SOLAS

Knowledge Transfer plan

1. Background

NERC defines Knowledge Transfer (KT) as the process by which knowledge, expertise and skilled people transfer between the science base and user communities, thereby contributing to UK economic competitiveness, the effectiveness of public services and policy, and the quality of life. This definition relates to the four main types of knowledge produced by NERC-funded scientists:

knowledge presented in scientific papers or at scientific meetings
knowledge that can be commercialised (eg through ownership of intellectual property)
tacit knowledge ('know-how') relating to the methodologies used in scientific studies
information that by itself does not merit scientific publication, but could be valuable to other researchers or research-users.

Activities to specifically promote KT include:

cooperation in education and training
people and knowledge flow
collaborative research with users
commercialising science.

Knowledge transfer can also be considered to include information transfer from one part of the science base to another, and the transfer of knowledge from the science base to the general public. However, the former process is such an essential part of research that it does not require special attention as KT, whilst for NERC the latter is primarily covered by Science and Society activities.

Since 2003 NERC has allocated additional resources to KT activities. KT funds are being spent across NERC's research centres, directed programmes and specific KT initiatives, including a number of new initiatives. A NERC KT plan, approved in December 2004, includes targets for increasing: interaction with business and public service; collaborative research with public and private sectors; commercialisation of research (patents, spin-out companies and entrepreneurship training); co-operative training; and people exchange between the science and engineering base and users.

NERC directed programmes are expected to allocate at least 5% of their budget for KT support, based on recommendations by the programme Steering Committee. For UK SOLAS, the KT funding line is currently ~£500k (to be supplemented to allow for the change to Full Economic Costs). The development of this KT Plan for UK SOLAS has been assisted by discussions with the Swindon Office KT team, and with the Technology Translators/KT Facilitators for other NERC programmes, including QUEST, RAPID and the Marine & Freshwater Microbial Biodiversity (M&FMB) programme.

2. The nature of UK SOLAS research

Programme goals, objectives and approaches are all highly relevant to planning KT activities, since they provide the framework for identifying and promoting user interest, in both the public and private sectors. For UK SOLAS, the main goals are:

To advance our quantitative understanding of the mechanisms that control the rates of air-sea exchanges of gases, dust, nutrients, aerosols and solar radiation, and to use this information to improve estimates of air-sea exchanges.
To evaluate how these exchanges impact the chemistry of the marine atmospheric boundary layer, the biogeochemistry of the ocean mixed layer, and feedback between the ocean and the atmosphere.
To quantify the implications of these boundary-layer processes on the global climate system through developing improved predictive modelling capabilities.

Seven objectives (UK SOLAS Science Plan) define in greater detail what the programme expects to achieve through component research awards, each having its own project-specific objectives:

To identify important trace gas production and loss processes in the surface ocean
To determine the impact of dynamic physical, chemical and biological processes on trace gas production and breakdown in the marine environment, with emphasis on the microbial loop
To improve understanding of the atmospheric transport, cycling and deposition of dust and nutrients
To assess the importance of marine sources of aerosols and influences on their dynamics
To determine the role of trace gas emissions in modifying the oxidising capacity of the atmosphere
To reduce the existing uncertainty in the air-sea fluxes of trace gases
To determine the role of the sea surface microlayer in regulating material fluxes to the atmosphere.

In addition, four main approaches are set out in the programme's Science Plan:

To conduct large-scale, multidisciplinary field campaigns based on hypothesis-testing and including simultaneous measurements in the surface ocean and lower atmosphere
To investigate key processes in greater detail through controlled, small-scale studies in the laboratory and experimental mesocosms
To develop time series for marine and atmospheric observations and, if feasible, establish a monitoring station at an open ocean site
To develop a suite of complementary models with the varying degrees of sophistication that are required to describe the processes, interactions and feedbacks relevant to UK SOLAS.

The programme's geographical focus was not explicitly defined in the UK SOLAS Science Plan, but was determined by successful Round 1 projects, assessed on scientific merit; i.e., each research group identified the most appropriate fieldwork for its needs. Two main areas of interest emerged: the tropical NE Atlantic (off NW Africa), and higher latitudes in the open NE Atlantic. Whilst processes occurring both outside and within territorial waters (of the UK and other nations) are of interest, emphasis is on the former.

The above features of UK SOLAS make it unlikely that many near-market research products will arise as programme deliverables. That does not mean that there are no potential applications; nevertheless, it would be unrealistic to expect major short-term commercial outputs from NERC's investment in the programme.

3. Summary of UK SOLAS KT activities to date (2004-05)

In addition to a science-based network of ~300 researchers (only a minority of whom are recipients of UK SOLAS support), a database of more than 60 KT research user contacts in around 30 organisations has been established.

For the programme's first funding round (closing date: November 2004), users were encouraged to establish links with PIs, and become involved as project partners in the full bids. Although 13 proposals (out of 27) had international academic partners, only three research grant and studentship proposals included project partners from non-academic UK institutions. Possible reasons for this relatively low level of UK research user involvement were as follows:

Benefits to be derived from programme involvement were perceived as relatively diffuse
The first funding call was not specifically directed at KT activities
In the absence of specific targeting, it can be difficult for research users to justify the time and effort needed for the collaborative planning of projects that may fail to obtain funding.

It has been the experience of other directed programmes that the development of KT activities works best as an iterative process. Exposure of research users to programme projects and PIs (and vice versa) is an important factor in stimulating collaborative linkages and other interests that can be further encouraged. For UK SOLAS, the need for the remainder of the programme is to sustain the broad user interest that does exist, and to develop some specific projects with research users as KT activities.

4. Plans for future UK SOLAS KT activities

Sustaining broad research user interest will be achieved during the remainder of the UK SOLAS programme (2006-2010) by:

Maintaining information flow to research users on the database, informing them (by email and website) of programme developments, such as fieldwork schedules, open science meetings, international links and major research findings
Arranging user-focussed events that might either be held jointly with other NERC programmes (such as RAPID or QUEST, since there is considerable overlap with their user databases) or linked to the UK SOLAS annual science meeting
Stimulating one-to-one discussions between users and PIs where close matching of interests seems likely.

More specific initiatives for research user engagement in UK SOLAS (involving a competitive KT proposal process) are as follows:

Cooperation in education and training
This could best be achieved by a UK SOLAS research studentship competition through the CASE scheme (Cooperative Awards in Sciences of the Environment), on the basis that 2-3 such awards might be supported. Such studentships would need to start in Autumn 2006 for completion before the overall programme end-date; hence - for recruitment of high quality students - the project approval process will need to be completed by March-April 2006.
People and knowledge flow
In the UK SOLAS context, such a KT activity might involve a researcher already funded on a research grant spending 1-6 months with a (non-academic) research user, associated with an extension to the research award period. Alternatively, the working visit might be by the research user to the grant-holder's institution, assisted by the KT award to the HEI. For such arrangements, some co-support by the user organisation would be expected, either directly or in kind.
Collaborative research with users
This category of KT activity needs to be explicitly driven by research user needs - and preferably involving significant co-funding by the user. Whilst science quality remains an important consideration for assessing the excellence of the proposed work, the level of user engagement and 'added value' issues are also key considerations.

In December 2007 a UK SOLAS call for 'Knowledge Transfer, Synthesis and Dissemination' was launched and as a result of this four awards were made in 2008.

The UK SOLAS Science Coordinator has responsibility for developing KT activities in the programme, in close liaison with the Steering Committee, the Programme Administrator and the Swindon Office KT team.

An earlier draft of this KT Plan was discussed by the UK SOLAS Steering Committee on 15 November 2005, when a funding competition to involve both CASE studentships and other KT activities was approved.