MIT EF Turkey Istanbul April 14 2014

Dr. Chris Hentschel, Keynote Presentation

Policy Successes and Failures in the Biosciences 1972-2014

Policy Successes and Failures in the Biosciences 1972-2014

A personal narrative. Lessons from experiences in the UK, Switzerland the USA and Turkey

Can international policy lessons inform the current situation in Turkey?

And be used to avoid the pitfalls and maximize the opportunities of this ‘science of the future’?

Contents.. Higher Education 1972 – 78 (UK)

Academia 1978 – 81 (UK, Switzerland)

Biotech Industry/NIH 1981 - 87 (UK, USA)

Public – Private Partnership 1987 - 97 (UK)

Biotech Industry 1997 – 2000 (USA)

Public – Private Partnership/PDP 2000 -11 (Switzerland)

“Bio Istanbul” 2012 – 2013*

Conclusions

*Limited to public domain information

Higher Education .. 1972 – 1978, undergraduate at King’s College University

of London and PhD at National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London.

THE MOST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY IN LONDON INCLUDING FOUR THAMES-SIDE CAMPUSES WITHIN A SINGLE SQUARE MILE

Successes ✔and Failures ✗ in UK Higher Education

then. Fully state funded including accommodation at University ✔

Early specialization (at 18) ✔

No pressure to conform to ‘career’ qualifications ✔

Flexible modular course system calibrated to the interests of individual students ✔

Only high-achievers eligible for post-graduate work ✔

Pressure to publish from start of PhD work ✔

Possible to complete in 6 years ✔

Tuition in English!

Successes✔ and Failures ✗ in UK Higher Education

2014Fully state funded including accommodation at University

✗

Early specialization (at 18) ✔✗

No pressure to conform to ‘career’ qualifications ✗

Modular system calibrated to the individual students ✗

Only high-achievers eligible for post-graduate work ✔

Pressure to publish from start of PhD work ✔

Possible to complete in 6 years ✔

Tuition in English!

Language coverage within the Science Citation Index, 1980–1998

The role of English as the major language of modern day science is striking. Publications in French, German, and particularly Russian show a decrease in the coverage in the Science Citation Index in the recent years to collectively below 5 percent.

Other languages collectively seems to have stabilized from 1993 onwards, with about 0.5 to 0.7 percent of all publications.

The dominance of English is even larger if citations rather than publications are counted.

Academia/Post Doc Research

Imperial Cancer Research Fund (London), ICRF Fellow; ETH (Zurich), EMBO Fellow

Successes ✔and Failures ✗ in Academia/Post Doc Research.

Fully state, Civil Society or Internationally (EMBO) Funded ✔

‘Blue Sky’, Curiosity driven even “obscure” ✔

Pressure to publish in ‘premium’ journals ✔

No job security ✗

Funding short-term ✗

‘Tenure’ for teaching posts only ✗

Biotech Industry/NIH 1981 - 87 (UK, USA)

Higher Education .. 1972 – 1978, undergraduate at King’s College University

of London and PhD at National Institute for Medical Research, London.

Education is the KEY imperative for successful innovation and entrepreneurship. Incentivize it!Lower financial barriersEncourage ‘premium’ post graduate education ideally

abroad (to institutions like MIT) and the sharing of a research/innovation culture

Publish or perish! The science citation dominance of English is such that

proficiency is a must for any bio-scientist/entrepreneur