08:40 Registration 

 

 

09:20 Chair’s Welcome Address

Professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Advisor, EU Commission (Confirmed)

 

 

09:25    Investing in Science and Innovation for Growth – Fostering Collaboration between Universities, Research Councils and Business

• The Innovation and Research Strategy – strengthening innovative capacity and encouraging investment in innovation
• Delivering a £4.6bn budget for Science and Innovation to create a high-tech UK, including identifying future technologies and innovations: Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals; Materials and Nanotechnology; Digital and Networks; Energy and low carbon technologies
• Helping innovative life sciences businesses take their product from discovery to commercialisation with £180m funding
• £150m a year to support University and business interaction, and strengthening universities’ capacity to transfer knowledge
• £75m to support high tech small business better access to the facilities and finance they need to develop and commercialise products, and funding for SMART
• Investing an additional £610m in capital investment for Science
• Providing £16m to develop research for UK robotics
• The UK Innovation Investment Fund and the Business Growth Fund - investing in technology based business with high growth potential
• The role of the Regional Growth Fund in delivering innovation and growth
• The Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative - £125m to support innovative projects in established UK advanced manufacturing sectors
• Addressing skills shortages in engineering, with apprenticeships and retraining for major future projects
• The Open Data Institute – developing scientific web technologies for using data more effectively

Ministerial Keynote Address (Confirmed)

 

 

09:40 Question and answer session with the Minister

 

 

09:45 Sponsor session

 

 

10:00 The Innovation and Research Strategy - Promoting, Protecting and Supporting SMEs as Champions of R&D Led Growth

• Improving incentives for companies to innovate – particularly SMEs – through changes to the SME R&D Tax credit
• The role of research councils in developing a ‘Gateway to Research’
• Investing £158m in e-infrastructure and increasing access to public data and knowledge
• Investing in emerging technologies
• Commercialising research in universities – securing £3bn funding from external resources
• Allocating the science budget to the seven research councils and introducing the innovation voucher
• Providing funding for proof of concept, market and development activities
• Investing in high tech: Dedicated funding for grapheme and high performance computing and promoting high technology and ICT start-up SMEs 
• Forging fresh links with international R&D stakeholders 
• Achieving the target of 25% of government contracts going to SMEs in the sphere of ICT development
• Protecting and promoting UKPLC ‘s  intellectual property in the global R&D marketplace  
• Working to maintain and protect all UK businesses’ competitive edge using better IP management
• Promoting broader and deeper business-university links (inc. SME-university links)

John Dodds Director of Innovation, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Confirmed)

 

 

10.15 Using Catapult Centres to Build the UK’s Capability for Innovation and to Drive Regional Economic Growth

• Investment of over £200m in a network of elite Catapult Centres
• Catapult – The TIC launch programme – setting up 3 centres to focus on high value manufacturing, cell therapy and offshore renewable energy and developing 2 more: Space Applications and Connected Digital Economy
• Using Catapult Centres as spurs for regional growth and partners in regional manufacturing development 
• Knowledge Transfer - commercialising the outputs of Britain’s world –class research base, bridging the gap between universities and businesses
• Focusing investment on graphene, synthetic biology, energy efficient computing and energy harvesting
• Investing £50 million in the development of a Graphene Global Research and Technology Hub
• Implementing the strategic recommendation of the Hauser review
• Creating clear pathways from lab-based research to practical application
• Supporting SME led innovation via targeted support
• Removing the barriers and accelerating exploitation of new technologies
• £140m over 6 years to stimulate manufacturing and innovation
• Supporting technological research 
• All in one: accelerating higher-level skills and qualifications, regenerate the local economy, and create a culture of enterprise 
• Reintroducing the Smart Award 

Mike Oldham, Programme Manager, Technology Strategy Board (Confirmed)

 

 

10:30 Funding for Science and Technology Research

• Collaborative working between research councils to enhance the overall impact and effectiveness of research, training and innovation activities
• Distributing funding to support and drive science and technology in the UK
• The role of supercomputers in providing the essential infrastructure for modern science
• Enabling more effective simulation and computation through high performance computing
• Investing to advance knowledge and generate new ideas which lead to a productive economy, healthy society and contribute to a sustainable world
• Working with the academic and industrial communities to share expertise in materials science, space and ground-based astronomy technologies, laser science, microelectronics, wafer scale manufacturing, particle and nuclear physics, alternative energy production, radio communications and radar
• Providing support for research infrastructure, training, knowledge exchange and public engagement activities

Dr Tim Bestwick Executive Director, Business and Innovation, Science and Technology Facilities Council(Confirmed)

 

 

10.45 Securing world-class Universities and world class high tech research in the UK 

• Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) - £150m a year to strengthen connections between universities
• The Research Excellence Framework - introducing the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions
• Distributing £1bn funding for quality related research in higher education
• Investing in new and emerging technologies
• Providing research stability and independence
• Supporting the Research Degree Programmes with £205 million funding
• Improving knowledge exchange between Universities and business in key industries including creative industries, nuclear manufacturing and renewable energy through the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) 
• The Wilson Review - Universities in the community, Local Enterprise Partnerships and science parks - driving business growth in the UK

David Sweeney, Director (Research, Innovation and Skills), HEFCE (Confirmed)

 

 

11.00 Science and Sustainable Energy – promoting sustainability and encouraging investment in the UK

• Working with Research Councils, the Technology Strategy Board, the Carbon Trust and the Energy Technologies Institute at the demonstration and pre-commercial deployment stage of the innovation chain
• Investing in innovation to achieve an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas
• Developing new technologies to provide a portfolio of energy sources
• Providing £1 billion direct grant support to the Carbon Capture and Storage Commercialisation Programme, including £125m for research and development
• Helping the UK become a better place to develop low carbon technologies and associated business
• Investing in energy infrastructure and ensuring the security of supply including £15m for nuclear research and development in the supply chain
• Investing in scientific investment gathering
• Developing alternate, sustainable and affordable energy sources, such as energy from waste
• Partnership working with academia, business and Europe to understand the challenges faced, and the solutions posed
• The Offshore Wind Component Technologies Development and Demonstration Scheme – partnership working to deliver innovation in wind technology
• Supporting innovations in solar research
• Delivering an effective knowledge management system

Ian Ellerington, Head of Innovation Delivery at Department of Energy and Climate Change (Confirmed)

 

 

11.15 CLOSING MORNING KEYNOTE – Research and Innovation for Growth in Europe

 

• Horizon 2020 and the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation – providing £70bn funding for science in the EU
• EU funding for reseach and innovation post-2013
• Innovation Union
  • Driving a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy
  • Improving conditions and access to finance for research and innovation in Europe
• Ensuring that innovative ideas can be turned into products and services that create growth and jobs
• The COSME Programme - supporting the internationalisation of Enterprises and SMEs
• Boosting private investment in SMEs

 

Professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Advisor, EU Commission (Confirmed)

 

 

11.30 Questions & Answers 

 

 

11:45 Coffee and Networking 

 

 

12:15 Seminar Session 1

• Promoting UK manufacturing; critical to economic growth
• Boosting UK advanced manufacturing supply chains
• UK Robotics and Smart Machines - applying technology to industry
• Novel materials, medical research and computing
• Making Carbon Capture and Storage cost competitive addressing technical, commercial and regulatory barriers
• Alternative sustainable energy - wind, solar and Anaerobic Digestion
• Supply Chain Management - ensuring excellence and mitigating against disruption
• The National Higher Education STEM Programme
• Funding for supercomputing and e-infrastructure for research
• The role of Science Cities in driving growth
• The Space Innovation and Growth Strategy 2010 to 2030
• High tech electronics and manufacturing in the UK
• Innovation in Defence Research and Development
• Partnerships between industry and university for Energy-Efficiency
• Future skills in Science and Bioscience
• Horizon 2020 – working collaboratively to reduce pollution across Europe 
• Government-University-business collaboration to meet cyber security challenges
• Open Innovation
• Open data and transparency
• The Graphene Global Research and Technology Hub
• The higher education and college IT network, JANET
• Delivering high capacity data storage across the research councils
• Funding for specialist supercomputers in areas such as particle physics and astronomy
• Delivering excellence in procurement
• Higher Education in a Knowledge Economy 
• Best practice procurement in HE
• Collaboration in procurement - ensuring effective channels for tendering and bidding
• Generating and exploiting new applications of technology

 

 

13:15 Lunch 

 

 

14:15 Seminar Session 2

 

 

15:15 Coffee and Networking 

 

 

15:45 The Life Sciences Strategy: Investing in Science for Health

• Improving medical care and investing £180m funding for medical breakthroughs
• Introducing a high level apprenticeship programme for life sciences  and placing innovation at the heart of education
• The £180m catalyst fund to help turn British medical breakthroughs into successful British companies
• The National Institute for Health Research - £800m over 5 years for the creation of Biomedical Research Centres and Units
• Creating a life sciences collaboration champion to foster partnerships
• Linking primary and secondary care data – investing £60m in a Clinical Practice Research Datalink
• Academic Health Science Centres – providing the hubs and infrastructure for partnership
• Investing more than £1bn, through the National Institute for Health Research, in the Medical Research Council and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
• Remote medical devices for telehealth – supporting long term conditions
• Creating Procurement Centres of Expertise to build relationships with industry
• Working with the pharma industry in delivering change in health and drug development 

George Freeman MP, Government Advisor on Life Sciences and PPS to Minister for Climate Change (Confirmed)

 

 

16:00 Sponsor Session

 

 

 

16:15 Driving Growth in Partnership with Industry

 

• The role of the R&D Tax Credit in helping improve the UK’s attractiveness as place to invest
• Stimulating private investment to support innovation in the manufacturing sector
• Proof of concept and pre-commercialisation
• Government and business working together  to create a strong and sustainable manufacturing base
• Improving productivity, enhancing innovation leadership and increasing export growth

• Understanding the research and skills priorities for UK manufacturers
• The importance of delivering STEM skills to match the workforce to the requirements of the manufacturing industry

Steve Radley, Director of Policy, EEF: The Manufacturers Organisation (Confirmed)

 

 

 

16.30 Ensuring the UK Workforce has the Skills to Make the Most of Global Opportunities in Research and Development 

• Embedding pathways to develop and up-skill employees within technical employment 
• Promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills within secondary education
• STEM: Increasing the number and quality of graduates and post-graduates with STEM qualifications, transferable ‘soft’ skills and business awareness 
• Capability mapping the UK workforce to identify key skills gaps
• Creating clear pathways for skilled students into UK business – applying the lessons of business-university engagement
• Collaboration between industry, government and academia 

Invitation Extended to: Skills Funding Agency   

 

 

16.45 Defence Research and Development – working in partnership with industry

 

• Investing at least 1.2% of the Ministry of Defence's budget in to innovation
• Working closely with the Defence Scientific Advisory Council
• The role of manufacturing and the defence industry to both national security and economic stability
• Working in partnership with industry
• Ensuring the UK has the manufacturing skills base
• Cyber Security - working in collaboration with Universities to ensure research helps deliver a resilient UK

Dr Bryan Wells, DST-Strategy Director, Ministry of Defence (Confirmed)

 

 

17:00 Closing Keynote: Achieving Growth and Technological Progress Within the UK’s £7 Billion Space Industry 

• Ensuring the UK has the means to access and take a share of the £400bn global space industry
• Supporting business to place the UK at the forefront of the high tech space industry
• Funding and supporting  the UK’s satellite industry
• Investing £21m in the UK space radar project
• Joint Government and private funding of £11.5m for four early stage space projects
• Defining the priorities within the UK Space Agency Education Strategy
• Supporting and developing  SMIs to access the space industry
• Understanding the UK industry’s place within a rapidly growing sector
• Insights into the on-going consultation on the UK Space Agency ‘s Strategy for 2011-2015
• The creation of a new Catapult centre in satellite applications
• The role of the UK within European Space Agency 
• Using space data to understand and counter climate change
• Transfer of space technologies into non-space applications
• Space commercialisation and knowledge exchange
• The relevance of space in understanding and monitoring climate change

Dr David Williams, Chief Executive, UK Space Agency (Confirmed)

 

 

17:15 Questions and Answers and Close