University of Edinburgh
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-07675, in the name of Jim Eadie, on the University of Edinburgh in the world’s top 20. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates the University of Edinburgh on rising to 17th place in the 2013-14 QS World University Rankings; applauds the university on, it understands, receiving a record £300 million in competitive research grants in 2012-13, a 20% rise on the previous year; welcomes what it sees as the benefits of it being ranked among the world’s best universities; believes that it brings international prestige to Scotland and attracts the most talented students and staff from across the world, particularly in what it sees as essential research and development areas such as life sciences, which is conducted at the Edinburgh BioQuarter, and renewable energy, which is carried out at King’s Buildings; understands that the commercialisation activities of the university’s research and innovation arm have generated over £140 million in gross value added for Scotland and support over 2,400 jobs; believes that the University of Edinburgh is a credit to Scotland’s education system, and commends what it sees as the quality, hard work and dedication of the staff and students.
17:06
I am delighted to have the opportunity to introduce the debate to Parliament this evening, and I am grateful to all those members who supported the motion in my name.
It is no exaggeration to say that the University of Edinburgh is a unique institution without which Scotland and the world would have been very much poorer. Founded in 1583-84 by its own town, it came into its own in the 18th century as the leading creative centre of the Scottish enlightenment. Under the leadership of the Rev William Robertson, its principal for more than 30 years, the university produced students of genius, among them Sir Walter Scott, the founder of the modern historical novel; Adam Ferguson, who founded social anthropology; James Hutton, who founded geology; and John Playfair, who developed mathematics and geology. The university’s medical school became the greatest in the world, holding its place for well over a century.
Edinburgh exemplified the Scottish tradition of the democratic intellect—that education is the right and the duty of every person, unfettered by the restriction it suffered elsewhere in being limited to the ruling class and in forcing its students into narrow orthodoxies, religious and otherwise. In Europe, the enlightenment was opposed by universities; in Edinburgh, followed by other Scottish cities, the university led the way.
Today, the university has demonstrated that it is possible to maintain high standards of academic excellence and, at the same time, to widen access to working-class students from the most deprived neighbourhoods through initiatives such as the Lothians equal access programme for schools, or LEAPS. Widening participation is a strategic priority for the university and it is being pursued vigorously through a number of successful projects including visit campus days, summer schools, mentoring and buddy schemes.
There are more than 9,000 universities in more than 200 countries worldwide and global rankings of various kinds are used to find the best according to a range of criteria. The impact of research contributes 20 per cent to a university’s overall score. The Scottish Government’s global excellence initiative has enabled the University of Edinburgh to invest in high-calibre early career researchers. That has boosted the university’s research profile, which in turn attracts highly talented students and staff from all over the globe.
The most recent research assessment exercise confirmed Edinburgh as a first-class institution for research, as 96 per cent of the university’s departments were found to produce world-leading research. The university was awarded a record £300 million in competitive research grants in 2012-13, which was a 20 per cent rise on the previous year, and it has secured £1.1 billion in competitive research grants during the past five years.
Notable successes, such as the confirmation of the boson particle by Professor Peter Higgs, are testament to why Edinburgh is placed so highly in the QS rankings. For more than 40 years, the University of Edinburgh has successfully commercialised the intellectual property created from its world-leading research, generating intellectual, social and economic benefits to Scotland and the United Kingdom.
The university’s commercialisation arm, Edinburgh Research and Innovation, seeks to promote the university’s IP to potential funders, collaborators, licensees and investors. It has an enviable record in guiding the university to some of its most significant achievements in invention and innovation throughout recent decades.
Those innovations include the first genetically engineered vaccine against hepatitis B in 1980, the licence of which has since generated more than £50 million of income to the university and the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh. The first prototype sensor-assisted smart wheelchair for children with severe and multiple disabilities was developed and manufactured in 1987, transforming the lives of those children. The first miniature digital camera was developed in 1990; the technology for the camera was licensed to spin-out company VLSI Vision Ltd, which in 1995 became the first Scottish university spin-out company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. In the past five years, ERI has supported staff and students in the formation of 171 new spin-out/start-up companies across a wide range of sectors.
Edinburgh is supporting student entrepreneurs to build high-growth businesses in Scotland. All of that activity contributes significantly to the economic footprint of the university and of Scotland.
On top of its academic benefits, that commercialisation of research provides real benefits to the wider economy. The formation of new companies and the licensing of university technology means that ERI’s commercialisation activities generate more than £140 million gross value added per annum in Scotland, supporting more than 2,400 jobs in the process.
As the MSP for Edinburgh Southern, I am fortunate to have two hubs of world-leading projects in my constituency: regenerative medicine at the bioquarter; and energy management and environment protection at King’s buildings.
Edinburgh bioquarter is an academic medical centre that combines outstanding biomedical research from the university with the clinical expertise of NHS Lothian and a seasoned team of industry professionals. Through its translational medical research, it supports 900 hospital beds and 1,200 researchers. That is set to rise significantly in the coming years.
Also located at the bioquarter is the Scottish centre for regenerative medicine, where 230 researchers conduct pivotal work on stem cells and other regenerative therapies for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and motor neurone disease. That clinical excellence is being advanced to deliver the bench-to-bedside approach in addressing the challenges posed by degenerative diseases.
Commercialisation is just as efficient at the bioquarter as it is in the rest of the university, as a team of scientists and businesspeople with more than 150 years’ of commercial experience are engaged in that endeavour. All of that activity is designed to accelerate the development of new treatments for human and animal diseases by working with researchers, industry and investors to create new medicines, diagnostic tools and medical devices.
The Institute for Energy Systems, formed in 2002 and located at King’s buildings, is one of five multidisciplinary research institutes within the school of engineering. Integrated research combines 40 academic and research staff, alongside 50 postgraduate students, and focuses on areas such as marine energy, power systems, and energy and climate. Their work has led to the creation of the FIoWave TT project. A world first, this unique facility simulates combinations of waves and currents to recreate the extreme conditions of European coastlines. It will be a vital tool to help engineers to harness the renewable power of the sea.
All of those examples of research and innovation demonstrate the university’s ability to harness the intellectual power of its academics, researchers, postgraduates and undergraduates. Perhaps the final word should be with one of the university’s finest sons, the historian Owen Dudley Edwards. He states:
“If Edinburgh is internationally recognised today as guarantor of academic excellence tomorrow, it holds that place because of its grounding in the triumphs of yesterday above all in the principles of academic freedom and the knowledge that what its youngest student may write can still inspire its most honoured professor, and that teaching and research remain each other’s partners, not rivals. But it also owes its fortune to the warmth, humour, friendship, and love which sparkle from its history.”
17:15
I congratulate Jim Eadie on lodging this important motion and, of course, the University of Edinburgh on achieving top 20 status in the world rankings. Mr Eadie took us on a very interesting excursion through the university’s history but omitted to mention that it had the first English literature department certainly in the United Kingdom and possibly in the world. Given that I studied there several decades ago, I find it of interest that, in 1762, Hugh Blair was appointed regius professor of rhetoric and belles lettres, 100 years before English literature was studied at Oxford and Cambridge.
The motion refers to the quality of staff and students. When I looked into the criteria for the rankings, I found that employers were asked about the quality of their students—I have to say that I was not asked; I do not know whether that would have made things better or worse—and the many students who were asked about the university gave it a high commendation. On the basis of my experience, I would second that.
The quality of staff is also crucial. Of course, I cannot talk about the present staff but, in my day, the university had many outstanding teachers. I do not want to introduce a sour note into the debate but, on the subject of staff, I think it appropriate to recall the recent publicity about zero-hours contracts not for lecturers but for other important university staff, and I am very pleased—and think it important to point out—that the university has now pledged to get rid of those contracts.
The main but of course not the only criterion for getting into the top 20 is the research that a university carries out. The motion refers to
“£300 million in competitive research grants”;
those grants clearly cover a wealth of disciplines and research areas, and Jim Eadie mentioned some outstanding examples of projects at the university. I want to mention three pioneering projects: the recently opened Scottish centre for regenerative medicine, which Mr Eadie referred to; the major new test facility for marine energy research and development at King’s buildings; and the Higgs centre for theoretical physics, which is obviously going to expand insights in that field. The links between those projects and our key economic areas are, I think, very obvious; indeed, one area that springs to mind is renewable energy and its vast importance for our economy, for climate change and not least for Edinburgh and our hopes for a marine energy hub at Leith docks.
The motion also refers to
“the commercialisation activities of the university’s research and innovation arm”
and the fact that they have contributed
“over £140 million in gross value added”.
However, I think it relevant to highlight a report that came out this week on the performance of Scotland’s research base in chemical and life sciences, which pointed out that, although Scotland was ahead in collaboration between its universities and foreign companies, it lagged behind in forming alliances between home-grown firms and academics. I did not see a breakdown of individual universities in the report, but the point is that we cannot be complacent about the commercialisation of innovation, which is, after all, a key area of economic progress.
Will the member give way?
I have a strict four minutes, so I cannot really take an intervention.
Go on—take an intervention.
Okay then.
On the subject of commercialisation, the member will be aware that Scotland’s fourth leading university, Heriot-Watt University, hosted the converge challenge awards last night and that the University of Edinburgh featured among the prize-winners. The awards, which are funded by, among other sponsors, the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, help academics and researchers take their ideas to market and provide them with considerable backing.
I thank Joan McAlpine for that very useful contribution.
Going back to my last point, I was pleased, however, by Scottish Enterprise’s plans to open innovation centres at universities to help businesses and academics develop products and services. Indeed, a site for digital health and care has already opened at Edinburgh.
Finally, on the life sciences and the bioquarter referred to in the motion, this is clearly a massive area for the University of Edinburgh with great spin-offs for the economy and, indeed, health; indeed, only this week, we heard about great research by Professor Sarah Wild in an international collaboration on type 1 diabetes. There is, therefore, much to celebrate.
I congratulate Jim Eadie on drawing the matter to our attention.
17:20
We each choose for ourselves our own yardsticks of success in our lives. All Edinburgh’s universities excel in their own chosen mission. Edinburgh Napier University, for example, is an “innovative and professional university”. The Open University in Scotland, which is based in my constituency, has satisfaction results in the national student survey that other universities could only dream of. In its own words, the University of Edinburgh’s principal aim is to be
“a world-leading centre of academic excellence”.
I thank Jim Eadie for bringing his motion to the chamber. The motion gives the University of Edinburgh’s QS ranking. That is a global, research-intensive ranking that befits a global, research-intensive university. In those rankings, the University of Edinburgh stands above American behemoths such as the University of California, Berkeley, Duke University, Northwestern University and even the ivy league Brown University. [Interruption.] I think that I may have caught whatever Dennis Robertson has. A year at those universities carries a price tag of $19,000 up to $46,000. To the young person from Leith, Liberton, Dumbiedykes or Drylaw, the price tag for a year at the University of Edinburgh is zero.
League tables are not the be-all and end-all. They do not convey the full range of fondness and esteem. As Burns said,
“O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!”
What do people who would not blink at spending $40,000 a year on a degree think about what is offered by the institution on our doorstep? Arcadia University, which is an elite US liberal arts college that specialises in study abroad, describes the University of Edinburgh to its students as
“one of the most distinguished research institutions in Europe.”
It says:
“The University of Edinburgh, with its ancient and modern buildings, its long and storied history, and its lively student atmosphere, is a very popular choice for study abroad students.”
The University of Southern California says:
“Edinburgh is regularly voted one of Europe’s most desirable places to live.”
That is high praise indeed from a university that is based in glamorous Los Angeles. It says:
“There is something for everyone: from museums and art galleries to a great clubbing and music scene. Over half of the city is covered by parkland and public gardens”.
Jamie Slater, who is a study abroad student from Georgetown University in Washington DC and whose blog about her experience in Edinburgh, which is starting right now, is one of the great many out there, has said:
“Before arriving in Edinburgh, I had been told it was a gorgeous and unique city and that I would absolutely love it. I’m happy to say that it has lived up to and surpassed those high expectations.”
Those universities time and again send students to Edinburgh who leave not just satisfied but having made a lifelong connection with the university, the city and the country. The comments may sometimes be more about the city than the university, but the city and the university are interlinked. The city, the nation and the university are interconnected not just through the university bringing excellent teaching and soaring research income, but through its reputation and the people whom it draws, develops and continues to be held dear by. The alumni population spans the globe, from Edinburgh Central to Central America.
I was once a young person who flirted with the University of Edinburgh. At school, it caught my eye across a crowded room full of prospectuses. I was drawn by its charms and applied, only eventually to spurn it and fall into the arms of one of its rivals. After my first degree, it looked like we might have hit it off again, but a dashing southerner came along and made me a better offer. Today, knowing about the real warmth that many feel for the University of Edinburgh, I can only look back and wonder, and perhaps reflect that
“Of all sad words of tongue or pen
The saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’”
17:24
I congratulate Jim Eadie on securing the debate and giving a particularly interesting speech on the history of the University of Edinburgh. Marco Biagi talked about his spurning the university. I have a similar tale, except that it was the other way round, because the University of Edinburgh spurned me when my exam results were not quite what I had hoped they would be.
However, let us skip over that and congratulate the staff and students of the University of Edinburgh on getting a terrific ranking result based on all that they have done over the past 12 months. I had a little look at the QS report and the points that served Edinburgh so well. The areas that were looked at include academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty student ratio, international indicators and citations per faculty. Of course, as we would expect, Edinburgh scored highly on all of those. However, in the area of academic reputation, to which all speakers have referred, Edinburgh got a score of 99.7 out of a possible 100. It is obviously close to impossible to get far higher than that, which highlights how academically strong the university is.
As members have said, Edinburgh’s score this year was no flash in the pan. I could find rankings dating back only to 2007, but they paint a pretty useful picture. Edinburgh was 23rd in the rankings in 2007, but it subsequently moved up to 20th, then 21st and is now 17th on the planet this year. The university’s scores increased steadily over that time from 88.8 to 91.3. It is clearly doing well across all areas and has moved steadily and firmly up the rankings table over the past six or seven years.
At a presentation that the university gave recently, we heard about the excellent work that the university does in relation to renewables and the bioquarter, and how it helps to cement a global reputation not just for Edinburgh but for Scotland as a whole. We heard also about the competitive research grants, in relation to which the university had a record year.
Of course, the university has a very important place in the wider economy of Edinburgh and, indeed, Scotland. The University of Edinburgh is the third-largest employer in Edinburgh, with well over 8,000 full-time equivalent jobs—I think that there are in fact 12,000 staff—and it adds well over £1 billion to the Scottish economy. It is estimated that the university supports around 23,000 jobs. Of course, it is also a big factor for many inward investors who come to Scotland. Moreover, it is reckoned that the tourism aspect alone of the University of Edinburgh is worth about £17 million.
The university’s commercial liaison unit, Edinburgh Research and Innovation, provided some particularly interesting figures at the recent presentation. One that really encapsulates what the University of Edinburgh is all about is that since 1969 the university has created more than 262 spin-out companies. That is an impressive figure in itself, but I was more captured by the fact that 81 per cent of those companies are still trading, and that 89 per cent of those are still in Scotland. Those are remarkable statistics from a remarkable department in a remarkable university. I look forward to finding out how the University of Edinburgh fares in the QS survey in 2014.
Due to the number of members who still wish to speak in the debate, I am minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 8.14.3, to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes.
Motion moved,
That, under Rule 8.14.3 the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes.—[Jim Eadie.]
Motion agreed to.
17:28
I, too, congratulate Jim Eadie on bringing the debate to the chamber. I thank him for doing so because it gives us the chance to talk about the success that has been created by the University of Edinburgh.
The world rankings that the University of Edinburgh has attained are incredibly impressive and hugely significant. I very much welcome the briefing from the University of Edinburgh because it puts the work of its staff centre stage and rightly congratulates them on the huge amount of effort that they have put in.
As a former academic, I am impressed by the statistics in the briefing, one of which refers to the research assessment exercise in 2008 that showed that 96 per cent of the university’s departments were carrying out world-leading research. That was a huge achievement that cannot be overestimated.
When we think about the pressures of teaching and pastoral work with students, the ability to deliver that level of excellence right across the university is both remarkable and an incredible achievement. The virtuous circle that the university talks about is part of the reason for that success.
The University of Edinburgh has been hugely successful in punching above its weight in all sorts of ways. Jim Eadie, Marco Biagi and Gavin Brown mentioned its research excellence in terms of competitive research grants, and its capacity to generate research grants both from the rest of the UK and at the European Union level is worthy of comment, as is its work on international partnership and co-operation.
I want to comment on two aspects of the university’s research. First, given that the informatics department burned to the ground in 2002, the work that it now turns out is a fantastic achievement. I note the work of the previous Government in helping to build those new research facilities. I am always deeply impressed when I see the range of students and academics who work out of that building. It is a huge achievement.
Secondly, I want to mention briefly the social science and governance work that the university does, which is also groundbreaking. It is not highlighted in Jim Eadie’s motion, but it is worthy of comment. The work that the university is doing to look at the governance of Scotland is first class. It builds on Edinburgh’s history, which, as others have said, is a proud one. Chrystal Macmillan was the first female science graduate from the university, in 1896, and she has inspired generations of women academics. She was a suffragette as well—that is a fantastic town-and-gown comment. We should also welcome the work that is being done on contemporary politics and social sciences, including gender politics and the evaluation of the contribution of women, which is asking some tough questions.
As others have said, we do not have just one university in Edinburgh. We have four universities, and they are all pursuing excellence in their own ways. When I picked up my briefings today before I came into the chamber, I thought that it was an act of chutzpah that Heriot-Watt University wanted to remind us of its achievements as well.
I finish with a point about leadership. In each of our universities we have fantastic leaders, whether it is Professor Tim O’Shea at the University of Edinburgh, who has driven its fantastic record of achievement, Steve Chapman at Heriot-Watt University, or our two newer leaders—Andrea Nolan at Edinburgh Napier University, who is our most recent leader, and Professor Petra Wend at Queen Margaret University. In them, we have four excellent leaders. They are developing slightly different universities, as others have said, but they are all about excellence, access and research, and they are all thinking about how their students will go out into the world and become successful at whatever careers they select.
Tonight, we are celebrating the University of Edinburgh, but let us put on the record the fact that Edinburgh, as a capital and as a city, has the benefit of four universities that are all working incredibly well in collaborating across the rest of Scotland, the UK and the world. That is something that we should all celebrate this evening.
17:33
I apologise to Jim Eadie and the other members in the chamber that I will not be able to stay for the remainder of the speeches due to another engagement.
I, too, thank Jim Eadie for bringing the motion to the chamber tonight. I am proud to join my colleagues in congratulating the University of Edinburgh on climbing to number 17 in the QS World University Rankings. That is a fantastic achievement for the university and it goes some way towards recognising the exceptional quality of its teaching and research activities. It also highlights Scotland’s well-deserved place in the world as a leading centre for education.
The University of Edinburgh is one of Scotland’s ancient educational institutions. Founded in 1583 following the granting of a royal charter by James VI, it has provided Scotland with more than 400 years of exemplary standards in education.
In the early 18th century, during the age of enlightenment, the city of Edinburgh became known as a major intellectual centre, thanks to its outstanding university, which of course was central in Scotland’s enlightenment.
Over the years, many esteemed scholars and academics have walked through the university’s doors. Its impressive collection of alumni includes a plethora of famous names, such as Charles Darwin, David Hume, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexander Graham Bell and Sir Walter Scott—to name but a few.
Today the university is home to an impressive array of leading international researchers, who provide a first-class standard of teaching to their many students. The school of medicine is particularly renowned and was ranked first in the United Kingdom in the most recent research assessment exercise results. The university has also been praised for its excellence in veterinary medicine, linguistics, art, chemistry and mathematics.
The university is at the forefront of research and development in, for example, the life sciences and renewable energy. Support for universities is therefore key to Scotland’s future. That is why the Scottish Government invests more than £1 billion a year in higher education and has allocated an additional £13.8 million directly to fund research at our universities. By investing in our world-leading facilities, we are building the foundations of a better and more secure Scotland for years to come.
The University of Edinburgh plays a major role in that regard and it is essential that we provide the necessary support to ensure that it continues to do so. Its ranking as one of the world’s top 20 universities will not only enhance Scotland’s status on the international stage but help the university to attract more of the most talented and ambitious students from all over the globe.
Edinburgh receives a high volume of international applicants, but I am proud that more than 40 per cent of the undergraduates that it welcomes come from Scotland and that a further 29 per cent come from the rest of the UK. It is significant that 74 per cent of undergraduates come from state schools and colleges, which provides some assurance that the university, despite its prestige and international standing, remains accessible to local students from all backgrounds.
The University of Edinburgh provides jobs and prospects to thousands of citizens and plays an important role in fuelling our economy. Through its research and innovation programme, it promotes entrepreneurship and supports the creation of new businesses. In 2012-13 the university helped to create 35 new companies—it has consistently created new companies over the past four years. That is a major contribution to the Scottish economy, and I am grateful to the university for continuing to devote resources to such an important part of its work.
It is clear that the university offers Scotland a great deal. I cannot thank and praise its staff and students enough for their efforts in helping their university to achieve such a prestigious accolade in the QS World University Rankings. I am an incredibly proud Scot and I think that we can take much pride in our country, including in our reputation for quality education and research—thanks, in no small part, to the University of Edinburgh. I am sure that members will join me in congratulating the university again on its remarkable achievement.
17:38
I congratulate Jim Eadie on securing this debate on the University of Edinburgh’s great achievement, and I thank him for bringing it to Parliament.
I am proud that several of Scotland’s universities improved their position in the QS World University Rankings. If Jim Eadie does not mind, I would like also to commend the University of Glasgow for improving its position by three places. I am proud of the university in my home town, and the University of Glasgow and its students would not forgive me if I did not say that they too have achieved something to be proud of. It gives me immense pleasure to mention them.
The University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow have benefited from support from the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council. That is good news, but we cannot say that the provision for colleges in Scotland is good news. On 24 October and on 13 January, our Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Mike Russell, said that there are no queues for college places. Since then, I have witnessed college after college having a list of students who have not got a place. We must address that, otherwise our higher education system will suffer.
The interpretation of waiting lists is very important. If what Hanzala Malik says is the case, I am surprised that he has not been in touch with me directly to draw my attention to those things. I would have thought that that would be the first thing that he would do.
I did not want to go into great detail on that topic today, because I want to discuss the positive side of education. However, out of courtesy, I am happy to respond to the cabinet secretary. I have mentioned the issue before in the chamber, and the cabinet secretary is aware that there are lists. I mentioned that, at one college, there were up to 600 people waiting for one particular subject. I am happy to write to the cabinet secretary in detail on the matter. That will not be a problem.
I would be grateful if, in the time that is remaining, you would confine your remarks to the University of Edinburgh.
Yes, of course, Presiding Officer. I did not really want to get drawn into that issue—that was a passing remark on something that affects higher education.
On a positive note, Scottish universities continue to face all sorts of challenges—from immigration to a reduction in subjects, and so on—yet the universities have done a marvellous job in maintaining student numbers. I congratulate, in particular, the staff of all the universities in Scotland, who have done a fantastic job not only in ensuring that student numbers can be accommodated, but in increasing and improving Scottish universities’ standing. That is a huge achievement by them and we are all very proud of them.
17:41
I thank Jim Eadie for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I thank and congratulate all those whose hard work is recognised in this ranking.
I am very proud of the six higher education institutions that are headquartered in the Lothians. Each of them provides excellent education to thousands of students and carries out excellent research. There is, of course, some subjectivity in assessing the quality of teaching and research, but the rankings are made in a consistent way each year, so it is fantastic to see the University of Edinburgh achieving a ranking of 17th in the world in the QS rankings.
The University of Edinburgh has always performed very well in the research assessment exercise. In the most recent RAE, in 2008, it had the largest amount of research judged to be of world-class quality—that is, four-star quality—out of all the Scottish universities. That is a reflection of the university’s long history of excellence in not just the kind of blue-sky research that led Peter Higgs to the discovery of the Higgs boson, but research that is designed to tackle immediate problems that affect people.
A huge amount of world-class medical research takes place at the University of Edinburgh. I could go on for hours about it, but I will mention just one example that I am particularly impressed by—the Delbox, which was invented by Professor Alasdair MacLullich of the university’s college of medicine, uses a deceptively simple collection of flashing lights and buttons to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients with dementia by identifying whether they have delirium.
I want to see more opportunities for women to contribute to excellent research in universities, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which have chronically low numbers of women professors. The University of Edinburgh is leading the way forward. I applaud Professor Lesley Yellowlees, who is head of the University of Edinburgh’s college of science and engineering, for championing initiatives across the university, working with the Equality Challenge Unit under the banner of the Athena SWAN programme and taking a sophisticated and broad-ranging approach, raising awareness of unconscious bias and other forms of discrimination so that they can be eliminated. The university’s 17th place in the QS rankings is proof positive that taking an enlightened approach to equality and diversity is the best way to increase organisational effectiveness because it draws on the widest possible pool of talent and lets all staff know that their creativity and hard work will be recognised and rewarded fairly.
We also need to see action to involve more women, more people with disabilities and more people from ethnic minorities in the university courts, which are the governing bodies of Scottish universities. That is why I have written to Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea, the principal of the University of Edinburgh, and the principals of the other five universities that are headquartered in my region, asking them to take up the recommendations of the Equality Challenge Unit to improve diversity on their governing bodies. I have had some fairly encouraging replies to date.
I would like all the universities to rethink their use of zero-hours contracts, so I was delighted to hear the University of Edinburgh announce recently that it will review the use of zero-hours contracts. I call on all the universities in Scotland to follow the University of Edinburgh’s example on that issue.
In recent years, the students of the university have worked with their elected green rectors—including my predecessor MSPs, Robin Harper and Mark Ballard, and the current rector, Peter McColl—to influence the running of the institution in positive ways, as a result of which above-inflation rent increases in university accommodation have been ended, the number of access bursaries has been increased and it has been ensured that international students have fixed fees for their entire degree programme. They will go on campaigning for an end to zero-hours contracts, for the setting up of a student housing co-operative and for ethical investment of the university’s endowments.
I am conscious of the time. I am sure that all members who are in the chamber are committed to helping the university to continue to deliver world-class education and research for another 431 years.
17:45
I, too, congratulate my colleague Jim Eadie on securing the debate and ensuring that the University of Edinburgh is in no doubt about our support and our gratitude for what it has achieved in being ranked 17th in the world in the 2013-14 QS World University Rankings, which makes it the only Scottish university in the world’s top 20, where it competes alongside top universities in the States, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in Boston, as well as the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
As a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, I am immensely proud of what a huge achievement that is for the university, and it is a credit to the dedication, commitment and hard work of all the staff, students and researchers. Particular thanks should be given to the university’s principal, Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea, for his efforts in positioning the university as a leading global institution, which assures it—and, of course Scotland as a whole—of an international platform and allows it to attract world-class researchers through the Scottish Government’s global excellence initiative. In addition, his determination to widen access through programmes such as LEAPS—Lothian equal access programme for schools—ensures that students from schools and communities with no tradition of sending young people to the university now have the opportunity to attend one of the world’s leading universities.
Its being ranked among the world’s top 20 universities testifies to the university’s growing international reputation and its recognition in key research areas, including the life sciences, digital health and care, and renewable energy. The global impact of the university’s research excellence in those areas is reflected by its considerable success in winning millions of pounds from national and international research competitions—not least from successive EU framework programmes. Through its participation in 325 FP7 projects to date, Edinburgh is consistently in the EU’s top 10 and the UK’s top five higher education institutions in terms of the number of participations in framework programme projects. It is the top university in Scotland in that regard.
That tradition of international excellence in research is set to continue into the future. The University of Edinburgh is currently leading an international consortium bid to establish a European Institute of Innovation and Technology knowledge and innovation community—KIC—on healthy living and active ageing, which if successful will be financed from the new EU horizon 2020 funding programme.
LifeKIC, as the Scotland-led KIC is called, will focus on developing new digital health technology through telehealth and telecare initiatives that will, when implemented, allow EU citizens to lead healthy, active and independent lives as they age, as well as through new models of health and social care integration. The first call for new KIC proposals is scheduled for early next year. Through professors Mark Parsons and Stuart Anderson, the university—with the support of Professor George Crooks, who is the medical director of NHS 24, the new digital health institute that is based at the university, along with others such as Scotland Europa, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government—has been working tirelessly to build a team Scotland approach and to bring in other partners in Denmark, Spain, Italy and Germany to act as co-location nodes within lifeKIC.
If successful, the Scotland/UK part of lifeKIC will be hosted in Edinburgh and the overall KIC will be headquartered there. That will enable the university to participate as an innovation hub and to act as a centre of excellence that integrates higher education, research and business activities. As lifeKIC is the only Scotland/UK-led KIC bid, I ask the cabinet secretary to liaise with the UK Government Minister of State for Universities and Science, David Willetts, to ensure that the UK Government supports the taking forward of the bid in Brussels.
By any metric, the University of Edinburgh is one of the world’s premier research and teaching universities. That it has achieved such a status testifies to the hard work and abilities of the staff, the energy of the students and the leadership of the principal. Scotland enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the world’s great centres of research and learning—a reputation that the University of Edinburgh’s successes ensure will continue.
17:50
Like others, I congratulate Jim Eadie on hosting the debate and, given that we are still here at 10 minutes to 6, providing an opportunity for so many people to contribute.
After so many strong, fantastic speeches, it is hard to stand up and contribute something meaningful, but I will do my best. I speak with a particular degree of pride, as I am a graduate of the University of Edinburgh.
I will make three comments about the ranking system. I will say something about the ranking system that was used, which puts Edinburgh at 17th on spin-outs. I will talk a little bit about the student experience, which appears in some ranking systems but not the one that was used. Then I will say something about widening access, which, as far as I am aware, does not appear in any of the higher education ranking systems.
Many members talked about spin-outs. There is no doubt that the University of Edinburgh is a world leader in that regard. It is head and shoulders above many other Scottish and, indeed, UK institutions. At the cross-party group on colleges and universities last week, we heard a great presentation from the university. Many of the figures that Gavin Brown used came from that report—which is quite startling—about the University of Edinburgh’s success on spin-out companies.
I hope that the Government is examining what the University of Edinburgh has achieved and is working out how it can share that expertise so that other universities can have the same chance of producing their own income through spin-outs and helping their graduates set themselves up in business.
As I said, student experience does not appear in the QS rankings but does in others. The student experience is important to the marketing of institutions to bring students to particular cities and institutions. A part of the student experience about which I feel strongly is the role of the students association.
One thing that has not been mentioned is the incredible record of Edinburgh University Students Association in contributing to the university community. The university invests a lot of its own money in the students association, and EUSA, as it is known, is perhaps the best-funded students association in the United Kingdom because the university recognises how important it is to have an active student population.
EUSA is important for the academic experience of students. It has fought for longer library opening hours, better feedback on essays and myriad other issues on which the academic element of a student’s experience can be improved.
EUSA is also important for the pastoral services that are available on campus. It has an important welfare service—for which I used to work—which provides front-line welfare advice to students on housing, sexual health, mental health and finances. It provides a range of things that are not necessarily provided at most other institutions.
On representation, the university is brave to invest so much in the students association when the association spends so much time fighting back at the university, but it recognises that that enhances the student experience. It also promotes a sense of citizenship within the student community that equips students with the skills not only to go out into the employment market but to contribute to society. Many great political leaders have come from that student representative sector, so it is worth recognising its role.
I will make a remark about widening access. As far as I am aware, it is not assessed as part of any of the major ranking systems for higher education. That is an interesting point to consider when we think about how we assess how good our universities are.
I am concerned about the degree to which we teach to the test. Universities want high placings in those rankings and, to do that, they will look at what the methodology is and will play to it. They will try to emphasise that experience or expertise in research or whatever else. If the rankings considered widening access, perhaps some of the best universities in the world would invest more of their time and energy in being better at it. We need to consider that and I would be interested to hear the cabinet secretary’s remarks on that issue.
Like others, I pay tribute to a fantastic institution and wish it every success in the future.
17:54
I congratulate Jim Eadie on the motion and I declare an interest as I, too, am a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. To extend a metaphor that was used earlier, cabinet secretaries for education cannot be entirely monogamous in their affections for universities, but I have the strongest affection for the University of Edinburgh and its achievements, on which I congratulate it.
I entered freshers week at the university 43 years ago this week. Last night, when I was walking along Holyrood Road, I saw a number of freshers wandering around and I wondered what their experience of this great university is, particularly as it has grown and changed so much. I was struck by the point that was made about investment in the university, which has come from the university’s resources and from other assistance over a period.
Last night, I was in the remarkable Inspace building, which is used to encourage and develop new technologies. As various members have said, the university has a remarkable track record of taking ideas and ensuring that they work and that they work in the marketplace. That knowledge exchange work, which Kezia Dugdale mentioned, is important.
The Scottish Government made a commitment to ensure that a single knowledge exchange office is developed in Scotland and I will shortly say more about that, but we also want to protect the good work that is already done. We should not put in a single monolith, and Edinburgh is an exceptional university for knowledge exchange. Just two weeks ago, I met some of the people who are involved in that.
Before going into the substance of my speech, I will respond to a couple of points that have been made. I am happy to take Aileen McLeod’s point and to talk to David Willetts about the KIC project. I think that we have already been in touch about how to take that forward, and I always try to work with others to project the future and the work of Scottish universities on the international stage.
Kezia Dugdale made important points about how things should work in universities and about ranking systems. There is a range of ranking systems in the world. Next week, the Times Higher Education rankings will be announced. The QS rankings use a scoring system that allocates 40 per cent to academic reputation, 20 per cent to the faculty to student ratio, 20 per cent to citations per faculty, 10 per cent to employer reputation, 5 per cent to the international faculty ratio and 5 per cent to the international student ratio. There is a range of other systems, which weight other factors.
I am certainly intrigued by the good idea that widening access should count as an important feature of a university, as it relates to how a university develops and extends itself. Of course, Edinburgh has a good story to tell on that. This year, it has 50 more widening access places than it previously had, which it is filling. In 2012-13, it awarded 158 access bursaries to Scotland-domiciled new entrants. If widening access was a feature of rankings—it would be interesting to try to persuade a rankings system to take that on—Edinburgh would continue to compete.
We should look at the continuation of competition. The outcome agreement process that the Scottish Government has established with universities considers how each university should perform. The University of Edinburgh’s 2013-14 agreement says:
“Analysis of the rankings”—
that is, looking at the progress that the university has made—
“indicates that this level of investment”—
the global excellence investment, which is a new form of investment that is designed to encourage research and internationalisation—
“in addition to other strategies already in train, should move Edinburgh into the top 15 in the QS world rankings.”
Gavin Brown pointed out the progress that is being made. We should remain ambitious, to ensure that all our universities continue to progress in that way. All the world ranking systems are not the only judge of a university; there are other ways to judge them, such as on the quality that students find in a university and the contribution that it makes to the setting in which it lives—for Edinburgh, that is the city and the wider country.
The access issues are intriguing, but we must ensure that competition continues, because that draws students to us. The activity is international and global. It is also very valuable to Scotland as a country. Higher education is the third-largest sector in our economy, which is an extraordinary thought. I know that Gavin Brown always questions figures that are given in the chamber and particularly those from the Government front bench, but my source is a Universities Scotland report. Higher education is also an enormous exporting activity. Universities are estimated to leverage £1.3 billion into the Scottish economy from sources outside Scotland.
I congratulate Edinburgh on what it has done. It has a wonderful and rich history. As Jim Eadie pointed out, it is the place of Hutton. When we look up through the window that is to my left, we can see Hutton’s stone on Salisbury Crags. It is the foundation of world geology and the place that proved that two geological theories went together.
Of course, Edinburgh is the place where many other things have happened. Dolly the sheep and the Higgs boson have been mentioned. Nobody has mentioned that Edinburgh is the last university in these islands that had a student executed for heresy, but we should probably gloss over that.
In history, in English literature, as Malcolm Chisholm pointed out, in medicine, in veterinary medicine and in a variety of other fields, including in the area that I studied—Scottish studies, Scottish literature and Scottish history—Edinburgh has been groundbreaking and has had tremendous success in teaching and in research. Jim Eadie made that point forcibly and it should be made again: all our universities in Scotland are universities both for teaching and for research. Keeping those two things together, making sure that one feeds the other and, in particular, encouraging the growth of postgraduate research and teaching in our universities is the way forward.
This Government has increased investments for university research and knowledge exchange activities. This year we put in place the global excellence initiative with Edinburgh and—I say to Mr Malik—with Glasgow. Edinburgh and Glasgow are matching with their own fundraising in order to drive themselves forward in the international rankings. The University of Glasgow rose three places in the QS to 51, the University of St Andrews rose 10 places to 83 and the University of Aberdeen climbed 14 places to 148, so, including Edinburgh, those four universities are in the top 200 in the world. That is a unique achievement because Scotland has, per head of population, the largest number of universities in the top league in the world. That is remarkable for a nation of 5 million people.
Edinburgh has been called the capital of the mind and it is a place—and we have a country—that values learning. Learning, to some extent, is in our DNA. That is proved by the excellence of our universities. It is also proved by the way in which the universities are attracting investment from places outside Scotland. I opened the Fraunhofer centre for applied photonics at the University of Strathclyde—the first Fraunhofer centre in these islands. That is one example out of many of the type of investment that is taking place and will continue to take place in Scotland.
Universities are growing; universities are exporting; universities are increasingly attractive. The universities are driving our economy. Edinburgh is at the forefront of that. It is a wonderful university to attend, as so many young people—and older people—will discover this week as they enrol for the first time. We should, in the chamber, celebrate the success of Scottish institutions. They are founded upon the principle of education being based on the ability to learn, not on the ability to pay, and long may that flourish in our country.
Many thanks. I declare my interest as a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. I, too, wish to add my congratulations to the University of Edinburgh and I note with surprise that the cabinet secretary and I must have been freshers in the same week.
Meeting closed at 18:02.