15th Jan 2008
THE Newcastle University Singapore Translational Research Initiative intends to create a development facility to change the frame of reference for technology transfer and communication in its international context.
The basic premise of the Singaporean programme is to ensure that we lift the university’s intellectual property aspirations to a truly global perspective.
The development will establish a self-sustaining commercial interface with the global technology market – NUIdeasBank Pte Ltd being the commercial vehicle created to enable this function. Singapore could act as an IP Hub, and play a significant role in the technological, economic, and social development of the North East and Singapore in parallel.
Newcastle University has committed £1.1m to the establishment of the translational research initiative across three years, and is requesting a development grant of £2.8m from the Economic Development Board of Singapore over the first six years of a nine-year programme.
The final outcome will be a sustainable venture headquartered in Singapore, and which will have a combined impact across our technological, social, and economic landscapes. In this way we will construct a platform, which can then be further developed and enhanced through partnerships with other research institutes, and thus continue to broaden our base and build the future.
The basic premise of the Singaporean development is to ensure that we lift our intellectual property aspirations to a truly international perspective.
The economics of the intellectual property landscape in the UK and the availability of R&D partners in the region (and indeed the UK) means that many areas of intellectual property will not be exploited effectively.
By developing an international dimension we will increase the likelihood of securing major partners and of exploiting the cost base advantages available elsewhere.
For example, tax breaks and grant funding available in Singapore reduces the potential cost of high quality post-doctoral researchers in Singapore to a third of that in the UK; whilst further reductions in costs can be gained in Malaysia, India and China. The intellectual property protection in those countries is still developing.
There are a number of reasons why the university has focused on Singapore. It is a country recognised as a hub of global economic development in South East Asia and its government is ambitious to develop its knowledge economy by working with successful universities in the West.
The university has estimated that the cost of translating research in Singapore will be between half and one-third of that in the UK and will also be achieved much more rapidly. In addition, Singapore has for many years been an important source of student recruitment for the university.
