The Lambert Report: like the curate's egg: Supporting Excellence in the Science Base

The Lambert Report of the interaction between business and universities confirms what the Biochemical Society has been stating for several years in policy submissions to the government — that the major problem is a lack of business pull for knowledge transfer rather than of university push. The Report largely excludes the pharmaceutical and biotech industries from this criticism. It notes, however, that Britain is strong in basic research, but is less good at bringing ideas to market, and quotes the statistic that UK academic papers are cited by other researchers 53% more often than studies from Germany, but the latter makes 230% more patent applications. Sections of the Report dealing with how the situation might be improved illustrate some contradictions in existing policies.