The Scottish Government

Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey 2003-2004

This report presents the Scottish results from the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction survey (HE-BCI). This is an annual survey of UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which covers strategies and activities undertaken on the commercialisation of knowledge.

The report and previous reports are available to download from the HE-BCI section of the Scottish Executive's Business Statistics website.

The HE-BCI survey is a useful measure of knowledge transfer between HEIs and their local economy. The report allows us to identify trends in HEI-business interaction and to monitor their development. It records spin-outs, staff and graduate start-ups, and other commercialisation of knowledge generated by HEIs. HEIs' engagement with SMEs and other organisations is also covered by the survey.

Key Findings

1. In 2003-04, as in previous years, Scotland has been generally more active in knowledge transfer than the UK as a whole. This is due to Scotland's relatively high number of HEIs compared to its population and a commensurate higher level of research funding.

2. The main findings from the Scottish survey for 2003-04 are consistent with previous years. They also show an overall upward trend in the levels of commercialisation activity from 2000-01 to 2003-04, despite volatility in some indicators at the regional level.

3. The majority of commercialisation activity in Scotland is concentrated in 8 HEI's, of which: 5 HEI's account for 91% of total IP income; 3 HEI's account for 64% of the total income from collaborative research; and 5 HEI's account for 63% of the total value of consultancy contracts.

4. The main findings from the Scottish survey results for 2003-04 are detailed below:

• The number of new patent applications filed decreased by 6% from 212 in 2002-03 to 199 in 2003-04. However, over the four year period between 2000-01 and 2003-04, the number of new patent applications filed increased by 91%.
• Patents granted have decreased by 29% from 69 in 2002-03 to 49 in 2003-04. However over the longer term, the number of patents granted has increased by 63% in the period 2000-01 to 2003-04.
• Between 2002-03 and 2003-04, the number of disclosures increased sharply by 46%, from 284 to 416. Over the longer term, 2001-02 to 2003-04, disclosures have increased by 38%.
• After a sharp increase in 2002-03, income generated by consultancies decreased by 11%, from £20.8 million in 2002-03 to £18.6 million in 2003-04. Over the longer term, total income from consultancy contracts increased by 76% in the period 2000-01 to 2003-04.
• Income from collaborative research increased sharply by 8% from £44,643 thousand to £77,592 thousand in 2003-04.
• The number of people employed by all active spin-offs with no HEI ownership more than doubled, increasing from 540 (FTE) in 2002-03 to 1,606 (FTE) in 2003-04. The majority of this increase was recorded by one Scottish HEI.
• On average, Scottish HEIs record £0.35 million turnover from each active spin-off in 2003-04, in comparison to £0.42 million in the UK was a whole.
• Scottish HEI's rank 'Education' as the main areas through which they contribute to economic development, and rank 'Technology Transfer' as the second most important. The industrial sectors with which they work most closely with are 'Education' (95% of HEIs work with this sector), 'Health and Social Work' (95%) and 'International Organisations and Bodies' (89%).

Notes

1. The UK results are published by HEFCE at the same time as the Scottish report and are available on the HEFCE website.
2. The Scottish results highlighted in this report are based on responses by 19 Scottish Higher Education Institutions.
3. The Scottish Agricultural College were not asked to submit a questionnaire this year for reasons detailed in the Executive Summary.
4. Bell College of Technology was included in Part A only for the 2003-04 survey and in all parts in the previous surveys.
5. UHI Millennium Institute became a HEI during 2001 and was included in the 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 surveys.

Contacts

Joanne Donnell, Branch 5, ASD, ETLLD

joanne.donnell@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

0141 242 5533

Other organisations involved in producing the HE-BCI report:

• Higher Education Funding Council for England
• Scottish Funding Council