The UK government is to launch a 'major campaign' to strengthen school science and overhaul its own science and technology investment, acting on the recommendations of a review by former science minister David Sainsbury. 

The government has also settled the research councils' budgets for the next three years, with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to get 18.6 per cent more cash in 2010-11 than in 2007-08. 

Launching his report on 5 October, Sainsbury stressed the importance of science and technology in driving the economy, and said that the UK should not try to compete with rapidly-developing nations on costs but 'invest in the future in areas such as knowledge generation, innovation, education, retraining and technological infrastructure'. 

He called for measures to drive up the number of pupils taking triple sciences at GCSE and to increase the number of qualified science teachers, particularly in chemistry and physics. He also recommended that all secondary schools establish science and engineering clubs within the next five years, establish a mentoring scheme to support newly qualified science teachers, and improve careers advice for students. 

Playing catch-up 

Sainsbury suggests that UK universities have largely caught up with their US counterparts in turning their research into marketable products, but recommends that the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) - the main stream of funding for university knowledge transfer activities - should be stepped up, and channel more funds to universities that work with small business. 

Les Ebdon, vice-chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire and chair of Chemistry World's editorial board, welcomed the move. 'Large companies should be funding the work they do with universities,' he said. 'SMEs are increasingly the growth engine of the economy.'  

The UK's Technology Strategy Board (TSB), once part of government but recently given its independence, should take on the role of coordinating public sector innovation, Sainsbury added, while international offices and fellowship schemes should be established to boost collaboration around the world. 

Comprehensive action? 

Sainsbury's recommendations were rapidly taken up by the government. In the 9 October Comprehensive Spending Review there was a hefty hike of nearly a third for HEIF - lifting its budget from £85 million in 2007-08 to £133 million in 2010-11. There will also be increases to the research councils' budgets over the CSR period. EPSRC's pot grows from £711 million to £843 million and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's budget goes up from £387 million to £471 million - a 21.8 per cent rise. The Medical Research Council (MRC) bagged the biggest boost - its budget is now set to rise 30.1 per cent, from £543 million to £707 million. 

Little of the extra money will go to basic research, though. Sainsbury recommended the research councils triple their knowledge transfer spending and much of the MRC's budget increase will go to help translate research findings into new drugs and treatments. Sean McWinnie, the RSC's science policy manager, said, 'Clearly we need to innovate more to compete - not just with science giants such as the US, but also with India and China. We welcome more for innovation, but doing that at the expense of basic research must be questioned.' 

Ananyo Bhattacharya