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July E-Bulletin 2011
In This E-Bulletin
Education Proposals
Parliamentary Links Day
CASE Advisory Council
Devolved Elections
Treasury Chief Scientist
Science Question Time
Policy Resources
CaSE Blog
Other work
Events & Consultations

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Diary Highlights

30/06/11 CaSE attended the 'I'm a Scientist, Get me Out of Here!' reception' event at the Wellcome Trust

 

30/06/11 Dave Hawksett met with Lockheed Martin UK

 

29/06/11 Imran Khan attended a speech given by the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, at the Royal Society.

 

29/06/11 Imran Khan gave the keynote speech at a seminar organised by Wiley-Blackwell publishers entitled 'Why Policy Matters?'

 

28/06/11 CaSE Director Imran Khan gave a presentation at Parliamentary Links Day, hosted by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

 

27/06/11 CaSE held a meeting of its Executive Committee

 

27/06/11 CaSE met with SCORE staff and Chair Professor Graham Hutchings

 

23/06/11 Imran Khan met with Syngenta at their Jealott's Hill campus in Berkshire

 

22/06/11 Imran Khan attended a Foundation of Science & Technology (FST) Dinner

 

21/06/11 Imran Khan attended a discussion dinner on engaging the public in GM at the House of Commons

 

21/06/11 Imran Khan met with a representative from the Science and Technology Department of the French Embassy

 

21/06/11 CaSE met with Mark Foster from the Science and Technology Facilities Council

 

21/06/11 Imran Khan was interviewed by IScience, the science magazine of Imperial College London

 

20/06/11 Imran Khan attended the College Guest Night at Queen Mary University

 

16/06/11 Dave Hawksett attended the 'Big Ideas for the Future' Reception at the House of Commons

 

15/06/11 Imran Khan met with the SNP Science Spokesperson Mike Russell MSP, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie MSP and the Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Murdo Fraser MSP.

 

15/06/11/ Imran Khan was a speaker at the 'Understanding and Influencing the Scottish Parliament' event in Edinburgh

 

14/06/11 Hilary Leevers attended a POST (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology) seminar on STEM education 14-19

 

13/06/11 Hilary Leevers attended the Education Policy Lunchbox hosted by The Biochemical Society on teacher training

 

13/06/11 Hilary Leevers attended a meeting of the STEM Disability Committee hosted by the Society of Biology

 

13/06/11 CaSE enjoyed a performance of the "Little Miracles" play at Charles Darwin House

 

09/06/11 CaSE met with members of the BIS spending team at HM Treasury

 

07/06/11 Imran Khan met with staff from the Royal Society

 

07/06/11 Imran Khan attended the Science Council AGM

 

07/06/11 Hilary Leevers met with thePresident of the British Psychological Society

 

06/06/11 CaSE Assistant Director Hilary Leevers spent two days in Northern Ireland for the 'Science and the Northern Assembly 2011' event, organised by the RSC.

 

06/06/11 Imran Khan was interviewed by Felix, the Imperial College Union newspaper

 

03/06/11 Imran Khan met with the Guardian

 

02/06/11 Imran Khan met with advisers from Price Waterhouse Coopers


Please forward this on to any colleagues or friends you think will be interested in supporting science and engineering

  
CaSE Responds to the Government's HE and Education Proposals


Last week saw the publication of the Government's Higher Education White Paper. While the majority of proposals will affect Higher Education as a whole, CaSE has registered its preliminary concerns about some aspects of the White Paper which could particularly impact upon science and engineering. CaSE previously published a 'wish list' for the HE White Paper.

 

Imran Khan was in the audience for a speech by the Education Secretary Michael Gove at the Royal Society where he talked about the importance of mathematics stating: "And we unequivocally believe that maths and science education are at the heart of improving our society and our economy".


Last week also saw the release of both an important new incentive scheme for getting science and maths graduates into teaching and targeted scholarships of up to £3,500 for teachers to fund ongoing training in science and mathematics. The move comes after CaSE had raised concerns that lack of funding could leave the UK with a serious shortage of teachers able to train and inspire the scientists and engineers of tomorrow

Following these announcements last week, CaSE Director Imran Khan has summarised the findings and asks whether the Government's teaching proposals add up?

On the CaSE blog Hilary Leevers also asks whether, following the creation of AC Grayling's new College of the Humanities, will a similar ' New College of the Sciences' be set up?  

Parliamentary Links Day

CaSE Director Imran Khan gave a presentation at Parliamentary Links Day, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry.   

 

In his speech Imran spoke about CaSE's recent work, including notable successes on the proposed migrant cap and the Science is Vital campaign. You can watch a video stream of all the presentations here

 

The annual event, also attended by Hilary Leevers, Nick Hall and former CaSE interns, brings together parliamentarians and the scientific and engineering community to discuss better ways of working together. 

 

CaSE has published a copy of the speech given by Shadow Innovation and Science Minister Chi Onwurah MP at Links Day. A former chemical engineer, Chi used her speech to set out Labour's initial plans for re-building the economy using science and engineering. 

CaSE Advisory Council
CaSE has welcomed new members to its Advisory Council:

Colin Blakemore is Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford and former Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council; 

Athene Donald is Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge and Director of the university's Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative;

Roger Highfield is Editor of New Scientist.

Members of the Advisory Council are called upon by the organisation's staff to assist with specific policy and campaigning issues where their experience and insight is requested.

 

The senior figures join Nobel laureates, former Government ministers, former Presidents of the Royal Society, and senior figures from industry as unpaid advisors to CaSE. For a full list of CaSE's Advisory Council see here.

Devolved Elections 2011  

Following the results of the devolved elections, CaSE is now looking to engage with the new Parliament and Assemblies in raising the profile of science and engineering.

 

Scotland    

Imran Khan was a speaker at Understanding and Influencing the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, organised by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Society of Biology.   

 

Imran gave a presentation entitled 'Campaigning using the media and social media' and also took part in the afternoon panel discussion alongside Bristow Muldoon (RSE), Stephen Benn (RSC) & Mark Downs (SocBiol).

 

While in Edinburgh, Imran met with the SNP Science Spokesperson Mike Russell MSP, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie MSP, and the Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Murdo Fraser MSP.  

 

Northern Ireland 

CaSE Assistant Director Hilary Leevers spent two days in Belfast for Science and the Northern Ireland Assembly, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Hilary met with Assembly Members, scientists and policy makers to discuss boosting Northern Ireland's science and engineering potential. You can read her summary of the event here

 

Upcoming 

Hilary Leevers will be giving a talk on 'Science policy in the devolved nations post-election' at a Science Policy Lunchbox event on Wed 6th July, hosted by the Biochemical Society.

 

CaSE produced a devolved policy report, 'Science, Engineering & the Devolved Nations 2011', sponsored by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which contains analysis of regional and national science and engineering performance, and forms the rationale for our campaigning work in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. 

   

If you would like any further information please visit the devolved' section of our website.  

Treasury Chief Scientist Appointed
CaSE has welcomed the announcement that HM Treasury is set to appoint its first Chief Scientific Adviser. Speaking on the issue Imran Khan said:

"It's great news that HM Treasury have finally caught up and recognised the importance of having a [departmental] Chief Scientific Adviser. We desperately need someone within the department who can talk about how critical a long-term investment strategy for science and engineering is for the UK's future. Without that, we're going to lose out in the international knowledge-economy race."

CaSE also met with HM Treasury officials last month to discuss a number of issues including research funding and VAT on shared services.
Science Question Time - Impact
The third Science Question Time is being held at Imperial College London on Tuesday 5th July. Unfortunately the event is now SOLD OUT, but you can still submit questions for the event and follow it live on Twitter using the #SciQT hashtag.

A podcast of the event will be made available afterwards, and will be sent round in next month's e-bulletin. In the meantime you  can click here to download or listen to the podcast of the second Question Time on STEM education. You can also listen to the first Science Question Time, which discussed the state of the scientific nation.

 

For further details about the events please get in touch.
Policy Resources

CaSE has launched a new policy events calendar, available to view here.

 

We've tried to bring together upcoming policy events from a range of hosts into one resource, and hope you find it useful. We're not claiming this list is comprehensive, so if you're hosting or know of any events you'd like to add to the list, please do email us about them - the restrictions are that it should be connected to science and engineering policy in some way, and that it should not charge for entry.

 

In the next few weeks We are also planning to institute a new 'Science Policy Jobs' section on our website, listing policy roles available at science and engineering institutions. If your organisation is currently (or soon to be) hiring, do let us know and we would be pleased to advertise it. 

 

 

CaSE Blog 

The CaSE blog provides ideas and analysis on science and engineering policy developments in the UK. Recent posts include: 

 

Other issues that CaSE is working on

  • VAT. Universities are being increasingly asked by Ministers to share services: for instance, back-office functions, libraries, or technical equipment. Unfortunately, whenever they do engage in such sharing, they have to pay 20% VAT on the transaction to HM Treasury. CaSE has met with tax experts and raised the issue with HM Treasury officials.  
  • House of Lords Reform. CaSE is looking at how reform of the House of Lords might impact upon science and engineering policy-making. 
If you wish to feed into any of the above policy areas please get in touch.
Upcoming  Events and Consultations 

Training our Next Generation of Outstanding Teachers
Department for Education Consultation
 

Science as a Public Enterprise
Royal Society

Deadline: 5th August

 

Lifting barriers to women in STEM; A Strategy for Scotland
Royal Society of Edinburgh
Deadline: 19th August

 

Consultations on Patent Box and R & D Credits
HM Treasury Consultation
Deadline: 2nd September

 

Employment related settlement, Tier 5 and overseas domestic workers
UK Border Agency
Deadline: 9th September

 

Higher Education White Paper - Students at the Heart of the System
BIS Consultation
Deadline: 20th September  

 

Higher Education White Paper - Early Repayment
BIS Consultation
Deadline: 20th September  

 

Consultation on funding for teaching and student number allocation
HEFCE
Deadline: 22nd September


For more information on our activities go to our website www.sciencecampaign.org.uk
 
To contact us please telephone 0207 679 4994 or email nickh@sciencecampaign.org.uk