Irish ex-pats in Britain are forming network to help support Ireland's knowledge economy, writes Dick Ahlstrom
A conference gets under way in London tomorrow looking, among other things, at how medical research findings can be commercialised. While the content of the meeting will be intriguing, even more interesting is the group behind it. The conference is organised by TechLink UK-Ireland, a group comprising mainly Irish expatriates in Britain. Their stated goal is to promote scientific research in Ireland and foster the development of a knowledge-based economy here.
"It came to life 18 months ago," says University of Sussex researcher and TechLink chairman, Dr Peter Fearon. "We are trying to advance all of the science sectors in Ireland," he says.
It came into being under the auspices of Enterprise Ireland and its promoters very quickly put together a database of more than 600 mainly Irish researchers, scientists and business people orientated towards science and medicine, "Irish expatriates linked to the sciences," says Fearon. "They were looking to try to encourage the expatriate community to look back towards Ireland and help its technical development."
EI was pushing an open door and the newly formed TechLink attracted a strong mix of researchers, venture capital companies, pharmachem and research organisations and others, explains founder member, Dr Elizabeth Roper who manages a large biotech investment fund created by Wellcome Trust. "It is a real mix on the committee but everyone wanted to give something back to Ireland," says the Cork woman.
"There was also a real need for Irish expatriates here to have such an organisation that could do something. It just made sense."
The aim she says is to "build a world-class network linking the UK and Ireland" and to foster an exchange of "expertise and innovation amongst its members", she says. It is still only finding its feet but it has already had an impact, Fearon and Roper believe.
"We held a series of public meetings, five in the last year, highlighting what is happening back in Ireland," he explains. Many of those attending are Irish post-grads and post-docs who get solid information about career opportunities back at home and what the State investment prospects look like for the sciences.
The group has attracted younger members but also older hands. A proportion but not all of those involved see themselves as possibly returning home, but TechLink keeps the information channels open.
EI's ultimate goal certainly must have been to identify Irish scientists who might be interested in returning to Ireland to take up research career opportunities and this is now actually happening, says Fearon. The group can point to at least 40 young Irish researchers who have gone back to Ireland after involvement with TechLink activities.
"The Irish expatriate community represents a powerful resource," he says. "It is a source of skills and mentoring skills. It is a whole infrastructure that can be adapted to what is required in Ireland."
Tomorrow's event in the conference centre at Church House, Dean's Yard Westminster, strongly reflects the mix of research and enterprise, not least in its title: Scientific Approaches to Innovation in Medicine and the Irish Environment for Entrepreneurs.
The line-up includes top-flight Irish researchers including Dubliner Prof Adrian Hill, professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford and Cork's Tom Cotter, professor of biochemistry at University College Cork.
Visit the group's web site, www.techlinkuk-ireland.com.