Perceptions, expectations, transparency and reputation:

A view from across the pond

AGI Leadership Forum – Sept. 2008Public-private Partnerships in the Geosciences

Colin P. NorthUniversity of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Cause for concern?

• GSA Sedimentology Division: Fall 2007– Teaching of Sedimentology forum at

“Seds and suds” icebreaker

• How meet industry need for sedimentologists?– Where will they come from? US supply too small?– How build and support quality teaching?– What about the smaller colleges?

• Perceptions – of duties, roles– Industry too passive? Academe too demanding?

• Expectations – of funding, responsibilities– Entitlement, or required to be earned?

Perceptions & expectations

• Industry comments:– We pay our taxes too ... it’s a Society problem ...– It’s not our business, shareholders don’t want it ...– Too many, too small colleges to be practical ...– Going to UK to get employees

• University comments:– Not enough public money available ...– Good science (& teaching) deserves support ...

• My thoughts:– So what do we do in UK? How overcome issues?

Outline

• Aberdeen University - a window into UK hydrocarbon and mining industry interactions– Typical of major universities with vocational aims,

e.g. Leeds, Manchester, Imperial College

• What we do for industry– Training, research, public education

• Why does it work? – Record of success? Is it sustainable?

• When does it go wrong?– Threats and weaknesses

• Generic lessons and observations

Aberdeen - where’s that?

Aberdeen

Edinburgh

Glasgow

London500 miles

University of Aberdeen

• Over 500 years old– Geology taught since 1860s, Mineralogy bias– Steadily rising geology student numbers ~ 15 years

• against background of falling science intakes

• Petroleum industry links?– Petroleum Geology MSc since 1973, first oil 1975– Ambivalent to petroleum industry until ~1987– Now heavily linked at all levels

• We had to work at it, it didn’t just happen– “Oil Capital of Europe” – we make good use of this

but it is not itself essential to success• Companies follow excellence

Geoscience Products

• Each year, we produce graduates:– 35+ BSc Petroleum Geology or Geoscience– 25+ MSc Integrated Petroleum Geoscience (IPG)– 16+ MSc Oil & Gas Enterprise Management– 10+ PhD in industry-relevant topics

• 90% MSc and PhD output goes immediately to industry (mostly petroleum)– Some MSc to PhD; a few PhD stay in academia

• Industry-relevant research activity– Basic and applied topics, publication crucial

Geoscience Products

• US$ 8M annual research income– ~75% industry (e.g. JIPs), ~25% government (KTP)

• Areas related to energy – Deep-water frontier group– Injected sands group– Terrestrial reservoirs group– Fluids: organic geochemistry, inclusions …– Non-destructive characterization of materials

• Earth systems science: environmental change – Climate change and terrestrial erosion– Extreme events and meteorite impacts

Exemplar research theme: Injected sands group

Geological recognition of subsurface remobilisation of sand Reinterpretation of

core, logs, & seismic Better reservoir modelling and more efficient engineering

Industry research success?

• Have original ideas & vision, clear deliverables– Make industry aware of them !!!

• Interactions throughout project life– Not just limited to funding and final report– Mutual understanding of needs, expectations– Much more time-consuming than if public funded

• Defining problems – analysis of their data– Honest dialogue on business problems, potential

(don’t over-egg the pudding)

• Technology transfer– Testing ideas on their projects, training

One-year MSc in IPG

• Tightly structured and prescribed, intensive– Developed, delivered just for this MSc program – Full-time, immersive ... life-changing !

• Taught components – 7 months– Instruction, practicals, fieldwork, teamwork– Geoscience plus industry-expected generic skills

• Individual technical project – 4 months– Mostly placed with a company (some out of town)

• Recruit best students we can get– Keep up quality by cap on class size & origin– Importance of reputation, studentships

One-year MSc in IPG

• Focus on industry destination, needs– The nature of the oil industry, business awareness– Role of geoscientists in that industry

• Dealing with uncertainty• Pragmatism or technical perfection?

– Communication with related disciplines• Needs and vocabulary

– Preparation for interviews, assessment centres– Ready for polishing through on-job experience

• MSc students often outperform PhDs– Impression at interviews– Readiness for employment

Industry interactions

• Studentships to our MSc IPG course– Industry direct to Department (~10) – UK Government advanced training (5 NERC) – Industry for specific persons (e.g. 3 Thai, 1 Brunei)– Overseas government schemes (3 PTDF Nigeria)– Yearly arrangements, not endowments

• In-kind support– Software: Landmark, Kingdom, Petrel (>$10M)

• Direct contributions, small and large:– Tutors, data, core store, exercises, projects

• Catalyst for industry awareness of Dept.

Student centred training

• Primary aim is shaping a human resource

– Not about scientific output

Recipe for success?

• Done best when:– Know industry’s needs ...– and have own vision, so a leader not a follower– Regular dialogue with industry: transparency– Work with industry on

curriculum and delivery

– Creates good reputation– Will survive economic

cycles

Comes easily?

• “You benefit from your location !!”– Perception? Envy?

• Yes ...– e.g. drilling centre, core store

• and no ... work hard to get all this support – And have to keep working at it every year

• Depends heavily on personal contacts– Projects not automatic, studentships re-justified– Rotating staff, duties in companies

• Depends on impressions created– Employability of graduates, quality of training

U.S.A. Masters

• MS in N. America generally research degree:– One year mix of generic courses, & frame project– One year research and dissertation (mini-PhD)– Same model as most of Western Europe– But Calgary setting up UK-type version !!

• Differences, from industry perspective?– Business understanding negligible or accidental

• Varies with supervisor’s contacts, research topic– Students more mature (older !)

• May know much more about some things• But lack breadth of knowledge

– Two-years not guaranteed, often slips

PhD training

• Three-year research degree:– No coursework, minimal transferable skill courses– Assessment by thesis (coherent single argument)– Writing may slip into year 4, but hard on longer

• Govt. funding for PhDs denied if average >4 years– Often straight from BSc (age 21), finish by age 25

• Typically part of larger theme:– Project determined in advance, advert for students– Funding in place in advance, usually for 3 years– Full-time - rare teaching-assistant finance in UK– Industry relevance & skills gained highly variable

U.S.A. PhD

• Typically 4 to 5 year research degree– Year 1 for project formulation, coursework– Can be more a collection of papers than thesis

• Funding more piecemeal– But have teaching assistant scheme to get started

• Differences, from industry perspective?– As UK, business awareness & skills very variable– Much more mature, often age 28-30 on exit– Deeper science knowledge, often have papers out– More polished, more experienced

Decision-makers ?

• Interaction with public bodies– More limited, diluted in UK – public sector small– No explicit training for public sector geoscience– Professional registration still rarely needed

• Government measures of– Research rating = overall institutional status– Affects Govt. funding (but not industry?)– Teaching quality = little effect on MSc and PhD

• Government policy? – Routed through professional body - e.g. GSL– Indirectly influence through industry ‘friends’

Cultural differences

• USA = personal responsibility paramount– Alumni much more likely to help

• Europe = looks to society, government– History of state oil companies forced to fund– Altruism taken into account e.g. in licensing– State funding means alumni less active

• Extreme case of industry funding:– Petronas Malaysia fund a whole university

How increase support?

• Is this where AGI Societies have key role?– Networking, showcasing, facilitating?– Wrapped up with Q: “What are Societies for?”

• Government has little money to give out– Universities are oil industry’s research labs

• Highly dependent on personal contacts– No such thing as institutional reputation?

• Get self and ideas known:– Conferences, papers - personal company visits– Events at institution: workshops, ‘open-days’– Be in, or set up, industry-relevant meetings

Personal industry links:

Society industry links:

Problems we face

• PhD students (good ones) hard to recruit– Going to industry via MSc– Academic future not attractive

• Post-doctoral researchers hard to find– Sucked into industry after PhD– Disillusioned by lack of faculty posts, lifestyle, pay

• Faculty staff (good ones) hard to recruit & keep– Consequence of above, global competition– Industry-skilled ones drawn away– Institutional reputation and vision crucial

Lessons ?

• Manage perceptions and expectations• Academe not entitled to industry funding

– Not industry’s business to do fundamental training– But everyone benefits from sharing responsibility

• Trust and respect– Openness and open-minded = transparency– Taking the time to understand each others needs

• Importance of reputation, record of delivery– Have to keep working at it, this is time intensive– Does it require critical mass in academic units?

• Strategic alliances with other institutions?

Thank you for listening

Reviewing

• All journals struggling• Reviewing expected, but not respected

(credited) by employers– So is what gets the push (or done badly) when

time is tight

• Real pain for editors, slowing up publication– Commonly have to approach at least 6 (often 8 or

more) before get 2 signed up

• Ultimately bad for everyone– Science inadequately checked

Background

• Personal experience:– with BP (oil and coal) for 8 years– 18 years university research and teaching– teaching, supervision and curriculum adviser

from BSc to PhD– 8 years as Director of the MSc in IPG– industry-funded research projects,

both single and consortium (JIP) funded– convener industry-supported research conferences– involved with SEPM and AAPG; editor JSR 4 years