IN SCOTLAND, Chris Hillier is a new kind of scientist, and precisely the kind its government, the Scottish Executive, would like to see more of. He has managed to turn his research ideas into commercial realities without having to leave Scottish soil.
In just a few years Hillier and his colleagues have turned his technique for analysing chemical changes in biological tissues 鈥� a common bottleneck in the drug discovery process 鈥� into a successful commercial product called Perf-Exion. Their Glasgow-based company, Biopta, was nominated for the 2002 Best Scottish Newcomer award by Biotechnology Scotland and has been tipped as one of the country鈥檚 best prospects for global commercial success.
But this success did not happen all by itself. Hillier, who trained as a pharmacologist and previously managed the Vascular Assessment Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University, has benefited from a series of funding initiatives set up by the Scottish Executive and its economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, to help scientists commercialise their research.
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Ever since the Scottish Executive was established in 1999 it has attempted to change the country鈥檚 reputation as a place that is great at coming up with ideas but terrible at getting them to market. 鈥淪cotland has a tremendous history of innovation,鈥� says Jim Wallace, Scotland鈥檚 deputy first minister. 鈥淥ne has only to think of the television and telephone, and yet both John Logie Baird and Alexander Graham Bell had to leave Scotland to have their ambitions realised.鈥� Even today, despite Scottish universities鈥� excellent track record for winning more than their proportional share of British research grants, success with technology transfer is less glowing.
A closer look at the financial figures reveals the major source of the problem: a lack of investment in research by Scottish companies. Only 0.6 per cent of Scottish GDP is invested in research by its businesses, compared to 1.3 per cent for the UK as a whole and more than 2 per cent in the US. Investment in R&D is a major driver of innovation, one of the pillars of a modern economy.
The low level of investment has other consequences. With limited research opportunities outside universities and government research institutes, many graduates have to look further afield for industry-based R&D positions. 鈥淩esearch graduates coming out of university were forced to go abroad because there was so little research in Scotland,鈥� says Roger Dickinson, CEO of the government-funded research company ITI Scotland.
But all this is changing. Hillier was able to get his ideas off the ground because he and Biopta received a series of awards and grants to help them along the way. For example, a Proof of Concept fund is now available for researchers in Scotland to fund commercialisation of cutting-edge technologies. This provides successful applicants with grants of up to 拢150,000 to help 鈥減ut flesh on the bones鈥� of an idea, says Janet Brown, director of competitive business at Scottish Enterprise. The money is not provided to create prototypes, but rather to prove at an early stage that the idea is feasible and has market potential. Applicants do not need industrial partners to qualify for funding. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about supporting researchers so they can ultimately get industrial partners,鈥� says Brown.
The Proof of Concept fund is now entering its fifth year, and has helped 32 projects with grants totalling more than 拢4 million. Its success at launching projects and attracting additional money has lead to copycat schemes, such as the one announced in Northern Ireland in December last year.
Another springboard on offer is the Scottish Enterprise Fellowship scheme, run by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which helps prepare scientists for the business world. Fellows get paid a salary to allow them to develop their business ideas, and obtain an intense business education at Glasgow Caledonian University鈥檚 business school. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very helpful. It鈥檚 almost like an MBA, but much more condensed,鈥� says Hillier. 鈥溾�楢ccounts for entrepreneurs鈥� was covered in just one afternoon.鈥� Networking with business leaders and other entrepreneurs is a key part of this scheme, which began in 1997 and has since awarded 42 fellowships.
Having a good business idea is one thing, but without cash, a fledgling business will never take off. The Smart Scotland awards provide investment for spin-off and start-up companies from a fund valued at 拢9.5 million. These awards are not destined for run-of-the-mill projects. 鈥淚t has to be high risk and innovative, otherwise they won鈥檛 fund it,鈥� says Kevin Black, a geological oceanographer who co-founded Glasgow-based company Partrac with the help of this scheme.
Black moved from a research position at the University of St Andrews to found the firm, which uses his novel particle tracking technologies to monitor the movement of marine sediments. The company was set up with 拢62,000, of which 75 per cent came from a Smart Scotland award and the rest was raised as venture capital by Black and his two colleagues. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important that we won the award,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 exist without it.鈥� Besides cash, the award provides support with marketing, and financial and business planning. 鈥淏asically all the things a scientist traditionally isn鈥檛 interested in,鈥� says Black.
But it is not enough simply to give scientists a leg-up in business. The Scottish Executive also wants to stimulate research in key areas, and if necessary, create new research areas. A year ago it announced the creation of ITI Scotland, consisting of three Intermediary Technology Institutes. Each specialises in an area in which Scotland is already a market leader 鈥� energy, life sciences and techmedia (e-commerce development, networks and digital systems).
The ITIs take a novel approach. Rather than simply funding research, they use market forecasting to identify technologies, particularly in emerging markets, that are likely to be crucial to whole industries in the coming years and therefore highly profitable. 鈥淲e look at the market and commission studies to see where various research and technology is heading,鈥� says Dickinson. 鈥淲e are very market driven,鈥� he adds.
It鈥檚 an ambitious and proactive strategy, and one that the Scottish Executive is spending serious money on. The three ITIs will spend 拢450 million over the next 10 years, with each commissioning five or six projects a year valued at between 拢2 and 3 million. Although both universities and companies can bid for funding, a key aim of the ITIs is to stimulate R&D in business 鈥� with good reason.
In the 1970s and 1980s Scotland became an assembly and manufacturing hotspot for large technology multinationals such as IBM, but the companies did not locate their R&D bases alongside these plants. Manufacturing facilities can easily be transferred to cheaper locations, but research operations are less portable.
Since the Scottish Executive announced the creation of ITIs last year, their bases have been established 鈥� energy in Aberdeen, life sciences in Dundee and techmedia in Glasgow 鈥� and their heads appointed. The market forecasting exercises are due to be finished this month and new research projects could begin later this year.
So, in its short existence, the Scottish Executive has created a range of initiatives to help take ideas out of academic labs and into the marketplace. 鈥淭hey are pushing hard,鈥� says Black. But with limited places and funds available it is perhaps not surprising that most academics do not feel part of this new shift, especially if the same names keep winning the awards. Hillier鈥檚 company has benefited from every possible award scheme, for example.
Is it a good thing that the same people and companies appear to be winners? 鈥淭here are two ways of looking at it,鈥� says Brown. On the one hand, some innovators could be stifled through lack of opportunity. But on the other hand, she says, the selection procedures for all these awards and grants are completely independent. 鈥淭he fact that the same names keep winning is a good indicator that we have been backing the right people.鈥�
The government has worked hard to put the machinery in place to crank up the pace of technology transfer in Scotland. But this system can only provide support up to a certain stage. The ultimate test for fledgling Scottish enterprises will be their survival in the harsh commercial world.