Memorandum 24
Submission from the London Development
Agency
The Science and Technology Committee has decided
to hold a short inquiry into the funding of science and discovery
centres.
The inquiry will examine the role of science
centres in public engagement and attracting young people to science
subjects and scientific careers, the funding available to such
centres from central Government, alternative sources of funding
and ways of supporting the long-term future of science and discovery
centres.
1. The LDA considers science and discovery
centres to have a vital role in inspiring young people to pursue
careers in science subjects. This is achieved through their broader
engagement with the public via exhibitions and events and, in
many cases, their specific focus on outreach programmes. Institutions
such as The Science Museum and The Natural History Museum are
exemplary in their work, educating and entertaining Londoners
and others in their respective areas of interest.
2. Existing science and discovery centres
in London include:
The National Maritime Museum
Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons
The Natural History Museum
Holland Park Ecology Centre
3. The Roberts Review, published in 2002,
provided a detailed analysis of the current supply of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics skills. The review found
that fewer students in the UK were choosing to study many science
and engineering disciplines.
4. As a result of these trends, and increasingly
attractive opportunities for skilled individuals to work outside
research, the review concluded that emerging shortages in the
supply to R&D employers would act to constrain innovation
in the UK, not just in these disciplines, but also more widely,
since much cutting edge research is multidisciplinary.
5. The LDA's specific sectors and skills
interventions are informed by and articulated in its Economic
Development Strategy (EDS).
6. The LDA's Science & Technology programme
addresses the major investment themes of the EDS in a number of
ways. We have for example instigated and supported a number of
life science incubation facilities in London over the last four
years with the aim of attracting and retaining start-up bioscience
companies in the capital. We also engage with a number of stakeholders
to promote London as a centre of excellence in research and development
to national and international audiences. Catalyst, London's Science
& Industry Council advises the LDA on its science, technology
and design interventions and amongst its key priorities are addressing
London's longer term skills supply issues in science subjects.
7. Our interventions are also informed by
a number of policy drivers. Following the analysis and recommendations
of the Roberts Review, the London Skills Commission reported on
the regional Skills and Employment Priorities for Action in October
2004. Within the area of STEM, there were six key priorities identified
and a key intervention to have come out of this has been the LDA
supported London STEM Support Centre.
8. The STEM Support Centre provides a central
hub delivering up-to-date information, support and advice to schools
about STEM initiatives and projects in their area that focus on
enhancing and enriching the curriculum. The intention is for the
STEM Support Centre advisory committee to inform the LDA on its
longer term interventions in this area.
9. Existing LDA supported initiatives which
have relevance to this field include:
STEP into Innovation: funding to run innovation
focused knowledge transfer projects, enabling partnerships between
London based SMEs and 2nd year undergraduate students.
Year in Industry: encouraging young people to
pursue careers in UK industry, principally in the production industries
sector.
Young LBN: a network initiative run by the London
Biotechnology Network that provides career advice to life science
and healthcare-related graduates and postgraduates.
10. More specifically in the area of science
centres, a key intervention by the LDA's Science & Technology
programme is the current collaboration with Queen Mary University:
Centre of the Cell, based in Whitechapel is due to open in spring
2008.
Centre of the Cell will offer a unique visitor
experience around the theme of cells and the role they play in
medical research.
11. The Centre is specifically designed
to deliver learning opportunities to school children aged 9-13
years. This interactive learning approach will engage childrens'
learning and professional aspirations by helping to seed the idea
of a future career in science/technology. The Centre will provide
a stimulating learning opportunity specifically for children in
East London (including key LDA priority areas Tower Hamlets, Hackney
and Newham). It will serve to engage children and adolescents
in health issues and seek to interest them in their own health
and medical science.
12. Combined with the visit, children will
be offered a series of school programmes designed to sustain their
interest in science and medicine. Over time, children in wider
parts of London and the UK will attend. The Centre will be the
only one of its kind in Europe and the world.
13. One problem that Centre of the Cell
has faced is a struggle to secure investment, and it has taken
the LDA's funding to attract other investors in order to complete
construction words.
14. This problem is probably the key barrier
that science & discovery centres face. A potential solution
to break this barrier down is to continue to raise the profile
of the benefits of such centres and also highlight why they are
so important to the economy. The reason being that there is an
identified need to raise the amount of people taking up STEM subjects
to ensure that the sector and subsequently the economy does not
suffer from a shortage of such skills.
15. Through a variety of means therefore
the LDA support and will continue to support strategic and operational
initiatives that have the overarching theme of increasing the
uptake of STEM study and inspire young people to chose careers
in science and technology sectors.
June 2007
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