Science under the microscope

Science and technology are among the key engines of our economy. However, in many western countries there are two significant challenges facing these sectors: ageing populations and falling numbers of students taking STEM subjects. These are combining to create a rapidly approaching retirement cliff within the engineering community — for example, the average age of a UK engineer is now 54.

Added to this, the cost of R&D is ever increasing, and there’s a narrowing patent window from which to recoup those costs as generic drugs are faster to market. Meanwhile, late-stage failures in drug trials are more common in an arena filled with the most complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer.

And to cap it off, these sectors have an image problem. They are competing with newer, fast-paced industries that are more seductive to the next generation. The problem is at multiple scales — in schools, universities and the workplace. The way that STEM subjects are taught has remained largely unchanged for years, and the education system needs to attract the next generation of scientists and engineers to feed the pipeline of work that is predicted in these sectors and to keep innovation at the heart of our economy. Organisations must work harder at creating environments that are attractive to younger people, especially graduates. And it is not only the young that need to be wooed; organisations will have to offer working arrangements to entice those with experience back into mentoring roles.

Challenges to the industry are numerous too. R&D buildings are typically twice as expensive as regular office buildings to build, and the kit that goes into these buildings can dwarf the construction costs. People are of course the most valuable asset, but too often technical buildings are designed around the equipment they accommodate rather than the people using them. In the future these buildings need a more human focus, to encourage serendipitous interaction across disciplines, and must be easy to reconfigure and to colonise. They need to be better connected into the neighbourhoods around them, and become more open with blurred boundaries between private research and academia. While security issues can be considerable, many now see the benefit of closer connections with their customers and consumers.

All R&D environments need to become more about people, creativity and purpose. They must connect the scientific and engineering processes to outcomes: labs to patients, mobile phone workshops to teenagers and technical drawings to the bridges and dams that improve people’s lives.