Addendum on higher education, science & innovation collaboration

The Prime Minister and President highlighted the long and distinguished tradition of bilateral collaboration in science and innovation, noting that some 30 percent of the UK’s internationally co-authored papers are with US partners and those papers produce an impact that is 50 percent higher than the UK research-base average.

The leaders expressed their determination to maintain research excellence that leads to economic growth and job creation and asked their respective science advisers to advance strategic discussions on areas of mutual interest while also encouraging closer ties between the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology (CST). The leaders also agreed to work together in several specific research areas.

Innovation, jobs and growth

The U.S. and the UK are two of the world’s most active investors in venture capital. The leaders agreed to work together to ensure that innovative, high-growth businesses have access to venture capital to fund their growth and create highly skilled jobs. The Prime Minister and President also noted their respective countries’ achievements in attracting research and development investment from overseas. They welcomed the decision by Johnson & Johnson’s Corporate Office of Science and Technology and its company Janssen to partner with six leading British Universities to undertake cutting edge neuroscience research.

Space science and exploration:

The Prime Minister and President noted that the U.S. and the UK have enjoyed fruitful bilateral cooperation in earth and space science and look forward to new initiatives in these areas and in space exploration. The leaders also acknowledged the significant contributions to understanding our own planet and noted the UK’s important contributions, through the European Space Agency and in collaborations with the U.S., relating to Mars exploration, astronomy, and space physics.

Terrestrial and space weather:

In addition to the collaborations detailed above, the Met Office and NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center will establish a second 24/7 space weather forecast office to complement and coordinate the dissemination of actionable space weather information. At this years’ World Meteorological Congress, the two countries have agreed to work together with other international partners to implement a fully operational global space weather warning system. This close engagement will reflect the increasingly international nature of space whilst respecting our separate national priorities.

Health & wellbeing

The two leaders endorsed collaboration between world-class longitudinal studies in the U.S. and UK, with the potential to transform our understanding of issues such as childhood obesity, cancer, aging, and emotional wellbeing.

The President and PM Cameron also welcomed the involvement of the Economic and Social Research Council in partnership with the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health in the development of a U.S. National Research Council Panel on Measuring Subjective Wellbeing, which has the potential to generate new insights that will directly inform social and economic policies. The two leaders also noted the new programme of joint research on the ecology of infectious diseases.

Clean energy & climate science

The two leaders agreed on the importance of continued collaboration and concerted international effort in clean energy and climate science. They expressed their strong support for the next Clean Energy Ministerial, which will take place in London in 2012. They endorsed the announcement of UK co-funding of the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for International Research and Education program in the area of Sustainable Materials for Energy, agreeing that sustainability should be a key consideration when making choices among competing energy technology options.

The U.S., through its Department of Agriculture (USDA), will continue working with the UK as a part of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases to address mitigation of greenhouse gases from croplands, livestock production systems, and paddy rice, while enhancing food security.

In addition, the UK and U.S. entities are engaging African and Asian developing countries in the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project to better understand the implications of climate change on food production and food security around the world and to develop adaption strategies. They emphasized the importance of data sharing and open science data policies that support climate research and modelling.