The professor behind the discover of graphene has slammed reports that Manchester lost out on hundreds of jobs to build new hi-tech lightbulbs.
Manchester University physicist Andre Geim, who co-discovered the super-thin substance 12 year ago, has defended the role of the university in collaborating with private firms to create new gadgets - wherever they are manufactured.
It comes after reports that new, resilient lightbulbs partially developed by staff at the university’s National Graphene Institute will be manufactured in Taiwan.
MPs are now set to investigate the development and protection of graphene patents and devices to determine whether British businesses are missing out, according to the Sunday Times.
According to the paper, Taiwanese entrepreneur Chung-Ping Lai had looked at setting up a factory in Manchester but now plans to outsource the work to Taiwan and mainland China due to cost reasons.
The firm Graphene Lighting, is partially owned by Manchester University, holds the patent for the lightbulb, which was developed through a partnership between scientists and staff at the company. However Manchester University say it is not a university product.
Commenting on a blog post, Professor Geim defended the way he and fellow researchers were collaborating with industry - saying that they were working for the ‘good of UK PLC’.
He wrote: “I see the relationship between the University and collaborating companies as a way to stimulate graphene developments for the good of UK PLC rather than for profit.
“If and when the companies start generating profits, the University will of course benefit through shareholding and patents. But this is secondary. Everything the companies do for the moment...is based on common knowledge, published simultaneously by many groups.
“I only wish someone would use our IP or patents, but it is still too early at this stage of graphene development.”
The National Graphene Centre, which cost £61m to build, is aimed to act as a hub between private business and front-line researchers working on the new substance.
Many technology companies are carrying out joint projects with the university and its spin-out companies and have R&D staff embedded at Manchester.
Professor Geim’s co-discovered Kostaya Novoselov has previously suggested that the most likely jobs benefit for Manchester was in research and R&D, rather than manufacturing with large-scale production of graphene already well-established in the Far East and the US.
Professor Geim added that graphene research was still at an early stage, but said collaboration with private business was crucial if the public were to see the benefits of graphene.
He added: “You can either lock yourself in an ivory tower or dare to cross the notorious gap to the industry. For the last 10 years I have encouraged our PhD students to start their own companies.
“This resulted in Graphene Industries, 2D-Tech, 2D Research and Eksagon to name but a few. On a personal note, I have not taken any remuneration but am happy that students can make their livings out of the knowledge acquired during years spent in our labs...This is our bottom-up approach, organic growth of small graphene companies.”
“Beyond reasonable expectations, graphene has already delivered its first products, although this is still on a small scale. The University staff deal with dozens of enquiries every week, helping newcomers with information about the material and setting up new ventures.”