MSPs from the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee visited the University of Dundee on Thursday (29 August).
The cross-party committee of MSPs learned about the contribution life science research can make towards growing Scotland’s economy.
The visit forms part of its parliamentary inquiry into ‘Managing Scotland’s public finances’, which aims to influence the Scottish Government’s Budget before it is announced in autumn.
The MSPs are examining how the Scottish Government uses its capital expenditure to achieve innovation, productivity, and growth – and whether its priorities are the most effective choices.
Finance and Public Administration Committee Convener Kenneth Gibson said: “Our parliamentary inquiry is about examining the effectiveness of the Scottish Government’s overall approach towards managing Scotland’s public finances.
“With a really challenging fiscal and economic outlook, it’s vital that we look critically at boosting innovation, productivity and growth.
“Life sciences already contribute to the Scottish economy, but we want to learn more about its potential for growth and what that could mean in terms of high-value Scottish jobs, high return research and successful spin-out companies.”
“A key part of our inquiry is examining how the Scottish Government currently uses its capital expenditure to boost growth – but we want to ensure its priorities are the right ones ahead of the coming budget.
“Our visit to the University of Dundee’s school of life sciences, to meet leading figures in the field, will give us a good insight into what scope there is to expand research and boost innovation and growth.
“We’ll take the learning from our visit back to Holyrood to inform our inquiry and our recommendations to the Scottish Government ahead of the budget.”
Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Dundee, Professor Iain Gillespie, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Finance and Public Administration Committee to Dundee and help boost innovation and growth.
“As the UK’s top university for both biological sciences research and for nurturing spinout success we are a key driver of the economy, learning and skills, as well as a vital part of the scientific ecosystem that is addressing the great health challenges of our time.
“Investment in research and innovation is an investment in the nation’s health and wealth, and we are happy to share our expertise in creating high value companies and anchoring jobs in Scotland.”
The committee’s Dundee visit will provide insight into:
- funding of research & development at the University
- commercialisation: turning research into innovation
- creating, support and scaling of high growth spin-out companies
Background provided by the University of Dundee:
Dundee has been the UK’s top ranked university for Biological Sciences in the last two Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercises. It was also named the UK’s best university for supporting spin out companies by venture capitalist firm Octopus Ventures last year.
While at the University, members of the Finance and Public Administration Committee toured Dundee’s Drug Discovery Unit (DDU), which bridges the gap between academic scientific research and industrially experienced drug discovery.
DDU’s successes include the invention of cabamaquine, a new compound currently in human trials that has been shown to treat malaria with a single dose, while potentially protect people from contracting the disease and prevent its spread.
The committee also viewed the site of Dundee’s Life Sciences Innovation Hub, which will anchor a new generation of high-growth companies and high-value jobs in the city, and visited the Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation (CeTPD).
The University is one of the world leaders in targeted protein degradation, a field of research which has received billions of pounds of investment in recent years and is making the treatment of diseases previously thought to be undruggable a reality.
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