25th October 2012

£50m to Boost Sciences in Wales

Article published by South Wales Evening Post. Click here to see original.

Clubs like Swansea City and the Ospreys scan far and wide for talent — and scouting for top-class scientists is no different.

Glossy ads in world-renowned journals are aiming to lure the “galacticos” of the science world to Wales.

Publications including Nature, The Economist and the British Medical Journal have set out the Welsh Government’s £50 million Ser Cymru (Stars Wales) scheme in recent weeks.

The idea is to attract outstanding professors to universities and build networks of researchers to use science to boost the economy. There are big sums of money available for scientific research, but the Welsh Government said Wales was not getting its fair share.

Ser Cymru was unveiled in March — but the deadline for star candidates is November 16.

It is expected that successful applicants will be employed by universities, with the Ser Cymru fund topping up their salary, buying equipment and drawing together researcher teams.

Asked if any star scientists had been signed up, a Welsh Government spokeswoman said it was too early to talk about the numbers of stars coming to Wales, although it would “anticipate three or more”.

The Welsh Government was reluctant to be drawn on how much they might be paid. “It will, however, be comparable to other leading research stars in Wales and, for exceptional cases, would compare with international academics,” said the spokeswoman.

Swansea University’s Singleton Campus is home to purpose-built medical research centre the Institute of Life Science, while plans for the uni’s Bay Science and Innovation Campus off Fabian Way are well-advanced. One of the selling points for the latter is the expectation that jobs will be created by private companies such as Rolls Royce which are investing in the new campus.

Undergraduate numbers in science, technology, maths and engineering are said to be rising in Wales — while findings by school inspection body Estyn have found significantly lower standards in science and maths than other subjects. Research by the Royal Society found the proportion of A-level students in Wales taking biology, chemistry, physics and maths was well below the UK norm.

Cardiff Bay supremos have said Wales needs to maximise its skills in advanced engineering, life sciences and health, and the low carbon energy sector.

“Wales has some great scientific strengths but we could do so much better,” said First Minister Carwyn Jones earlier this year.