Incentivise academics who work with business, argues BIS chief scientist

The chief scientific adviser to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has said he wants to see a greater emphasis on encouraging academics to work with business.

Speaking at Imperial College London on 4 June, John Perkins, who is also a visiting professor at the college, said: “This institution has a long history of working closely with industry and indeed rewarding academics who do so. But nationally I’m not sure that picture is quite so rosy and it’s giving us some difficulties.”

He referred to a Foresight report on manufacturing and business processes, conducted under the first round of the Foresight programme from 1994 to 1999. That report describes one priority for the UK as “giving recognition to academics contributing to industrial success”. Perkins said, “I wonder if we’ve really succeeded in [this]”, adding that the question troubled him.