HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NORTH

Louise Smith 04 June 2008 New Scientist Magazine issue 2659

LAST year, Canadian postdoc Chris Carmichael relocated to Scotland from Nottingham when his supervisor was offered a position at the University of Edinburgh. He has never looked back. "I love Edinburgh. It's such a wonderful place to be," he says. "Because it's the capital, you've got the arts, the museums and several theatres." Not only that, but jump in a car and you can soon be in the Highlands and the Western Isles. "It's easy to get away."

Andrew Mills, a chemist who moved from Swansea to the University of Strathclyde nine years ago, is also pleased with his chosen location: "I'm staggered by the dramatic scenery that's only 40 miles from Glasgow." Though Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, it is not so big that you're overwhelmed by it, Mills says. Edinburgh is sometimes called the "Athens of the north", but Glasgow's main square - complete with pavement cafes in the summer - gives the capital a run for its money. "Glasgow is like the Paris or Rome of the UK. And the University of Strathclyde is right in the centre," he says.

The positive mood is not only pervading Scotland's academic science, but is filtering through to business too, turning the country's world-class scientific achievements into economy-driving moneymakers. "There is strong encouragement to commercialise things here," says Ian Wilmut, who created one of Scotland's most famous daughters - Dolly, the cloned sheep - while at the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute. "There is certainly a lot of support from the Scottish government."

Last year, university science in Scotland received £1.1 million of Scottish government funding and £200 million from UK research councils. The money is well spent. For its diminutive size, Scotland's research base has excelled. It produces around 1 per cent of the world's research with less than 0.1 per cent of the world's population. It also boasts 12.5 per cent of the UK's top-rated departments, despite being home to less than a tenth of the total UK population.

All this contributes to a thriving network of grand, old universities mixed with brand-new research facilities - and in inspiring surroundings: you're never more than a stone's throw from breathtaking mountains and crystal-clear lochs. Although house prices are holding up better than in the rest of the UK, an average home still costs £50,000 less than you'd pay in England. So what's not to like?

Booming biotech

(A)Scotland's academic strength in the biological and health sciences has a long history. More than 500 years ago, the multitasking members of the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh, whose craft was not only to cut hair but to practise bloodletting and other forms of surgery, were incorporated as a craft guild of the city. This became the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and has more recently been joined by a world-class academic life-sciences scene and a thriving biotechnology sector.

Scotland's life-science sector ranges much further than the creation of Dolly the sheep. Although stem-cell research is still a speciality, other hot areas include cancer research, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Overall, Scotland contributes 0.8 per cent of the world's scientific publications. This might not sound like much but, as the old adage goes, it's what you do with it that counts. A common method of judging success in science is how many times a publication is cited, and therefore how much impact it has.

According to an independent report produced for the Scottish government by data-analysis company evidences, this little nation is punching above its weight, producing 2 per cent of the world's highly cited papers.

The same report reveals that Scotland's impact in health and medical sciences, when compared with other countries with similar research economies, puts it in first place. In clinical sciences, it is second only to Switzerland, and in biological sciences it takes a commendable third place.

For researchers, then, Scotland is a pretty desirable place to be. Certainly Wilmut has felt no need to move since he arrived in the 1970s. "There is very good research here," he says. "Life sciences are a priority in Scotland, so there are great career opportunities here."

The biggest priority now is to capitalise on all that knowledge. "What we've been very good at is being innovative," says Ruth Andrew, spokeswoman for Scottish Enterprise, a Scottish government-funded agency that supports business development. "What we haven't been so good at in the past is taking those ideas and making a business of them."

Nowadays, Scotland is getting just as good at turning research into business as it is at doing the research in the first place. One initiative has been particularly successful in translating research into remedy. The aptly named Translational Medicine Research Collaboration (TMRC) is a newly established network of clinical research centres involving the medical schools at Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh universities, a core research lab hosted by the University of Dundee, US-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the NHS. The collaboration aims to develop treatments and drugs by researching how to better diagnose and monitor disease.

A second round of government funding for the TMRC was announced this year - to the tune of £15 million. A solid $45 million commitment from Wyeth has also been a boon for Scotland. "It's the first time Wyeth has come out from the US to do something of this kind," says Andrew.

What's more, different types of collaborations are springing up throughout the country. In two years' time, Wilmut and his colleagues will move to an area known as the Edinburgh BioQuarter. This massive development got under way two years ago when the University of Edinburgh established its medical school next to the site of the Royal Infirmary, and the idea to develop a complex that combines top-class research and clinical expertise with a healthy dose of industry was born. "That combination, going from the most basic research to the clinic, will be extremely important for the most rapid exploitation of the knowledge," says Wilmut.

(B) Life sciences are certainly one of Scotland's strengths, but other areas are also benefiting from government support and hoping to attract world-class researchers as a result. The Informatics Forum, for example, a £42 million project at the University of Edinburgh, will bring the university's informatics researchers - who are currently spread out across the city - under one roof. Part-funded by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish government, the forum is due to open in August.

The forum might be a new kid on the electronics block, but Scotland's history in electronics research and business goes back a long way. Scotland is home to many multinational companies, such as Dell and IBM, and this well-established area of industry maintains a healthy job market. The field of electronics makes up 40 per cent of jobs on offer at "Talent Scotland", an initiative run by the Scottish government to attract skilled professionals to the country, says Hazel Sinclair, the organisation's senior manager.

It was early government support that led to the establishment of Wolfson Microelectronics, a spin-off company from the University of Edinburgh. Devices made by Wolfson now power mobile phones, digital cameras and flat-screen TVs worldwide, and the company has offices in several countries, including Japan, Korea, India and Germany. It also maintains symbiotic local links: up to 40 per cent of Wolfson's engineers are graduates from the University of Edinburgh, and the company offers mentoring for start-up companies in the area.

Equally, if it is gaming you're into, you'd be hard pushed to find a better place to work than the home of computer games Grand Theft Auto and State of Emergency. As New Scientist went to press, GTA designers Rockstar Games had several vacancies in its Edinburgh studio. So if you're looking to make a career in gaming, several degree programmes in Scotland will help you on your way. The University of Abertay in Dundee and the University of the West of Scotland at Paisley both run well-established courses.

(C) When Robert Burns wrote "Nae man can tether Time nor Tide" in his 1790 poem Tam O'Shanter, he couldn't have known that over 200 years later his beloved Scotland would set about doing exactly that - harnessing the power of the tide to become Europe's most promising provider of renewable energy.

The Scottish government has set itself some stiff targets when it comes to using clean, green power. By 2011, it aims to have 31 per cent of Scottish electricity coming from renewable sources, and by 2020 that target rises to a whopping 50 per cent.

This might sound like a huge undertaking, but with a long, wind-whipped coastline, it may be in reach. Scotland has the potential to provide a quarter of Europe's wind power, as well as a quarter of its tidal power and a tenth of its wave power. The soon-to-be-tethered tides of the Pentland Firth, the stretch of water that separates the Orkney Islands from the northernmost tip of the Scottish mainland, have already earned the area the nickname "the Saudi Arabia of tidal power".

Already, nearly a fifth of Scotland's power comes from renewable sources, and new schemes to boost this figure are springing up all the time. In April alone, the Scottish government approved two proposals: a hydroelectric scheme in Perthshire capable of generating power for around 1000 homes, and a wind farm near Brora in Sutherland with the capacity to power nearly 40,000 homes.

One company leading the pack is AWS Ocean Energy, based in Alness, near Inverness. The company is developing buoys that sit in the sea and harvest energy from the change in water pressure caused by the waves. Although it currently employs just 14 people, it is looking to double that number in the next year, says chief executive Simon Grey. "Scotland is a very good place to be because there's a lot of political support [for renewable energy]," he says.

As they develop, these kinds of schemes should also boost the number of jobs in the area. Though energy is a new area of activity for Talent Scotland, it makes up 10 per cent of its vacancies and Sinclair expects that proportion to grow as the sector matures.

It's not all plain sailing on calm seas, though. Before approving schemes like these, the government must weigh up the cost of sprouting wind turbines in unspoilt countryside or sinking tidal-power generators into ocean ecosystems. Green power creates its own environmental issues in the form of threatened wildlife and habitats, and some schemes - like the recently rejected proposal for a 181-turbine wind farm on Lewis - fall at these hurdles.

Despite some setbacks, many proposals are steaming ahead, and the government is doing more than its fair share of encouraging innovation in the area of green energy with the newly established Saltire prize. This £10 million award for advances in clean energy draws its inspiration from other high-profile science prizes such as the Nobels.

Grey might be somewhat bound to coastal living given the speciality of his company, but part of Scotland's appeal for him is its great accessibility. "We can walk out of the office and go for a walk along the seashore," he says. "In 10 minutes you can be in amongst 3000-foot mountains, in 20 minutes you can be on the high street, and in two hours I can be in central London."

(D)Before being headhunted by the University of Edinburgh, Polly Arnold was at the University of Nottingham for seven years, producing compounds that have strange reactive properties. "We try to make molecules that textbooks say shouldn't exist - weird molecules with electrons where they shouldn't be," she says. Arnold now continues her work in inorganic chemistry, albeit in slightly different surroundings.

(E) The major draw was moving to a better university which was offering us a really well-equipped lab. Alongside that there were personal advantages - it's a much nicer place to live.

(F) Yes. We sent the research group up, and they were very well looked after. They were given a tour and shown what postgraduate life was like.

(G) My husband and I both had jobs at Nottingham, but the University of Edinburgh had the money to make both of us an offer that most universities wouldn't be able to afford. I'd been trying to get better facilities for my group at Nottingham and I'd always come up against problems I couldn't solve. So the opportunity to move to another lab where they were already solved was a fantastic opportunity.

(H)The fact that wherever I go in the world, I get scientists dying to come and spend a sabbatical with us, or come and give a lecture. It's a combination of them thinking "Oh, Edinburgh, how beautiful", and wanting to give a lecture in our well-known department.

(I) Strapped for cash in Scotland? Not a problem when you can apply for these generous awards SCOTLAND'S Saltire prize encourages scientists to develop clean marine-energy innovations, offering the winner £10 million. "Scotland won the natural lottery with oil and gas in the 1970s and has won it again in its potential for planet-saving renewable energy," said first minister Alex Salmond, who announced the award in April.

Other competitions have generated huge amounts of R&D investment through cash prizes, a model Scotland wants to copy. The X prize foundation, for example, plans to offer prizes in the energy domain alongside awards such as the Google Lunar X prize, a $30 million competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon and use it to transmit information back to Earth.

If you're after funding on a smaller scale, then Scottish Enterprise's Proof of Concept (POC) fund might appeal. The programme aims to help researchers commercialise a great idea. A bit like Dragons' Den, then? "We don't say that," says Ruth Andrew of Scottish Enterprise. "It's not so scary!"

Andrew Mills at the University of Strathclyde is a recent beneficiary of this award, which will help him develop a UV-sensitive skin patch that changes colour to warn when your skin is about to burn. Could he have done it without POC? "With great difficulty," he says.

(J) When the University of Edinburgh established its medical school right next to the Royal Infirmary, Scottish Enterprise spotted an opportunity. The 15 hectares of land next to the site was ideal for a business park, says Scottish Enterprise spokesperson Neil McInnes, and combining research, clinical practice and industry in one space "was the next big thing in terms of life-science development, ensuring Edinburgh stays ahead of the game".

In 2007, the US-based developer Alexandria Real Estates - famous for such projects as San Francisco's Mission Bay development and New York's East River Science Park - came on board. It is helping to complete a building that will serve as an incubator for start-up companies (called an "accelerator") and several new facilities for institutions including the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

Two-thirds of this centre is government-funded. "That shows you the commitment there is, not only to the health of people here, but also to job and wealth creation," says Ian Wilmut, the centre's director.

By 2015 BioQuarter is expected to have created 6500 jobs, and £350 million for the Scottish economy.

Task 17.Find the sentence which describes the main idea of the article best of all. Prove your decision.

A.The author of the article explores the amenities of Scotland to attract tourists.

B. Louise Smith goes in search for the reason why so many scientists are heading for the Scottish borders

C.The author of the article describes the possibilities for the scientists to make their career in Scotland.

D.Louise Smith enumerates the scientific achievements of Scittish science.

Task 18. Figure out and underline the main ideas of the paragraphs. It is useful to know that the most common place for a main idea is in the first sentence of a paragraph. It is a good rule to follow: write the main idea and then write sentences that support that idea. But sometimes main ideas can be in different places. Look for the most general statement. The main idea is not always a sentence in the paragraph. Sometimes it is an idea from several sentences.

1) LAST year, Canadian postdoc Chris Carmichael relocated to Scotland from Nottingham when his supervisor was offered a position at the University of Edinburgh. He has never looked back. "I love Edinburgh. It's such a wonderful place to be," he says. "Because it's the capital, you've got the arts, the museums and several theatres." Not only that, but jump in a car and you can soon be in the Highlands and the Western Isles. "It's easy to get away."

2) Andrew Mills, a chemist who moved from Swansea to the University of Strathclyde nine years ago, is also pleased with his chosen location: "I'm staggered by the dramatic scenery that's only 40 miles from Glasgow." Though Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, it is not so big that you're overwhelmed by it, Mills says. Edinburgh is sometimes called the "Athens of the north", but Glasgow's main square - complete with pavement cafes in the summer - gives the capital a run for its money. "Glasgow is like the Paris or Rome of the UK. And the University of Strathclyde is right in the centre," he says.

3) The positive mood is not only pervading Scotland's academic science, but is filtering through to business too, turning the country's world-class scientific achievements into economy-driving moneymakers. "There is strong encouragement to commercialise things here," says Ian Wilmut, who created one of Scotland's most famous daughters - Dolly, the cloned sheep - while at the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute. "There is certainly a lot of support from the Scottish government."

4) Last year, university science in Scotland received £1.1 million of Scottish government funding and £200 million from UK research councils. The money is well spent. For its diminutive size, Scotland's research base has excelled. It produces around 1 per cent of the world's research with less than 0.1 per cent of the world's population. It also boasts 12.5 per cent of the UK's top-rated departments, despite being home to less than a tenth of the total UK population.

5) All this contributes to a thriving network of grand, old universities mixed with brand-new research facilities - and in inspiring surroundings: you're never more than a stone's throw from breathtaking mountains and crystal-clear lochs. Although house prices are holding up better than in the rest of the UK, an average home still costs £50,000 less than you'd pay in England. So what's not to like?

Booming biotech

6) Scotland's academic strength in the biological and health sciences has a long history. More than 500 years ago, the multitasking members of the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh, whose craft was not only to cut hair but to practise bloodletting and other forms of surgery, were incorporated as a craft guild of the city. This became the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and has more recently been joined by a world-class academic life-sciences scene and a thriving biotechnology sector.

7) Scotland's life-science sector ranges much further than the creation of Dolly the sheep. Although stem-cell research is still a speciality, other hot areas include cancer research, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

8) Overall, Scotland contributes 0.8 per cent of the world's scientific publications. This might not sound like much but, as the old adage goes, it's what you do with it that counts. A common method of judging success in science is how many times a publication is cited, and therefore how much impact it has.

9) According to an independent report produced for the Scottish government by data-analysis company Evidence, this little nation is punching above its weight, producing 2 per cent of the world's highly cited papers.

10) The same report reveals that Scotland's impact in health and medical sciences, when compared with other countries with similar research economies, puts it in first place. In clinical sciences, it is second only to Switzerland, and in biological sciences it takes a commendable third place.

For researchers, then, Scotland is a pretty desirable place to be. Certainly Wilmut has felt no need to move since he arrived in the 1970s. "There is very good research here," he says. "Life sciences are a priority in Scotland, so there are great career opportunities here."

11) The biggest priority now is to capitalise on all that knowledge. "What we've been very good at is being innovative," says Ruth Andrew, spokeswoman for Scottish Enterprise, a Scottish government-funded agency that supports business development. "What we haven't been so good at in the past is taking those ideas and making a business of them."

12) Nowadays, Scotland is getting just as good at turning research into business as it is at doing the research in the first place. One initiative has been particularly successful in translating research into remedy. The aptly named Translational Medicine Research Collaboration (TMRC) is a newly established network of clinical research centres involving the medical schools at Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh universities, a core research lab hosted by the University of Dundee, US-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the NHS. The collaboration aims to develop treatments and drugs by researching how to better diagnose and monitor disease.

13) A second round of government funding for the TMRC was announced this year - to the tune of £15 million. A solid $45 million commitment from Wyeth has also been a boon for Scotland. "It's the first time Wyeth has come out from the US to do something of this kind," says Andrew.

14) What's more, different types of collaborations are springing up throughout the country. In two years' time, Wilmut and his colleagues will move to an area known as the Edinburgh BioQuarter. This massive development got under way two years ago when the University of Edinburgh established its medical school next to the site of the Royal Infirmary, and the idea to develop a complex that combines top-class research and clinical expertise with a healthy dose of industry was born. "That combination, going from the most basic research to the clinic, will be extremely important for the most rapid exploitation of the knowledge," says Wilmut.

Task 19.Read the title of the article (Text B) and say what the article is about. Read the whole article to check whether you are right. (The information is on the CD)

Text B

BIO TECH BRAIN DRAIN:

ARE TOO MANY TALENTED SCIENTISTS LEAVING THE SOUTHEAST?

Task 20.Find the sentence which describes the main idea of the article best of all. Prove your decision.

Task 21.Read parts of the text again. Identify the topic sentence and the illustrating sentences of every part of the text.

Task 22.Paraphrase the following statements using the words and phrases in bold. The given words should not be changed.

1. The Southeastern United States has long been recognized for producing talented scientists and technicians.

famous forThe Southeastern United States ______________________ producing talented scientists and technicians.

2. It appears that the industry is aware of this Brain Drain and new programs and initiatives are being implemented to address it.

turns outThe industry ________________ to know this Brain Drain and new programs and initiatives are being implemented to address it.

3. Unfortunately, Georgia’s growing biotech industry does not produce enough jobs.

does not seemGeorgia’s growing biotech industry _______________________produce enough jobs.

4. The Brain Drain on the biotech industry occurs primarily because of a combination of lack of jobs for students and an inability to connect students with open jobs.

dueThe Brain Drain on the biotech industry occurs primarily ______________ a combination of lack of jobs for students and an inability to connect students with open jobs.

5. Several internationally recognized institutions have received funds to build institutes in the state.

givenSeveral internationally recognized institutions __________________ funds to build institutes in the state.

6. Florida Atlantic University will soon house the Florida Institute for Commercialization of Public Research.

locatedThe Florida Institute for Commercialization of Public Research ________________________ Florida Atlantic University.

7. The company is still closely connected to the University of Florida.

boundThe company _____________________________ the University of Florida.

8. All three states appear to be making significant efforts to grow their life science industries.

certainAll three states ________________________ making significant efforts to grow their life science industries.

9. Companies like Southeast BIO have become part of this solution by helping to educate people about available opportunities in the Southeast.

consideredCompanies like Southeast BIO _________________________ the part of this solution by helping to educate people about available opportunities in the Southeast.

10. The Southeast is still recognized as one of the fastest growing science and technology regions in the U.S.

no doubt The Southeast ____________________ one of the fastest growing science and technology regions in the U.S.

Task 23.Agree or disagree with the following statements. Prove your answer.

1. East or West home is best.

2. Scientists should travel a lot to develop their ideas.

3. It is impossible for a young scientist to find a job in his country and make a career.

4. In Russia there are all opportunities for young scientists to do their research.

Task 24. Discuss the following idea: brain drain in science.

One group of students should give arguments for it, another group of students should prove that brain drain in science is a negative process.

PART 4