Provost gives evidence to Lords Science and Technology Committee

Imperial's Provost James Stirling spoke at an evidence-gathering session on the government's Life Sciences Industrial Strategy on Tuesday.

Giving evidence alongside other academic leaders from Cambridge, Nottingham and UCL, Professor Stirling highlighted the importance of strong collaboration between British research networks and their European counterparts – and how free movement of labour had underpinned the UK’s strong research ecosystem.

He praised the UK’s successful participation in European research programmes and spoke of the need for continuity after the UK leaves the European Union to support the implementation of the strategy.

On the topic of research commercialisation and innovation, Professor Stirling said that British universities can sometimes undersell their contribution to innovation compared to higher education institutions in other countries.

In response to a question on coordinating the implementation of the strategy, Professor Stirling said that while the strategy was quite light on the details of implementation and ownership, the creation of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) was helpful and could act as an organisation to oversee the implementation. President Alice Gast was recently appointed to the board of UKRI’s board and will work with the chair, chief executive and executive team to ensure the successful formation and strategic direction of UKRI ahead of its launch in April 2018.

Professor Stirling also stressed the importance of clustering academic, commercial and NHS partners, as is happening at the College’s new White City Campus.

The oral evidence session comes after Imperial made a written submission to the committee’s inquiry, which highlighted Imperial’s investment in world-class talent and research that drives productivity and growth across the whole of the UK.

The College previously made a written submission to the government’s consultation on the Building Our Industrial Strategy Green Paper back in April.

Read the full response to the House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee Life Sciences Industrial Strategy inquiry.

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