Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
further period of development by attracting a university to the town and laying the
foundation for its future as a knowledge-based economy.
In 1966 in collaboration with Guildford's Town Council the University was
able to purchase 300 ac (125 ha) of land which was the minimum area required by
the UK government if it was to agree to fund the relocation of Battersea Poly-
technic to Guildford and establish itself as a university town by hosting the
University of Surrey. This minimum land allocation was required to ensure that the
University would have sufficient land on which to develop in the future and
prevent the problem faced by its pre-cursor organisation which had become land
locked on a small site in the south west of London.
In 1966 the new University received its Royal Charter and following a land use
planning enquiry which was supported by the town of Guildford and the County of
Surrey, planning permission was granted for the University to be established its
300 acre site on the western edge of the town.
The legacy of the origins of the University of Surrey, of supporting an industrial
base in London, came with it to Guildford.
Features of this legacy include: significant research links with industry; having
in place a department that is dedicated to manage industrial research contracts,
technology licencing, and managing a the University's business development
outreach unit; and offering each student at the University the opportunity for a
1 year accredited industrial or professional placement as part of the any degree
course. This tradition continues, although today the placement year is now no
longer a compulsory part of all degree courses; however, its value is that it
continues to connect the University to industrial companies and professional
organisations across the UK and further abroad and helps the University maintain
its leading position for graduate employment in the UK. The tradition of working
with the business and industry has helped to build Surrey's reputation of a business
focussed research led University.
2 Science Parks: An Emerging Trend in the UK
As early as 1964 the British Government urged UK higher education institutions to
expand their contact with industry with the objective of increasing the rate of
technology transfer to the market place in order to increase the payback from
investment in basic research (Edgerton
1996
). One impact was that the Mott
Committee,
1
in its report published in 1969, recommended an expansion of
'science-based industry' close to Cambridge to take maximum advantage of the
1
Mott Committee, a special Cambridge University Committee set up under the Chairmanship of
Sir Nevill Francis Mott (then Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics) to consider an
appropriate response from Cambridge to an initiative of the Labour government following its
election in 1964 published its findings in 1969 in the Mott Report.
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