Engineering biology: converting lab R&D into outputs

Making scale-up a core focus of the report is a good move from the House of Lords. Don’t fail to scale: seizing the opportunity of engineering biology outlines the broad and deep strengths the UK has in this field, but there are several difficulties that we highlighted to the committee that need to be addressed.    

These problems fall into four areas: access to facilities to scale up, a lack of skills, the cultural difference between academia and business, and talent leaving the UK for countries with better scale up capacity such as Belgium and the Netherlands. While scientists may start off with a great idea in the UK, the conditions to scale up elsewhere often prove more attractive - even beyond the economic heavyweights of China and the U.S.

Moving from the lab

While many innovations take place in a laboratory, there comes a point when you need access to bigger facilities and equipment to take your innovation to the next level and produce at a higher volume. But access to these facilities in the UK is currently too limited. There isn’t a silver bullet to address the problem; instead, a multi-pronged approach is required.

There comes a point when you need access to bigger facilities and equipment to take your innovation to the next level and produce at a higher volume

This includes changing the funding structures for innovation centres, improving access to this infrastructure with the help of government and the private sector, while training enough chemical engineers whose skills are a crucial ingredient in taking ideas to scale.

Government should play a key role here by subsidising access to innovation centres, developing new ones or brokering arrangements to increase access in parts of the country where it is limited. Given the emphasis the government has put on both devolution and economic growth since taking office last summer; investment in the infrastructure required for engineering biology can help spread opportunity throughout the country. This in turn can create jobs, generate economic growth, improve industrial processes, and help the development of sustainable practices.

Beyond investment, training is crucial. The government can support scientists’ training, but industry involvement is equally necessary, particularly given the UK’s fiscal constraints.

However, it’s not just about money, as other reforms can be made to help alleviate the problem. Training needs can be addressed with changes to the academic syllabus at universities to include more entrepreneurial skills. Entrepreneurship seems to be a key factor holding back engineering biology in the UK. Scientists in the UK are trained to be scientists and are not encouraged to develop a commercial mindset. But when it comes to scaling up innovations, a commercial mindset is crucial.

Scientists in the UK are trained to be scientists and not encouraged to develop a commercial mindset. But when it comes to scaling up innovations, commercial mindset is crucial

Bringing together the two different worlds of academia and industry is what’s required to scale up. Ways to achieve this include industry-academia exchanges, mentoring schemes and communities of practice. These ideas would all help spread those entrepreneurial skills and best practice that are crucial here.

Prioritising investment

Government also needs to prioritise investment in training chemical engineers as they have the skills that are essential to scaling up innovations.

As well as changes to what people are taught, the government has a role to play in steering the direction of research funding. This doesn’t necessarily mean more money, but giving greater emphasis to the funding of more applied research would allow us to see more work that has that practical edge, and is closer to being able to be scaled up.

The previous government committed to £2 billion over the course of the decade, but the current administration hasn’t yet set out its precise funding commitment in this area. We would like to see government investment in this area split proportionally between more fundamental research on the one hand and more applied research on the other, to ensure that the money has maximum impact.

There is also scope for government to make the landscape more competitive via tax relief for startups in this area, making a talent drain less likely. The business environment is a major factor for where people choose to scale up their innovations – by making the UK more attractive, people will be less likely to relocate elsewhere. As engineering biology has been identified by the Government as a core opportunity for growth, such action would support their warm words.

In addition, universities and organisations such as IChemE have an important role in spreading best practice and networking people. Connecting and training members, mentorship programmes and placements for scientists going into industry are both examples of how other organisations can take the initiative without government help, or the need for a huge cash injection.

Duncan Lugton is head of policy impact at the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)

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