Industrial-academic contacts in chemistry at the University of East Anglia, U.K.
The rising cost of higher education, and particularly of academic research in science-based subjects, has led in the U.K. to increasingly insistent demands from the Government that the activities at university level be related to national needs. In the field of pure science this has frequently been voiced in terms of urging closer university—industry collaboration, and there is no doubt that in Great Britain, such contacts have in the past been markedly deficient and require fostering. National needs are in themselves a justifiable criterion, but in addition suitable industrial—academic contacts can be very much to the benefit of individual universities and to their staff and students. Such considerations were in the minds of the writer and his colleagues from the very inception of the new University of East Anglia. Starting a new university provided an ideal opportunity to put into practice some of these (and related') concepts, and the purpose of this article is to review the progress that has been achieved in the first six years of the university's life; it is hoped that others may benefit from our experience.