The UK government recently reaffirmed its ambition, outlined in its Innovation Strategy, of making the UK the most exciting place for innovation talent. What does this mean though in more tangible terms? One consideration could be whether a place has a rich history of innovation.
Newcastle and the North East of England have long been associated with industry, invention, and progress. Among the region’s famous sons is George Stephenson, the inventor a miner’s safety lamp that not only saved lives, but possibly gave rise in locals been known a Geordies.
Along with his son Robert, he developed steam-driven locomotives to work in the local collieries and, together, they were hugely influential in the expansion of the railways and the march of the Industrial Revolution.
Similarly, Sir Joseph Swan, a physicist, chemist, and inventor from Sunderland, who developed a successful incandescent light bulb. His own home in Gateshead became the first house in the world to be lit by electric light and he later formed a collaboration with Thomas Edison.
Another factor might be whether a place is supporting modern breakthroughs and setting the course for a brighter future.
The North East has built on its heritage over the years and, like the strata in rocks, it is both distinguishable from its predecessors but also supported by them.
Newcastle itself has been a model for change and re-invention, from being a wool and coal trading centre in the Middle Ages to a ship-building epicentre of the world by the 1800s, and, more recently, on to a cultural hub and environmentally conscious city of the twenty first century.
As part of the region’s latest incarnation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the government body that invests £8billion research and innovation funding each year, has invested more than £480 million in the North East region over the past three years.
Working with partners such as the North Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) we are linking universities with the private and public sectors to support the research and entrepreneurial teams that will move the country forward.
One such collaboration is the Advancing Circular Economy (ACE) Research and Development (R&D) Demonstrator project, which is led by Procter & Gamble (P&G) and backed by the Combined Authority. It aims to develop new and more sustainable biotechnologies for everyday cleaning products and find new ways to reduce domestic water consumption.
Improving the health and quality of life of the UK’s ageing population is another societal challenge that is being researched and addressed in the region.
The National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA), based at the Catalyst building in Newcastle city centre, was established with funding from UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC).
Through engaging with older people and product developers, via its Voice project, it is linking the real life needs and experiences of users to the designers and innovators who can produce goods and services that help people and create jobs.
Greening our energy and transport sectors is also a high priority if we are to confront the climate change emergency and maintain stable power supplies.
The Innovate UK-funded Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult at Blyth has been working for over a decade with companies of all sizes, academia, local authorities, and schools. It brings research into new technologies together with innovative businesses to accelerate the county’s use of its vast renewable energy resources, support the sector and create new careers.
UKRI has also invested in the Driving the Electric Revolution Industrial Centre (DER-IC) at Newcastle University. It is part of a £33 million nationwide programme to promote global recognition of the UK as a centre of excellence in Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Manufacturing Processes.
Operating out of four regional centres, including DER-IC North East, an Innovation Centre in Sunderland just a stone’s throw from the Nissan factory, the project provides open access to over £300 million worth of PEMD manufacturing equipment for developing, testing and manufacturing products.
The AURA Centre for Doctoral Training is shaping the offshore wind energy sector. Led by the University of Hull with universities of Durham, Newcastle, Sheffield and industry partners, it is finding solutions to environmental and engineering challenges facing the offshore wind industry while building the skills and leadership needed for the future.
The recent Research Excellence Framework assessment of universities (REF2021) saw a 74% increase in funds awarded by Research England to universities in the North East in recognition of the world-leading research that was found there.
These are just a small sample of the investments and initiatives that are helping to redefine the North, develop the skills that the country needs, and supporting the UK government’s levelling up ambitions.
Recently UK Research and Innovation brought together universities, institutes, policymakers and business leaders from across the wider Yorkshire, Humber and the North East region to showcase our five-year strategy and how we can work together to realise social and economic benefits across the region.
It is one of a series of events around the country that aim to inform, energise and emphasise the collaborative endeavour that is needed to keep our research and innovation system delivering for the UK. There is a clear ambition to improve the transition to commercialisation of ideas and research into products and services that yield benefits for us all.
Over two days, at Northumbria University and Newcastle’s Helix Centre, we heard from projects covering a wide range of challenges; from how we move from a petrochemical-based economy to a bio-based one, to how we co-design, co-develop and test ideas for happier and healthier later lives, and how UKRI-funded research in the North East of England is supporting the Net Zero transition.
The event also served as a platform to launch a new independent report, Innovating Together: Universities in the North East (InTUNE), which considers the contribution of five universities to the innovation and business growth agenda in the region, and their potential role in delivering activities that can contribute to the Government’s Levelling Up agenda.
As UKRI’s executive champion for its Place agenda, I have experienced first-hand the depth and breadth of research and innovation in Newcastle and the wider North East, the opportunities this creates and how, working with partners, we can build on underlying capabilities in the region to target these emerging growth areas.
There is much more to do as we work to support the people and projects who will create the new ideas, businesses and jobs, that will in turn increase inward investment and sustain regional growth.
But we can draw inspiration from the past, looking to making lives safer, healthier and better illuminated, we can build on the region’s industrial heritage and transform tomorrow together.
Professor Dame Jessica Corner – Executive Chair of Research England and UKRI Executive Champion for Place