Physics flourishes at Cambridge's Cavendish Lab; £125m redevelopment in the pipeline
Physics is flourishing at Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory, the crucible for several high-tech spin outs in the Cambridge Cluster and where many of the region's entrepreneurs got, and get, their technical education.
Head of the Lab and of the Physics Department Professor Peter Littlewood told delegates at Wednesday's Horizon seminar entitled Beyond Einstein that "despite what you read in the newspapers, physics is vibrant" because the Department had created a "virtuous circle" of activity. "Our undergraduate numbers are buoyant and our research income is ever increasing, doubling in the last decade - the same growth as the economy of China," he said.
As a result Cavendish has started a campaign to recruit ten academics to meet its growing needs. The new posts will include six lectureships, two readerships and two chairs to add to the existing 65 academics.
"These appointments come at a time when we are engaged in a major new expansion of research activity in the Physics of Medicine and plan to make a major thrust in fundamental aspects of quantum science as well as bolstering our current programme in other areas," Prof Littlewood (pictured) said.
"Additionally, we have already made very substantial investments in nanoscience. I am not aware of another physics department that has such an aggressive hiring programme as we do now.'
And that's because physics isn’t flourishing everywhere in the UK. Around 30% of university physics departments have closed in the past dozen years, and the number of students sitting A-level physics has dropped by 38% since 1990.
The decline in the broader UK community has attracted government policymakers worried that around 43% of UK industry has been described as 'physics-based' and will soon face a skills crunch. While low value manufacturing remains in long-term decline, physics-based industry and services remain robust. In Wednesday's national budget, the government announced funding for an extra 3,000 secondary school science teachers and 250 after-school science clubs to help stem the slide.
New building programme
But meanwhile the flourishing Cavendish also plans to invest in new infrastructure. The £20m Physics of Medicine development, due to start construction in the next few months, is the first phase of a planned £125m redevelopment on the Cavendish Lab site in West Cambridge, which already houses the Microsoft Research lab and the recently completed Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics, though these are associated with the Department of Engineering. The whole site has close links with industry, with selected units and activities having secured funding from, as well as Microsoft, Hitachi, Toshiba, Advance Nanotech, Alps Electric Company, Dow Corning Corp plc amongst others.
At the seminar Cambridge University (and one Imperial College London) speakers outlined to industry delegates latest developments in pure science, the physics of medicine and quantum science - close to isolating a single atom in the near future - but warned commercialisation was some way off.
As the Head of the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory Dr David Williams warned: in the lab "one person's electronic device is another's physics experiment". Most speakers warned against closing off research too early by seeking quick commercial applications.
Cambridge Cluster 'attracting global management talent, at last'
Cambridge Cluster godfather, angel and co-founder of venture capitalists Amadeus Capital Dr Hermann Hauser (who has a PhD from Cavendish) said in the event's after-dinner speech that there was "mainly good news" about the availability of capital for local high-techs. In the past five years the VC community in the UK and Europe has grown to a stage where it is now possible to put together syndicates.
He also noted that the Cluster was now beginning to attract global management talent, for so long lacking, to match its world class technology. A key factor in this had been the region's demonstrated ability to create billion dollar companies. He also believed that the UK tax regime on capital gains - half the rate in the US -, and the supportive R&D tax credits added important impetus.
"For the first time, in the last few years, we have all the building blocks in place," he said. "And we can now build billion dollar companies. It is just a matter of letting the roulette wheel go around a few times before we have our own Intel or Google."
He also welcomed the recent agreement within the University of a protocol for dealing with intellectual property and the recent appointment of a well-credentialed head of Cambridge Enterprise, the University's innovation commercialisation arm. (Ms Teri Willey, due to take up her post in August.)
"Hopefully, there will now be much more efficient and effective technology transfer than in the past," he said.
But he said conflicts of interest should be welcomed because "they show people are straddling university and industry". He said it is better to manage it than avoid it. Good management required a clear set of rules and open disclosure.
23rd March 2006
