Scots see profit in research

A Scottish expatriate who heads one of the world's leading oilfield services companies is to spearhead a strategy to boost Scotland's economic wealth by commercialising higher education research.

Euan Baird, chairman and chief executive of the Franco-American giant Schlumberger, will chair a group of industrialists and academics running the Technology Ventures strategy recently launched by Scottish Enterprise and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

The ten-year strategy aims to bridge the gap between academics and industrialists, giving academics greater understanding of how research can be exploited commercially and increasing the opportunities and rewards for doing so.

The group's tasks include encouraging participation, monitoring its success across the country, and lobbying Government, the European Commission and research councils.