Category: Events

Science should not be a niche area for politicians… and vice versa!

by Zoe Self, postdoctoral researcher at the Royal Veterinary College While I was delighted to be invited by the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) to attend the Society of Biology’s Parliamentary Links Day, I must admit I was a little nervous, not so much for the prestige of the occasion but for my ignorance regarding politics. I tend to pay relatively little attention. I know that I should listen, as the decisions made influence my future career, but until now I’ve allowed politics to be a ‘black box’ that I do not open. I have to say that #LinksDay2015 changed that for me. The morning was opened by Stephen Benn (Society of Biology) and Rt Hon John Bercow MP (Speaker of the House of Commons). We heard from Chi Onwurah MP, who focussed on the ‘culture shock’ of moving from engineering to politics, before being…

Links Day 2015 Keynote Speakers

Parliamentary Links Day is an annual event organised in Parliament by the Society of Biology on behalf of the science community, which aims to strengthen dialogue between scientists and politicians. Watch the speeches by: Jo Johnson MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science; Nicola Blackwood MP, chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee; and Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, President Elect of The Royal Society… You can read more about Parliamentary Links Day 2015 on our website, Storify, Facebook, or elsewhere on the blog.

What role will science play in the new Parliament?

By James Borrell, NERC funded PhD student and science policy intern at the Society of Biology What role will science play in the new parliament? How will new research influence policy? Will science funding increase or continue to decline? The answers to these questions are elusive, but perhaps the clearest bellwether of the prevailing scientific climate is the annual Parliamentary Links Day. The largest science event in the parliamentary calendar, Links Day is organised by the Society of Biology on behalf of the science and engineering community. As a NERC funded PhD student on a three month science policy internship, Links Day was a tangible opportunity to see how science and government interact. I’m very aware than when scientists are based at universities and institutes across the UK it can be difficult to understand how their work relates to developments in Westminster. So as an aspiring…

Do you want the ‘best job in the world’? Consider science teaching

Sue Howarth, a senior lecturer in science education at the University of Worcester, talks about the challenges and joys of teaching, one of the career pathways that will be explored at Life Sciences Careers Conferences. I’ve been a science and biology teacher for most of my career and I’ve trained many graduates to become science teachers, so I’ve been there and got the t-shirt. Teaching can be the #bestjobintheworld (check this hashtag on Twitter and see how often teachers use it) as it brings numerous rewards. You get to influence young people and correct misconceptions, there will be many ways for you to engage in CPD (continuing professional development), which gives great opportunities to work with associations, such as the ASE, Society of Biology, and the Royal Society of Chemistry, in addition to using Twitter, blogs and teachmeets to find out more about teaching. Even as a trainee, you are likely to help look…

Behavioural Genetics: who are you?

Dr Claire Hastings introduces the field of Behavioural Genetics ahead of the Royal Institution debate entitled: “The good, the bad, and the genetically predetermined” on the 15th October, during Biology Week 2013. Your genome contains all the instructions for building you. This includes genes that affect your behaviour: from learning and memory, eating and sleeping or mating behaviour and personality. Within the human population there is variation in these genes, resulting in the behavioural differences we observe in each other. Genes that affect behaviour are a huge part of what makes you, you. They often provide you with more of a sense of self than the genes involved in your physical appearance such as height or eye colour. So who are you? Are you the simply sum total of your genetic material? Is your behaviour predetermined by your genes? Or is there more to it? Scientists have been working to answer these questions for…

“Sorry James, this is not my cup of tea”

Guest post by Dr James Revill, Research Fellow with the Harvard Sussex Program, SPRU, University of Sussex. The issues raised in James’ post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday, and on Twitter with the hashtag #PolicyLates. The strategic use of disease in warfare has been subject to a long standing and cross-cultural taboo that condemns the hostile exploitation of biology as the act of a pariah. In short, biological weapons are simply not cricket. However, such disapproval is not fixed but context dependent and remains malleable to engineered erosion by governments and other groups . This is a particular concern in light of the twin challenge posed by the changing capacity and geography of bioscience and the evolving perceptions of security, including the perceived rise of terrorism and new wars in the 21st Century, on the other. Such circumstances have been converging to once again…

Not by good intentions alone

Guest post by Tatyana Novossiolova, a Wellcome Trust doctoral candidate studying the governance of biotechnology in post-communist Russia at the Division of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. The issues raised in Tatyana’s post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday. In May this year, Science reported the creation of a hybrid between the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which has 60% mortality rate in infected humans but does not easily spread from person to person, and the H1N1 virus, which caused several thousand deaths during the 2009 global pandemic. In light of its limited practical utility, the experiment was denounced as ‘appalling irresponsibility’. Back in 2011, similar concerns were raised following the announcement that two teams working independently in the Netherlands and the US created contagious H5N1. Far from being isolated cases, those experiments epitomise the worrying trajectory that some bioscience research has taken over the…

MPs’ thoughts on academic career paths

From a potential ban on neonicotinoids to the importance of the EU, there were some provocative questions at last week’s Voice of the Future. There were many times when I had my preconceptions challenged by the MPs’ answers, and many issues I hadn’t stopped to consider. This Storify (below) sums up the debate brilliantly, and you can watch the entire event here, but I’ve taken the opportunity to share some of my thoughts, and look forward to your comments. Unsurprisingly, a major issue raised by young people was the career structure in academic science. Unlike most commercial settings, aspiring academics must do multiple short-term contracts after which many will never get permanent jobs in research. Universities and Science Minister David Willetts MP was keen to explain that there are reasons for the high number of PhD students relative to senior staff, including that the structure shouldn’t be too top…

Podcast: views after the #policylates debate

At the first #policylates debate, held on the 29th November at Charles Darwin House, the panel discussed whether or not the UK Parliament could do with more scientists. With the online poll initially showing 96% ‘yes’ votes, this was reduced to about 60% ‘yes’ amongst audience members by the end of the debate. The debate became rather heated at times, perhaps unsurprisingly between the Liberal Democrat Dr Evan Harris and the Conservative Dr Phillip Lee. Labour’s Chi Onwurah remained a professional chair throughout, only revealing her own views after the debate had closed. Haralambos Dayantis has produced a brief podcast from interviews with panellists and selected audience members, which will give you a flavour of the evening’s proceedings. Podcast credits: Haralambos Dayantis is the man behind the curtain, responsible for producing the podcast and helping co-ordinate the first #policylates event with the Society of Biology. Kaz Janowski…

Podcast: #policylates debates – do we need more scientists in Parliament?

Next Thursday we will be holding the first ever Society of Biology #policylates debate, ‘Do we need more scientists in Parliament?’ If the results from our website poll are anything to go by then the answer would be a resounding yes. To find out if the answer is really this clear cut, Press Officer Rebecca Nesbit investigates in this podcast. She speaks to guests about the advantages and pitfalls of having more scientists in Parliament, science policy and the #policylates debate series. We will be live tweeting as @Society_Biology at the event next Thursday 29th November from 7pm using the hashtag #policylates and will be taking questions to put to the panel. If you have any questions or views to share please comment below or join in the discussions already taking place on the Society of Biology LinkedIn group or our previous blog. Rebecca’s podcast guests were: Harry Dayantis – Imperial Science Communication graduate Dr Jennifer Rohn – Cell biologist, novelist and founder and Chair…