April 2013 CaSE e-bulletin

April 2013 e-bulletin

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2013 Budget

Science Debate

New GCSA

Education Policy

On CaSE Blog

Policy Job Listings

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26/03/13 Nicola Davis attended a Parliamentary debate on UK innovation

18/03/13 CaSE held an education policy roundtable meeting with members and collaborators, kindly hosted by the Wellcome Trust

15/03/13 Beck Smith met with the Science Council

14/03/13 Beck Smith met with Science is Vital

13/03/13 Beck Smith met with Camden Local Authority

13/03/13 Beck Smith met with officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

07/03/13 Beck Smith attended the E4E Conference

06/03/13 Beck Smith attended a meeting at the Science Learning Centre in York

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

CaSE responds to the Budget

Last month's Budget announced by the Chancellor provided mixed-news for science and engineering.

While welcoming increased Government support for research - particularly an expansion of the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) and an extension of the R&D tax credit scheme - CaSE has called on the government to do more to support the research base.

Research Base

New analysis by CaSE has shown that the Research Base Budget shortfall, which stood at nearly £1.7bn following the 2010 Spending Review, has now been reduced to just over £300m following a string of additional commitments. However, March's Budget leaves this shortfall unchanged.

Departmental R&D Spending

CaSE has also warned against cutting departmental R&D spending in the face of more cuts to departmental budgets. New analysis by CaSE has shown that many disproportionate cuts have already been made to R&D budgets in the face of overall budget cuts across Whitehall.

CaSE Cross-Party Science and Engineering Debate

CaSE has organised a debate between the science spokespeople from the three main Westminster parties:

David Willetts MP (Conservative) Universities and Science Minister
Julian Huppert MP (Liberal Democrat) former Research Scientist
Shabana Mahmood MP (Labour), Shadow Universities and Science Minister

The Institution of Engineering and Technology is kindly hosting the event at Savoy Place, London, on the evening of Tuesday 30th April 2013. The event is free and you can register here.

New Government Chief Scientific Adviser Starts Work

Sir Mark Walport has taken up his new role as Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA). Sir Mark was formerly the Director of the Wellcome Trust. The announcement was made in June 2012.

He replaces the former GCSA Professor Sir John Beddington, who has served in the post since January 2008.

We look forward to supporting Sir Mark in putting science, engineering and technology at the heart of policy-making and ensuring high-quality scientific advice is embedded across Whitehall and Government.

Education Policy Work
CaSE is currently working on the development of a manifesto for STEM education. An open-to-all discussion meeting is planned and more details will be made available on the CaSE website shortly.

New on the CaSE blog
Nicola Davis, journalist and CaSE intern, on what's driving the UK innovation system. Michelle Richmond, Director of Membership and Professional Development at the IET, on the need to get more women into engineering professions.

Science Policy Job Listings
CaSE currently has a number of science and engineering policy jobs listed on the jobs section of our website. To advertise on the page please get in touch.

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