Wellcome Trust applauds recommendations of the Roberts Report

16 April 2002

In response to the report of Sir Gareth Roberts’ review: SET for Success, Dr Mike Dexter, Director of the Wellcome Trust biomedical research charity said:

"Biology and information sciences are experiencing a revolution. Schools and teachers play a pivotal role in equipping young people not only to build careers in these constantly expanding areas, but also to enable them all to make judgements on difficult issues, like stem cells, like animal research, that will have a tremendous impact on our society.

"This report deserves to set the agenda for the next 10 years. It meets the Government’s call for a knowledge-based economy for which it needs to invest in a highly skilled workforce, equipped and remunerated appropriately.

Salaries:
"The Trust has for several years led the sector in increased pay for PhD students and academics. We believe that science teachers should be also given financial incentives, and we look forward to hearing the Government’s response to this proposal.

Skills:
"The report has quite rightly identified serious problems in the supply of scientists with the necessary skills to contribute to the health and wealth of the nation. The Trust has long espoused the development of transferable skills for PhD students and academic training."

"Advances in science and medicine increasingly depend on interaction with mathematicians, engineers and physicists. Collaboration between these disciplines is essential if biomedical research is to unleash its full potential for improving human and animal health.

Science teachers:
"Sir Gareth refers to the Trust’s interest in continuing professional development for teachers. We are currently in discussion with government to consider possibilities in this area which we are convinced will have long-term benefits for the scientific knowledge base of the nation."

Clare Matterson, Director of Medicine, Society and History said: "We believe that there is a real need to raise the morale of teachers across all areas of science, improve the quality of teaching by providing hands-on, relevant and topical experience, and provide non-science teachers with the information they need to bring scientific issues to the citizenship curriculum. We would wish to see a step-change in the way continuing professional development is carried out."

Dr Dexter added: "The Wellcome Trust will continue to play a central role in realising the nation's scientific potential, through funding research and through its broader commitment to debate on the issues and challenges scientific discovery presents."

Notes to Editors:
The Wellcome Trust is an independent, research-funding charity, established under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome in 1936. The Trust's mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health.

The Trust introduced salary enhancements in October 1989 for our non-clinical, post doctoral, UK scientists. We provided a premium equivalent to two, three or four points (according to location) on the appropriate academic scale. Before this, the Trust increased PhD stipends to an amount equivalent to salaries of predoctoral research assistants. Since then the stipend has been kept in line with academic pay awards.

In 1999, the Trust also introduced an enhancement premium equivalent to 30 per cent of the appropriate point on the national academic scale for many basic science, UK based, Wellcome Trust Fellows. Again, this has subsequently been kept in line with academic pay awards.

Media contact:
Shaun Griffin
Wellcome Trust Media Office
Tel: +44 (0)20 7611 8612
E-mail: s.griffin@wellcome.ac.uk