With a PhD in computer science from University College London (UCL), Daniel Hulme might have been expected to be heading for a career in academia. In fact, he and fellow researcher Alastair Moore have just embarked on a career as entrepreneurs. Their brainchild is Satalia, a high technology company based on the complex calculation software they developed as doctoral students.
Satalia's software can be applied to anything from the manufacture of micro-processors and pharmaceuticals to finance and logistics. "We call our product a 'solve engine'," says Daniel Hulme. UCL's dean of engineering is on the board as is the manager of UCL's investment arm, UCL Business, who helped the two entrepreneurs take their product to proof of concept stage – a pre-condition for attracting investment.
Like many research universities UCL funds technology transfer to create small spin-out businesses on the back of cutting edge research, which is how Hulme's business got started. Chair of the doctoral studies community of the League of European Research Universities, Professor David Bogle, head of the graduate school at UCL says: "Our mission is to educate people to become creative, autonomous, intellectual risk takers."
Commercial development
The government's cuts in science and technology budgets can be partly offset by universities investing in the innovations generated by postgraduate researchers. Developing commercial applications for scientific theory is no longer seen as selling out; rather it is an integral part of how universities are preserving funding for the sciences. Under a process known as "technology transfer", universities such as UCL, Imperial College, York and Cranfield are investing in high-tech startup companies launched and run by staff and students.
At postgraduate level, there is a clear link between academic theory and employability and universities charge students fees based on the knowledge that these degrees are an essential passport for high-paying careers. "At master's level, degrees are self-funded. Students tend to need the qualification for a job and are willing to pay for it," says Bogle. And he adds "For students who take out expensive loans the payback can be quick."
Thanks to demand from employers, postgraduate education has been on an upward curve. Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that from 2004/05 to 2008/09, the number of postgraduates rose by 11% to 536,815. The rise was greatest among overseas or non-UK domiciled students, whose numbers rose by 27%.
Private providers are expanding the market and providing stiff competition for established universities, especially in the area of business education.
This summer BPP College, a major law and accountancy training provider, was granted full degree awarding powers. It joins the UK's only other private higher education institution, the University of Buckingham, in offering a mix of mainly business oriented undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, geared towards delivering master's degrees.
The private universities and colleges compete on price and carry few of the overheads of the research-heavy Russell Group universities, with their armies of post-doctoral researchers and expensive campus facilities. Private universities typically keep their overheads low by occupying city-centre campuses and offering advanced online learning to support face-to-face teaching.
The move could shift the balance of power away from established universities to a market-led model where the consumer is king. "We're introducing a more flexible approach to our specialist master's degrees so that students can study part-time or work online at home. The idea is they can progress at their own speed, says Chris Brady, dean of BPP Business School.
And the future? In their mission to add value, universities and university business schools are adapting their postgraduate offerings to meet employers' needs. The market also appears to be polarising. In science and technology the clever money is on applied research jointly funded by research councils and industry; and in business education, arts and humanities a divide is opening up between career development for the mass market and unashamedly elitist institutions and qualifications.
IESE Barcelona business school and business partners including Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson and Nestlé, for example, are fast tracking Europe's brightest undergraduates into management. After several years of work experience, they are offered places on the master's in business administration (MBA).
The scheme will lower the age profile of IESE's MBA students from an average of 27 to about 25. Javier Munoz, admissions director and leader of IESE's young talent progamme, explains the thinking. "Employers were telling us they couldn't find the talent they needed, especially in these difficult times." IESE has established a profile for young talent. "Our preferred candidate," says Munoz, "will have two degrees, fluency in two or more modern languages, they will be a good communicator, have a well-rounded profile and have travelled extensively. We are talking about the top 1%."
