Presentation to APC, January 2010 Science and Technology

Increased UG numbers and A level grades Increasing overseas teaching activity and a strong wish to grow this Good PGR numbers Strong research income Financially robust with outperformance since faculty began Science and Technology: current position

Context nationally Lancaster recruitment Quality assurance and student survey Course development and placements International expansion – Growth – Context – Challenges Obstacles/challenges summary UG and PG : Outline

Total Chem and Physics A Levels

Total Maths and FM A Levels

Total Computing and ICT A Levels

Undergraduate Home/EU Admissions

UG Admissions by department

UG A level grades A grade change 08 to 09 Biol Nat Sci Env Sci Geog Comp Comms Eng Maths Physics Psyc FST Average

Recent PQR successes for Geography, Environmental Science, and Communications Systems Good NSS performance with assessment and feedback strong in some departments (Maths, Physics) but needing attention in others (applications affected this year) Pursuing assessment and feedback as a priority within the faculty, monitoring feedback and improving assessment in module proposal outlines Ongoing embedding of QA processes for partnership programmes within departmental and faculty teaching committees Exploring the experience of international students and developing departmental and extra departmental support systems, with tutors for specific cohorts

Placement projects in LEC, Infolab and Engineering for PG and some UG Some work experience for overseas students New LEC UG module Dissertation with work placement Work with CEEC: All departments in FST will run two day employability workshops this year – many to be embedded in existing skills modules Employability – work with employers is a task in the SciTech Vision Project

Opportunities currently being explored within LEC to more effectively utilise modules across the LEC disciplines, providing greater choice for students in existing degrees, and enabling new programme development Harmonisation of teaching within Communications Systems and Computing underway to increase efficiency and reduce overlap Harmonisation of electronics teaching between Communications systems and Engineering to increase efficiency and reduce overlap Given A level chemistry growth, possible opportunity to consider teaching UG Chemistry by delivery of a suite of applied chemistry degrees with expertise in Engineering, Environmental Science and Biomedical and Life Sciences

Currently registered up to 09/10 Predicted Registrations 09/10 O/S UG Open Market5633 Islands1410 Manipal1724 Sunway43680 COMSATS50 Goenka0 Total

10/1111/1212/1313/14 O/S UG Open Market Islands Manipal Sunway COMSATS Goenka Total

Access, validation and remote delivery Concentrated in Engineering, Communications and Computing but opportunities across the Faculty Staff numbers in two areas are low and stretched Need to monitor nationality profile on programmes at Lancaster to ensure UK academic experience is not lost Specialised knowledge about QA and about accreditation needed Engagement currently very high from departments

Consider widening areas: what else will sell itself ? Integrating our plans: bringing centre/faculty /departments together to maximise opportunities Placing limits on numbers of new activities being considered at any one time Faculty team – Overseas partnerships officer to assist UG Associate Dean – Dedicated overseas administration staff – Allocated tutors across departments

Obstacles Overview FST would like to grow UG recruitment with good quality students - but may not be a good time given current economic position even though science may be protected Core science provision weak in chemistry. Chemistry teaching is needed within the faculty but not always research led. Equipment costly but needed. Further exploration to be carried out in 09/10 Planning and prediction for increasing International activity hampered by lack of robust data around international applications and registrations Staff resource to engage successfully with off shore developments may be stretched Changes in UKBA requirements for international students may hamper registrations although faculty staff make significant efforts to increase recruitment. This may lead to frustration of the staff involved

An increasingly competitive environment nationally and internationally – New players coming into the international student market in English, e.g., France, Germany Demanding financial climate A greater emphasis on improving links to employers and provision of training in both PGR and PGT Shift towards integrated/managed PG programmes, e.g., DTCs

Level Grand Total Proportion of total by level UG212574% PGT37913% PGR35212% Grand Total % PGTProportionPGRProportion Home/EU312 82% 24269% Overseas67 18% 11031% Total % % PGTProportionPGRProportion Full-time222 59% 29885% Part-time157 41% 5415% Total % % PGR counted when paying full fees

MSc programmes in 6 out of 7 departments A number of M year programmes MSci/MEng/MPhys: 61 students in the M year MRes year as part of some 4 year PhD programmes CPD/industry masters programmes: part time – Safety engineering – Decommissioning – Investigative expertise – 100 students

Open market – F/T: 44 – P/T: /9: 29 O/S PGT students assisted with scholarships/bursaries Partnerships – Comsats: 5 (Access) – Sunway: 18 (Remote) MSc in Networked and Mobile Systems MSc (research) in Computer Science – A number of other partnerships on the horizon

Open market – F/T: 67 – P/T: 9 Partnerships – Comsats: 7 – Sunway: 3 Studentships/fee waivers 2008/9 – 19 overseas students assisted

Based overseas – A Lancaster experience – Lancaster QA – Fully integrated into Lancaster processes Based at Bailrigg – Attention to previous learning styles and cultural differences – Additional classes/tutorials – An international experience – Language training

PGT Traditionally a primer for PhD Increasing awareness of more industry-relevant PGT programmes Requires improving our understanding of both local and international industry needs and student expectations PGR Our research excellence attracts students Increasingly competitive international markets with funded positions available Lack of funding can put off prospective strong international students

Research council awards – group or individual (BBSRC, NERC, ESRC) DTA funded (EPSRC) CDT funded CASE studentships Part or whole industry funded Faculty studentships – 2007/08: 6, 2008/09: 8, 2009/10: 8 University studentships – 2008/09: 10 Grant funded : charities, research councils Overseas government funded Self funded

Highwire: DTC in digital economy. Directed by Gordon Blair, Computing. Post disciplinary across three department/faculties. 10 students in each of 4 years NowNano: DTC in interdisciplinary nanoscience Joint with Manchester. Led by Volodya Falko, Physics. STOR: DTC in Statistics and OR. Director Jon Tawn, M&S,(Chair, Kevin Glazebrook). Up to 15 students in each of 4 years. Part industry funded

Student experience is pretty good Esp. for OS students, +ve message carried home QA mechanisms work but need to be harmonised for PGR We have good diversity of intake Need to do more for full integration of remote students Placements as part of PGT increasing

New PGT admissions process, 2 FAOs Marketing officer Induction event for new students Graduation reception Poster competition for the SciTech Christmas conference – Over-subscribed – 55 posters presented – Prizes for winners and runners-up SciTech Grad School Forum – Student representatives from departments (both elected and volunteers) – To gain feedback and understand student needs for the RTP 38 training coursers in the RDP – Students are encouraged to achieve 20 research training credits a year (1 credit = half a days training) – In Michaelmas Term (2009/2010) 19 coursers were provided and 87 students attended these – Should training courses be compulsory ?

Departments poor at costing PGT – Fee setting – Need to improve module sharing across schemes – Remove/refresh under-recruiting programmes Home/EU Funding for PGT – No EPSRC training funds – Graduate Debt International delivered overseas – Small numbers and growth unclear – Focus on a small set of partnerships with high ROI Recruitment in a competitive market – Incentivise: Continue Deans scholarships and Departmental bursaries

PGR variance across departments: Grad School action – Monitoring and assessment processes – Completion rates – Research training culture – Programme reviews Increasing shift towards DTCs – May negatively impact bottom-up research – 1+3 model may require a rethinking of our PGR programmes as a whole Recruitment in a competitive market – We are not dependent on single sources of funding but there are pressures on all sources – CDTs elsewhere may add to competition

Research Excellence with impact Science and Technology

Where are we now ? RAE summary 4* outputs in all areas Physics top in country with 25% 4* and 95% international Computing 100 % international (tied 10 th ) Statistics11th LEC tied 12th Communications hit by environment Engineering reasonable but very small, pure maths static, psychology down

From faculty strategic plan: Physics, Computing, Statistics and LEC in the top 5 nationally, with Physics holding on to first position All other UoAs in the top half of the list of 94 Group and Russell Group universities

Impact preparation – Christmas conference 2009 – Undertake a Faculty-wide Impact Pilot Monitor research grant performance – Research committee – Departments Active management of research bidding – Alert staff to forthcoming bidding opportunities – Put together bid teams – Win some big bids Diversify income streams: TSB, industry

Attract, develop and retain world-class staff – Flexible recruitment processes – Robust PDR process with strong objective-setting – Identification of top journals for each area – Research staff: development and flexibility Maintain world-class infrastructure – strategic equipment purchases – upgraded laboratories – high grade working environment

to optimise InfoLab by bringing Computing and Communications Systems together to develop new programmes in research, teaching and innovation to create new research centres in – Energy, especially nuclear and carbon capture at the landscape scale – quantum technologies – and to horizon scan for at least one further centre

dual problems of declining energy resources and the global threat of climate change major national and international funding agencies recognise that there is a need for: – a mix of new technologies to develop alternative secure energy sources that reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions – new technologies for user control – an updated energy infrastructure that can cope with future demand – social, economic and environmental analyses of the new technologies and of energy use.

Four challenges – The nuclear challenge – The computing challenge – The transport challenge – The challenge of carbon sequestration at the landscape scale Two landscapes – The technology landscape – The KE landscape

LQTC Malvern Centre Industry DesignMaterials Feasibility and testing Prototyping NASA Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

HF components Bio- sensors and imaging Telecoms laser Photovoltaics, Oil recovery Bookham IR Sources, Gas Sensing ADI, Microcrystal, Statek BP NHS, Unilever, Anasys Numonyx, IBMMemories E2V, PROCAL, GSS LQTCcapability Equipment Growth and pre-processing Characterisation Theory and modelling Staff QT Fellows, Business Development Manager, Technical support, Project manager Technical softwareAccelrys, BP

STFC : restrictions in grant funding, cuts in amount of FEC paid, removal of UK from some international activity. 356 proposals during , requesting over £250 million. 206 approved (receiving just over £67 million in total). EPSRC: continued move to larger groupings, larger early career grants, larger responsive mode grants, more themes and signposts, controls on who can submit grants, 23% /24% (number /amount) success in responsive mode 2008/9 NERC: seven science themes each with a strategy plan and action plans in addition to response mode. Currently reviewing skills needs. 23 % success rate 08/09. ESRC: moving to CDT model, continued focus on quantitative methods, underestimated FEC costs, increased numbers of applications, 13% responsive mode success recently Cross research council themes: interdisciplinarity, addressing issues of major concern, with continued emphasis on economics and social sciences in relation to science and technology areas TSB – technology focussed, industry funding needed, complex procedures

From faculty strategic plan : to increase our research income from a wide variety of sources, including industry, and to build our capacity to win large bids Challenges: Making and winning large bids Responsive mode squeeze Interdisciplinarity and research teams Industry collaboration European funding – maintaining relationships with partners Directing the agenda – RCUK – Government – Europe – International

67% 66% 69%

% increase 2006/072007/082008/09 06/7 to 08/9 Income% % % Research Council£7,518,01852%£9,034,71156%£9,814,99856% 30% Europe£2,885,63420%£2,899,98918%£3,687,63821% 28% Charity£495,2483%£496,1493%£394,8342% UK Govt£2,494,70417%£2,339,96414%£2,272,34313% Industry£828,1656%£1,094,0947%£1,060,8216% 28% Other£318,0992%£403,2792%£306,6792% Total£14,539,868100%£16,268,186100%£17,537,313100% 21%

67% 66% 69% 2006/072007/082008/09 Income% % % EPSRC£3,903,77552%£3,916,66543%£4,465,88346% NERC£673,8669%£1,530,63617%£1,865,90619% STFC£1,520,36320%£1,849,75720%£2,232,87923% ESRC£534,7897%£882,79010%£765,2628% BBSRC£730,91010%£635,8637%£313,7263% MRC£53,0071%£121,7031%£112,5401% AHRC£101,3041%£97,2981%£58,8021% Total£7,518,014100%£9,034,712100%£9,814,998100%

Collaborative research (from HEBCI return) 2006/072007/082008/09 Income% % % FST£8,966,47677%£6,278,37075%£8,447,68867% Total£11,687,421100%£8,394,843100%£12,541,905100% Note: Collaborative research figures include in-kind contributions

6 grants currently held totally £768k 2 of these are KTPs 2 pending All Engineering, Comms, Computing Obstacles – Difficult to put together – Quite small amounts – Time taken to build expertise

North West Eco-Innovation Programme : Grant income£3.3 million – Enterprise & Business Partnerships team at Lancaster Environment Centre in partnership with C-Tech Innovation Ltd. InfoLab21 Scientific & Technology Exploitation Programme (ISTEP): grant income £850k – To identify, develop and commercially realise available technology transfer opportunities from InfoLab21s research InfoLab21 Strategic Innovation Support (ISIS): grant income£2million – Access for companies to Transformational ICT: new technologies and high end solutions. Uses PG and UG students and academic staff. Support for Sustainable Design & Rapid Manufacturing (SusDRaM): grant income £1million – A dedicated Rapid Manufacturing facility accessible to industry – Place undergraduate and postgraduate students in NW based manufacturing companies to facilitate KE and graduate retention

Director for Enterprise and Industry Relations appointed to work with the Associate Dean for Research – Meet with each Department to discuss their current industrial engagement, and their plan for improvement. Each Dept to nominate one industrial representative – Gather information on companies currently working with different Departments within the Faculty in research or in providing student placements and publish this list on the website – Identify and assist individuals who have new ideas for either patent or spinout company. This is an on-going process, so far we have identified one suitable idea for spinout company – Establish a closer working relationship with Business Enterprise unit Develop a strategy for HEIF5

Research councils, the European commission and other funders have – Targeted funding – Interdisciplinary problems to address – Preferences for larger groups, within and across institutions Industry, TSB, and government organisations want our skills but may not behave like research councils We need to be able to – put teams together to work on bids – call on appropriate resources and expertise as and when needed – be flexible in relation to customer needs and requirements – work positively together and share the same goals – reduce defensiveness internally so that we can all contribute

Is there a need for a wider approach to impact and help with identification of impacts both for REF and for research grants ? Is there a need for a more integrated approach to research and business development ? Is our ERDF strategy (should there be any future ERDF funding) fully articulated given the move away from the need to fund buildings ? Is there a need for an update of the innovation/ business development strategy for the university?

And finally Science and Technology

Developing overseas research partnerships – Identifying nodes in our overseas networks where faculty level partnership could be developed. – Identifying major research thrusts in other countries where overseas involvement is requested and where the needs match our expertise. Can we link across research teaching and industry in one country Lancaster in China for food security and environment Can we develop overseas industrial partnerships? – Exploring knowledge exchange opportunities through inter- governmental programmes. – Developing industrial partnerships which will offer students placements overseas. – Developing active direct relationships with companies overseas.

Understand the relationships and tensions between home markets and international markets Encourage colleagues to represent the faculty as well as their area or department when they are overseas. Capitalise on the knowledge and expertise of existing international staff and enhance the support provided for them. Ensure our alumni relations are extended to our international graduates. Seek external support for international activity from a variety of external sources.