GSK to fund schools science programme
pharmafile | March 23, 2011 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | GSK, GlaxoSmithKline, King's College, school science
GlaxoSmithKline has followed its pledge to refund the tuition fees of UK graduates it takes on with a less direct initiative designed to attract talent.
GSK has launched ‘Scientists in Sport’, a schools programme based around the London Olympics, with King’s College London.
GSK, which is a London 2012 partner, and the university – a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory – will run a series of free events between now and next year’s games, offering school children the experience of a day at university.
The idea is to encourage young people into science careers after research showed that, while 80% of secondary school pupils enjoyed science lessons, only 2% were looking for a career in science.
Sports-based lectures and workshops will be used to show 11-14 year olds the benefits of taking their science studies further.
“This should help deliver the science graduates who can drive forward the UK’s science base and provide potential recruits for academia and research-based organisations like GSK,” said Malcolm Skingle, GSK director of academic liaison.
The same survey showed that eight out of ten students were worried about getting a job in future – despite, GSK said, the UK being Europe’s top location for investment in pharma and biotech R&D.
“It is vital to get more bright pupils interested in science as a career,” explained Roger Morris, head of the school of biomedical sciences at King’s.
“The science underlying elite levels of performance, and detection of drug cheats, provides a unique opportunity to engage pupils with hands-on experiments, and meet and hear King’s experts explain how they will monitor athletes at the London 2012 Games,” he added.
The other universities involved are Loughborough, Liverpool John Moores, Exeter and Bedfordshire, and high profile supporters of the programme include Lord Coe, chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
“Science will play a crucial part in the London 2012 Games, from the training and nutrition programmes which keep the athletes at peak performance to the anti-doping tests which will help to make the Games as clean as possible,” he said.
A new website www.scientistsinsport.com will give teachers and students resources to replicate the experiments in their own classrooms.
Earlier this month the company announced plans to reimburse UK university tuition fees paid by its trainees from 2012.
Successful applicants are already offered highly competitive compensation packages but GSK hopes the further incentive will increase its desirability to graduates.
Adam Hill
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