China & UK Start First Academic-Business Partnership

A UNIQUE collaboration involving more than 20 of China’s higher education institutions and five in the United Kingdom has been launched. Called Innovation China UK, it is the first research and knowledge-transfer partnership between the two countries.

The groundbreaking collaboration has been set up to help support academic and business partners in building solid partnerships, to fund proof-of-concept research via a collaboration development fund, and - through its expertise in project management and technology transfer - to facilitate the commercialisation of joint intellectual property.

Her Excellency Madam Fu Ying, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the UK, and UK Minister for Science & Innovation Ian Pearson unveiled the new programme at Queen Mary, University of London, that is leading the partnership.

The UK Higher Education Innovation Fund - which supports knowledge transfer and increased business engagement in universities - has given the project five million pounds. China is providing funding through its Ministry of Science Technology.

China is certainly a key player in the global research and development (R&D) arena, currently housing the biggest R&D work force and enjoying the third biggest investment in the world.

The UK is hoping to tap into the sector’s credentials as well as raise awareness of what UK science and technology and the country’s universities have to offer.

In addition to Queen Mary, the other UK partners in the collaboration are King’s College London, the University of Nottingham, the Royal Veterinary College, and the University of Southampton.

China’s collaborators include the China Academy of Science (more than five institutes), Tsinghua University, Beijing University of Aerospace & Aeronautics, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China Ocean University, Nanjing University, University of Science & Technology and Xi’an Jiaotong University.

It is hoped that the collaboration will expand to involve more universities in the future.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Pearson said: “I particularly welcome the launch of Innovation China UK (ICUK) because of its emphasis on helping to bring ground-breaking research to the commercial market. It is also a further sign of cooperation between the UK and China.

“Such existing research partnerships mark a potentially significant step in the capability of both countries to boost knowledge transfer. With greater knowledge transfer comes a greater ability to innovate. Both the UK and China are at the forefront of cutting-edge science. Together we can benefit from a strong research base that works effectively with business,” he added.

Jin Xiao Ming, director general of international cooperation at China’s Ministry of Science & Technology, commented: “Science and innovation is high on the agenda in Sino-British relations. The recent opening of [the] Research Councils’ China Office signals a new era of bilateral science and innovation cooperation. Several major initiatives are unfolding and ICUK is among them.

“It is high time we tap into the enormously rich resources of joint research projects between our research institutions and bring them into the orbit of practical application and wealth creation. I firmly believe that ICUK will achieve success and expand to involve additional world-renowned UK universities in the future.”

ICUK has recognised the importance of collaborating with China to benefit from globalisation and to win “the race to the top” of innovation.

Professor Adrian Smith, principal of Queen Mary, University of London, said: “This project came about as a result of past experience working with UK and Chinese universities, where it became evident that many research-intensive higher education institutions already have significant UK-China R&D collaborations.”

Caroline Quest, chairman of ICUK partners’ board, added: “However, outcomes of such joint research are rarely commercialised as a result of the significant cultural barriers and the lack of dedicated support for UK-China technology transfer. ICUK aims to deliver dedicated UK-China technology transfer support, lower barriers and facilitate the commercialisation of UK-China research outputs.”

ICUK supports collaborative research in areas such as energy, climate change and sustainable environment, infectious diseases, biomedicine and drug discovery (including traditional Chinese medicine), nanotechnology and material science, and space technology.

Internationally recognised experts in knowledge transfer and industry representatives from the UK and China have agreed to participate in ICUK’s activities.

An added value of ICUK will be that lessons learned from the collaboration including guidance and briefings promoting UK-China R&D collaborations will be widely disseminated to organisations outside the partnership.

中英启动首个学术－商业伙伴计划

中英两国启动 “中英创新合作计划”，这是一个集合了20多家中国高等教育机构和5家英国高校的独特合作计划，是两国在研究和知识转让方面的第一个合作计划。

启动这样一个突破性的合作计划，是要支持学术界和商业界的合作者建立牢固的伙伴关系，从而通过合作发展资金来资助概念验证型的研究，以及通过项目管理和技术转让中的专业技术，来推动联合知识产权的商业化。

中华人民共和国驻英国大使傅莹女士、英国科学与创新大臣伊恩•皮尔森（Ian Pearson）在伦敦大学玛丽女王学院共同宣布了计划的启动，标志着合作关系的开始。

英国高等教育创新基金（支持知识转让、鼓励商界与大学合作的机构）已经为这项计划出资500万英镑。而中国方面正在通过科技部来提供资金。

在全球的研发舞台上，中国扮演着重要的角色。就目前来说，中国拥有最大的研发人力资源，而且吸引的全球投资位居第三。

英国希望证明自己在这方面的能力，同时也要引起英国科学技术领域和英国大学的重视。

除了玛丽女王学院，英国方面的合作机构还有伦敦大学国王学院、诺丁汉大学、皇家兽医学院以及南安普顿大学。

中国方面的合作机构包括：中国科学院（5个以上研究院、所）、清华大学、北京航空航天大学、复旦大学、上海交通大学、中国海洋大学、南京大学、中国科学技术大学、西安交通大学。

希望随着合作的开展，未来能够有更多的大学加入进来。

皮尔森先生在启动仪式上讲话时说道：“对于启动‘中英合作创新计划’，我非常欢迎，因为它强调的是为商业市场带来突破性的研究成果。同时，它也是中英两国进一步加强合作的标志。”

他接着说：“现存的研究合作关系标志着未来两国在推进知识转让方面的能力能够得到极大的提高。知识转让越多，创新能力就越强。英中两国都处于尖端科学的前沿，通过有效地与商业界的合作，建立起强大的研究基础，这样两国都能从中受益。”

对此，中国科技部国际合作司司长靳晓明评论说：“科学和创新合作是中英两国关系的重要组成部分。刚刚在北京成立的英国研究理事会中国代表处标志着中英在科学和创新上的合作进入了一个新的阶段。几个大型合作计划相继展开，‘中英科技创新计划’就是其中一个。”

 这正是我们利用两国科研机构之间业已存在的广泛研发合作，并将之带入实际应用和创造财富轨道的大好时机。我坚信，‘中英科技创新计划’一定会取得成功，而且也能继续扩大，在未来吸引更多英国知名大学参与进来。 ”

“中英科技创新计划”已经意识到了与中国合作的重要性，只有这样才能从全球化中获利，在创新竞赛中获胜。

伦敦大学玛丽女王学院校长艾德里安•史密斯（Adrian Smith）教授说：“ 该项目基于过去英中两国高等教育机构间的合作，这表明很多研究密集型高等学府都有丰富的英中科研协作经验。”

中英科技创新计划董事会主席卡罗琳•奎斯特（Caroline Quest）补充说：“不过，由于文化上的重大隔膜，再加上缺少对英中技术转让的全力支持，这些联合研究成果很少能商业化。中英科技创新计划的目的是全力支持英中技术转让，减少文化隔膜，推动英中研究成果商业化。”

中英科技创新计划支持在能源、气候变化、可持续环境、传染病、生物医学和药物研制（包括中医药）、纳米技术和材料科学以及空间技术领域的合作研究。

国际公认的知识转让专家和来自英中两国的行业代表同意参加“中英科技创新计划”中的活动。

“中英科技创新计划”还有附加价值，即向合作伙伴之外的其他组织传授合作中学到的经验，包括分发促进英中研发合作的指导方针和简报。