Report criticises UK nanotechnology strategy
The UK could miss out on taking a slice of a nanotechnology market that could be worth US$1 trillion by 2015.
The UK could miss out on taking a slice of a nanotechnology market that could be worth US$1 trillion by 2015 if it does not move swiftly and attract, train and retain scientists of the highest calibre, says a nanotechnology study.
Many experts believe that Russia, Germany, China and the US will capitalise on the knowledge gained from UK research and use it to their benefit.
US nanotechnology firm NanoInk and UK-based research partner TBx Consulting asked 46 leading research scientists their opinions on the future opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology research in the UK and summarised their findings in a report entitled UK Strategy for Nanotechnology.
The US National Science Foundation predicts that the nanosciences will require a skilled workforce of more than two million nanotechnologists in five years" time, and the report suggests that healthcare, diagnostics/drug delivery, nanomedicine and telemedicine will be a major recruiter of these scientists.
If the UK is to take a slice of the nanosciences market, the authors of the report, Thierry Bontoux of TBx Consulting and Tom Warwick of NanoInk, say it must attract, train and retain scientists of the highest calibre.
In order to do this, the report recommends that science is made more interesting and relevant in schools.
In addition, the 23 nanotech centres in the UK should be reduced to 3-6 centres of excellence, which are well resourced with equipment and expertise. These centres should be allowed to mix engineering and fundamental research equally to retain graduates who are able to turn their research into wealth-generating projects. This kind of solution has already been successfully put into practice in France and Germany, the report says.
The brightest scientists should be funded for a period of up to 10 years and be attached to one of the centres of excellence to remove funding application pressures and the burden of setting up their own group.
The report also urges the removal of the perceived barriers for progressing an invention through the supply chain and says incentives through tax credits should not remain only at the start-up phase.
