India and Japan using international network awards. We would also highlight the recent Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)-BBSRC agreement, which appears to be very interesting but possibly somewhat bureaucratic, and the ESRC's work in establishing bilateral agreements which have had a beneficial effect and are increasing in scope. The AHRC's policy of giving bigger network grants if they involve collaborators from particular countries is also a welcome development.

  3.  However, the extent of Research Council links with funding bodies abroad seems to be limited. The Research Councils could usefully raise the profile of their activities in support of international collaboration with more schemes to encourage strategic partnerships with centres of excellence worldwide, perhaps using the ESRC's bilateral agreements as a model. We also believe that Research Councils' reporting of their international activities is poor, even where the activities themselves are exemplary.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION THROUGH THE EU FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME, INCLUDING RESOURCES ENHANCING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE RESEARCH COUNCILS AND EUROPEAN AGENCIES IN THE NEW FRAMEWORK 7 INITIATIVE AND THE PROVISION OF RESOURCES TO STIMULATE UK PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES.

  4.  Again, there is good practice but not across all Research Councils. For example, both the EPSRC and the ESRC offer small grants or visiting researcher travel grants to support the establishment of networks. These schemes are necessarily for minor amounts of money but are crucial in providing seedcorn funding for large research projects. These schemes are welcome but, in particular, the EPSRC's application process is overly bureaucratic given the sums involved. This means that researchers apply for funds from other institutions, such as Regional Development Agencies where the requirements are less onerous, or they do not apply at all. The ESRC's scheme is targeted towards "large asset holders" but is extremely light touch in terms of application procedures.

  5.  Our experience is that not all Research Councils have supported the development of networks for FP7. For example, the AHRC has not offered any sort of travel or project preparation grants for FP7 nor has it run any tailored information sessions for researchers.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE RESEARCH COUNCILS AND THE GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS INVOLVED IN INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING THE OSI, DEFRA, THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE'S SCIENCE AND INNOVATION NETWORK AND THE DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

  6.  In our opinion, these collaborations are at a high level and are either not visible at university level or their benefits do not seem to filter down.

THE IMPACT OF THE RESEARCH COUNCILS' POLICIES ON THE INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS.

  7.  We believe that, especially in the area of the physical sciences, the impact of the Research Councils has been substantial. This success has been achieved as a result of schemes which are relatively flexible when compared, for example, to similar Royal Society programmes. We would argue for a deepening of Research Council activity in this area and a consistent approach.

IN CONSIDERING RESEARCH COUNCIL EFFECTIVENESS IN COLLABORATION VIA EUROPEAN UNION-LED RESEARCH PROGRAMMES, THE COMMITTEE IS INTERESTED IN RECEIVING EVIDENCE DEMONSTRATING BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF RESEARCH COUNCIL PARTICIPATION IN AND CURRENT FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES. THE COMMITTEE IS ALSO INTERESTED IN RECEIVING EVIDENCE ON THE ROLE AND SUCCESS OF RESEARCH COUNCIL SUPPORT FOR FACILITATION OF UK PARTICIPATION IN AND CURRENT INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES.

  8.  We find it difficult to comment on this topic since we have little evidence of such activity.

April 2007