science in parliament summer 2014 animation without mathematics! the ima seeks to make this...

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The Journal of theParliamentary andScientific Committee

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Building on a century of achievement, Ferawill continue to evolveand grow, discoveringnew ways of using the latest science to providesolutions in plant healthand across the agri-food chain.

2014 marks the centenaryof the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera)

To find out more about Fera’s capabilities, please contact –Philip Newton, Director of [email protected]

We discuss from time to timethe role which Governmentshould play in deciding whatresearch should be carried outusing the funds which the taxpayer provides.

The pendulum swings backand forth between “blue skies”and “applied”. The HaldanePrincipal, first enunciated 100years ago is regularly rolled outto illuminate the debate. Nowwe have the eight greattechnologies.

An important piece of directedresearch has beencommemorated this year. TheGovernment decided that a

Science in Parliament Vol 71 No 3 Summer 2014 1

50 YEARS OF MATHEMATICS AND ITSAPPLICATIONS 2Rebecca Waters

THE SCIENCE OF MAKING COLOUR 4

L’ORÉAL-UNESCO 2014 FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCEFELLOWSHIPS 6

3D PRINTING – A REVOLUTION IN THE MAKING 8

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF PLANT HEALTH ANDAGRI-FOOD SOLUTIONS 10Dr Philip Newton

FARMING NEEDS SCIENCE 12Meurig Raymond

PRECISION FARMING AND ANIMAL WELFARE 14Professor Marian Stamp Dawkins

THE BIG BANG FAIR BREAKS RECORDS IN 2014 16

A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME? 18Professor Dame Julia Slingo

CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE 20Nic Bilham

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 22Addresses to the P&SC by Professor Richard Davies andHuw Clarke

STRENGTHENING LINKS WITH JAPAN ONEDUCATION AND RESEARCH 26

PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONPOLICIES: WHERE ARE WE NOW? 27

VALUING AND REALISING OUR NATURAL CAPITALASSETS - TELLUS 28

WHY EXPLORE THE SOLAR SYSTEM? 30

MARS 32

HOUSE OF LORDS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYSELECT COMMITTEE 33

PARLIAMENTARY OFFICE OF SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY 34

HOUSE OF COMMONS SELECT COMMITTEE ONSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 35

HOUSE OF COMMONS LIBRARY SCIENCE ANDENVIRONMENT SECTION 37

SELECTED DEBATES 39

SCIENCE DIRECTORY 40

SCIENCE DIARY 48

Andrew Miller MPChairman, Parliamentary andScientific Committee

CONTENTS

The Journal of the Parliamentary andScientific Committee.The Committee is an AssociateParliamentary Group of members ofboth Houses of Parliament and Britishmembers of the European Parliament,representatives of scientific andtechnical institutions, industrialorganisations and universities.


Science in Parliament has two mainobjectives:1. to inform the scientific and industrial

communities of activities withinParliament of a scientific nature andof the progress of relevantlegislation;

2. to keep Members of Parliamentabreast of scientific affairs.

reliable method for sailors toknow their longitude wasessential for Britain’s economicand military security. Latitude ofcourse was easier and themodern sextant evolved frominstruments that date back toantiquity.

In 1714, a prize was offered(not a research grant) by Act ofParliament, £20,000 for asolution which could measurelongitude to within half-a-degree.That’s about €6 million today!

It took John Harrison severaldecades to construct atimepiece accurate enough torecord Greenwich Mean Timewhile out on the high seas.Naval charts were drawn upusing the Greenwich Meridian asthe base, and 100 years laterthe rest of the world (with oneexception) fell into line. Not abad return for the “investment”of £20k.

The concept has now beenreinvented with theannouncement of a LongitudePrize, but this time the publicwas asked to vote on what thetopic should be. They were

given six choices: Flight, Water,Paralysis, Food Security,Dementia and Antibiotics.

The winner was announced on25th June – “Antibiotics”.

This was the subject of one ofour discussions during thesummer of 2013. Not for thefirst time, the P&SC was aheadof the game!

Two of the others have beenthe subject of discussionmeetings during the past fewyears, and a fourth is on ouragenda for December this year.Our new website and ourjournal provide furtherinformation.

The distinguished panel ofjudges was led by Martin Reeswho, as the Astronomer Royal,followed in the footsteps ofNevil Maskelyne who led thejudges 250 years ago. Plus çachange!

He hopes that the other topicsmay be taken up by othersources of funding.

Science in Parliament Vol 71 No 3 Summer 20142

... highlighting how the maths developed ...

50 YEARS OF MATHEMATICSAND ITS APPLICATIONSRebecca WatersEditorial Officer, Mathematics Today

... teach children about mathematics ...

Readers of Science inParliament have seen on thefront cover of the Spring issuethat the Institute of Mathematicsand its Applications (IMA) is 50this year. The IMA is celebratingthis milestone with a series ofevents in 2014. We werehonoured to welcome our RoyalPatron for this anniversary year,Her Royal Highness The PrincessRoyal, to The Royal Society on14 May, where we held lecturescelebrating the many importantfacets of mathematics that theIMA, and its members,represent.

The IMA was created toprovide a home for professionalmathematicians. The celebrationreflected this with talks coveringresearch mathematics,mathematics in teaching,mathematics in industry andmaths for all. The importance ofmathematics in all these areaswas emphasised throughout,with all the talks highlightinghow the maths developed inone area impacts on anotherseemingly unrelated area.

The day began with ‘A ToyModel for a Magnetic Toy: fromatomistic to continuum’ byProfessor Alain Goriely,University of Oxford, who usedvideos and physicaldemonstrations to show that thebehaviour of ‘ball-bearingmagnets’ can be very similar toelastic materials. One examplewas a circle of magnetic ballswhich could be compressed

(like a bicycle tyre) and wouldthen snap back to the originalcircular shape. There were twothings to take away from Alain’stalk. The first is that thesemagnets are great toys that canbe assembled into someamazing shapes for use inmaths outreach – seedotpedia.com for examples. Thesecond is that current appliedmathematics research on thetopic, which investigates howthe behaviour of the atomistic(discrete) magnets is similar tothe behaviour of elastic(continuous) materials, and the

well-known mathematics ofelastic materials can be used tomodel the behaviour of themagnets. It is of course a lotmore complicated than that andmore details can be found inAlain’s article1.

IMA President, Professor DameCelia Hoyles DBE, spoke about‘50 Years of Maths in Education’.She began towards thebeginning of her career. Sheattended the secondInternational Congress onMathematics Education (ICME)in 1972, where there was aTurtle Workshop by the MITLogo group. Revolutionary at thetime, this early programminglanguage aimed to teachchildren about mathematics bygetting them to write programs.Although the opportunities forthis have significantly increased,programming is still alien tomany people. It is important that

children are taught programmingand know that this is animportant skill (alongside art) forthe digital arts. Most peopledon’t know you can’t make amodern animation withoutmathematics! The IMA seeks tomake this information available(without the need to understandthe maths in detail) with itsMathematics Matters series ofcase studies 2.

‘50 Years of Maths in Industry’by Iain Gray (TechnologyStrategy Board) continued thetheme of mathematics hiddenfrom the general public, and

Iain gave a fictitious exampleof a day in the life of ‘Isaac’, anordinary man who doesn’t seethe maths on which his daily lifedepends. Isaac used themathematics in his morningcoffee, online purchase, vacuumcleaner, Grand Prix viewing,glucose test for diabetes,

Iain Gray (TSB) emphasised theimportance of maths in industry.

more importantly from the verybusinesses that stand to gainmost from using industrialmathematics.

without realising he had usedany maths at all. Iain gavedetails for each example. I willgive only the first – coffee.Coffee bean growers in Rwandaare being aided by an app thatprovides localised weather andfarming recommendations 3.

Maths is hidden but essentialto the UK economy. To learnmore about the power ofmathematics read the IMA’s50th anniversary book, 50Visions of Mathematics, whichcontains 50 maths images and50 essays on everything fromArbers to Zebras. The book canbe ordered on the OUP website 4.

One amazing piece ofmathematics that we now alluse is public key cryptography,which uses number theory – anarea of core mathematicsdeveloped without anyapplication in mind. The IMAGold Medal Lecture, ‘(Almost)50 Years of Public KeyCryptography’, by Dr CliffordCocks CB, began by explainingthat public key cryptography isnot yet 50 years old. Theoriginal research was done by

Cliff Cocks and colleagues atGCHQ in the late 1960s andearly 1970s. It was then secret,but is now everywhere – in chipand pin cards, mobile phonecalls, remote car keys, and on theinternet for secure transactions,which all use this extraordinarilypowerful technique.


... we now all use public key cryptography ...

... The Princess Royal stressed the importance of maths teaching ...

HRH The Princess Royal presents IMA MathsCareers certificate to poster competition winner, Miss Laura Guyll.

The President welcomed ThePrincess Royal, expressed warmthanks to her for agreeing to beour Patron in our anniversaryyear and for graciously agreeingto come to our event. She thenintroduced Professor Ian Stewart(University of Warwick) whosetalk, ‘Mathematics for the Billion’focused on the mathematicsthat is used by everyone. Thereare two ways maths is used byeveryone. The first is the basic

Professor Ian Stewart told us aboutthe maths used by everyone.

arithmetic we all use when wego shopping, for example. Thesecond is far more interesting –it is the maths used by IainGray’s ‘Isaac’.

Ian Stewart gave an example

of mathematics that has been

both research and school maths.

Trigonometry was first research

mathematics used in Babylonian

and Greek times to calculate

distances between planets.

More recently trigonometry has

been the school maths we are

all familiar with for calculating

the height of trees or mountains.

The same mathematics is used

to compress images (jpegs) and

more recently for fingerprint

compression by the FBI (using

Daubechies wavelets).

After the talk Dame Celia

thanked Professor Stewart and

invited The Princess Royal to

speak to the IMA guests. As Her

Royal Highness mentioned, sheis not the first member of TheRoyal Family to be involved withthe IMA; HRH The Duke ofEdinburgh was President of theIMA from 1976–1977.

Many of the IMA’s activities

were mentioned in glowing

terms, including conferences,

journals, books, promoting

careers, employers’ forums,

MathsCareers, Mathematics

Matters, Maths Teacher Scholars,

CMath (which is incorporated by

Royal Charter and provides a

benchmark for professional

mathematicians similar to CEng).

The Princess Royal stressed the

importance of maths teaching to

ensure we have enough people

in the future.

Her Royal Highness finished by

saying that investing in the next

generation certainly pays, before

announcing her presentation of

the certificate to the IMA

MathsCareers 11–13Competition Winner, Miss LauraGuyll, who she had no doubt isone of nature’s naturalmathematicians and willcontinue to be so.

The IMA then made twopresentations to The PrincessRoyal in commemoration of herPatronage of the IMA in its 50thanniversary year. Dame Celiapresented her with an HonoraryFellowship Certificate, and ChrisBudd presented her with a copy

the inbuilt error detection in thebar code 5.

The IMA’s 50th anniversaryprogramme continues with aFestival of Mathematics 3–4 Julyin Manchester, and concludeswith a talk on ‘Eight GreatReasons to do Maths’ by theIMA Vice-President ofCommunications, ProfessorChris Budd at the RoyalInstitution in October.

of the IMA’s 50th anniversarybook, 50 Visions ofMathematics.

The day concluded with acomedy routine from stand-upmathematician Matt Parker(QMUL). My favourite part ofthe show was a trick withbarcodes. Given the first 12digits of a barcode, Mattcalculated the final digit using

References

1.Vella, D., du Pontavice, E., Hall, C.L. andGoriely, A. (2014) The magneto-elastica:from self-buckling to self-assembly, TheRoyal Society.http://royalsocietypublishing.org/content/470/2162/20130609

2. http://www.ima.org.uk/i_love_maths/mathematics_matters.cfm.html

3. http://phys.org/news/2014-03-mobile-app-weather-rwandan-coffee.html.

4. http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780198701811.do

5. http://mathspig.wordpress.com/tag/matt-parker/


Today artists are spoilt for choice by thevast array of synthetically manufacturedpaint colours.

THE SCIENCE OF MAKINGCOLOUR

However, journey back in time and you’ll discover that thematerials used to make paint pigments were often as creative asthe great works of art to which they contributed. Some of the manyexamples include rich ultramarine blue, made from grinding thesemi-precious stone lapis lazuli, the red, pink and orange producedby crushing cochineal insects, and verdigris, a green copper-basedpigment.

The chemistry of creating colour also gave rise to a number ofhealth risks, particularly if you were the sort of artist prone to puttingthe end of a brush in your mouth while concentrating. This rangedfrom the use of mercuric sulphide in vermilion red, chromates inorange and yellow, and lead carbonate in white.

This story illustrates the inextricable link between artistic andscientific endeavour. It is being celebrated at the National Gallery inthe first exhibition of its kind in the UK. Called ‘Making Colour’, itprovides an insight into how artists in the past used pigments tocreate visual illusions such as depth, reflection and texture, and howour brains and eyes respond to paintings when we view them.

... visual illusions such as depth, reflectionand texture ...

The science behind ‘Making Colour’, and the overall conservationwork at the National Gallery, has benefited from the support of theEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Thepartnership between EPSRC and the National Gallery began in2010. It highlights the contribution that science and scientists maketo the world of art, and the intellectual value that emerges whenscientific and artistic traditions come together.

Identifying the material used to make up a pigment providesinformation on aspects such as the age of a picture and thepainting technique used. Being able to harness latest advances inimaging technology is of obvious benefit for conservators at theNational Gallery.

However, making use of the latest digital imaging technology canbe a tricky business when dealing with an object on the scale of ahuge painting. The partnership with EPSRC has provided a solutionto this, as Ashok Roy, the Director of Collections at the NationalGallery, explains:

“With EPSRC’s support we’ve been able to acquire a veryadvanced computer controlled micro-positioning easel, which iscapable of safely holding a very large painting and moving itincrementally in minute steps. We are able to put in front of a

picture a series of different imaging devices. We can use digitalimaging to build up a very high resolution image of that object.We’re going to be able to use different sensors in the future to scanpictures and learn more about their structure, the way they’re madeand indeed what needs to be done for their preservation. We willbe able to acquire very high resolution images in various parts ofthe spectrum that would be unobtainable without this technology. Itis a real advance in our imaging capabilities.”

Claude Monet, ‘Lavacourt under Snow’, about 1878- 81(copyright: The National Gallery, London)

This latest example of EPSRC support is shedding new light on oldmasters. It continues a long tradition of scientific endeavour at theNational Gallery whose Scientific Department was founded in 1934.It is a world leader in the study of the materials and techniques ofWestern European paintings. Infrared imaging, X-ray imaging,electron microscopy and mass spectrometry are all used to discovermore about the materials used by artists in the past and how theyare likely to change over time.

This new state-of-the art aluminium easel is over six metres longand capable of holding a painting up to 2.8 metres high and wide.As well as its impressive size, the fact that it gives the ability to putany type of camera in front of a painting provides the NationalGallery with tremendous flexibility. The same precisely pinpointedarea of a painting can be analysed with the different techniques. Inaddition less space is needed because you do not need a separateroom to accommodate each of the different imaging devices.

This flexibility also opens up the opportunity to try out new typesof research using other techniques such as hyperspectral imaging,which collects and processes information across theelectromagnetic spectrum. “We are able to capture the wholereflected spectrum, so the whole colour is accurate”, says JosephPadfield, a conservation scientist at the National Gallery. “You cantake a picture of the painting and map where different materialshave been used. This is not something you can now do easily. It is


... gentle serenity of Mary’s features ...

an area of research that we are hoping to get into in the future.”

Spanning the period from the Middle Ages up to the 19th centurythe exhibition has a wealth of great works of art to choose from. Anexample is Sassoferrato’s The Virgin in Prayer (1640-50), wherethe gentle serenity of Mary’s features, as she holds her handstogether in worship, are enhanced by the soft drape of her cloakwhich is painted in a rich, spectacular, deep, royal blue of naturalultramarine, extracted from ground lapis lazuli. The observer feels

Sassoferrato, ‘The Virgin in Prayer’, 1640-50 (copyright: The National Gallery, London).

they could almost reach out and touch the folds of the cloak,because they are so convincing. Moving forward to Claude Monet’sLavacourt under Snow makes use of cobalt blue developed byFrench chemist Louis Jacques Thénard. The picture shows a groupof cottages in a French hamlet surrounded by snow. It is a picturethat gives meaning to the expression ‘blue with cold’, as the colour

is reflected everywhere: the snow, the building brickwork, roofs andthe surrounding sky and landscape. It was also painted whenMonet was short of money, so a hard winter would have beenespecially difficult and bleak, and this composition conveys a strongsense of desolation. A severe case of what we would call the‘blues’!

Normally close examination of a Sassoferrato or a Monet is thepreserve of a select few scientists working with a microscope sittingin front of a painting. Hyperspectral imaging will allow the accurateand reproducible measurements of the colour of paintings andopen up the possibility of closer examination of such works of art tomany more people.

The easel has also helped to inspire another part of the ‘MakingColour’ exhibition. This gives visitors a more detailed understandingof how we perceive hues and pigments. It includes an area whereyou can view a picture under different lighting conditions usingtunable LEDs. This is part of an interactive computer-controlledexperiment on how the brain and the eye respond to colour, andwill contribute to future research at the National Gallery.

If you want to get a new perspective on an Old Master then thisexhibition is the ideal opportunity to do so. ‘Making Colour’ is at theNational Gallery until 7th September. You can also find out moreabout the scientific endeavour in this exhibition in an audio slide-show on Youtube. Put ‘EPSRCVideo + The Science of MakingColour’ into the YouTube search area.

The new state-of-the-art easel is literally shedding new light on the science behind pigments used in great paintings (copyright: The National Gallery, London).


Director of the EuropeanBioinformatics Institute andProfessor John O’Halloran, Headof School of Biological, Earth &Environmental Sciences atUniversity College Cork.

Choosing between the eightwomen who were shortlisted

... outstanding femalepostdoctoral

scientists ...

With women currently makingup just 13% of employeesinvolved in STEM careers1 andjust 17% of professorial levelacademic researchers in the UK,the fellowships – now in theireighth year in the UK & Ireland– promote the importance ofensuring greater participation ofwomen in science.

Although most agree there isno single explanation for thislack of diversity, starting a familyand the absence of long-termcontracts in early STEM careersare clearly significant barriers.Indeed, the House of CommonsScience and TechnologyCommittee report highlights thatwhile efforts are often made toencourage young women intoSTEM careers or to studyscience, little focus is given toenabling them to stay andprogress.

This is why the FWIS UK &Ireland fellowships have beendesigned to provide flexiblefinancial help to women at theearly stage of their researchcareers. Four fellowships of£15,000 were awarded tooutstanding female postdoctoralscientists to continue research intheir chosen fields. The fourwinners stated that they will usetheir fellowship money topurchase equipment, pay fortravel to attend conferences, forfield trips or internationalcollaborations, and childcare.

Staggeringly, of the 289women who applied for the

fellowships this year, one in foursaid that they would use thefellowship money to fundchildcare, highlighting the uniquevalue of the programme inproviding flexible funding tosupport women in science.

I was delighted to be part ofthe jury which had the difficultjob of selecting the four fellows.Expertly led by ProfessorPratibha Gai who was awardedL’Oréal’s prestigious InternationalLaureate in 2013, my fellowjudges included Royal SocietyVice President Professor Sir JohnPethica; Professor Anne Glover,Chief Scientific Adviser to thePresident of the EuropeanCommission; Dr Beth Taylor,Director of Natural Sciences forthe UK National Commission forUNESCO; Dame Janet Thornton,

Supporting Female Scientists in theUK & Ireland:L’ORÉAL-UNESCO 2014 For WomenIn Science Fellowships Announced

Katriona MethvenDirector of Scientific and RegulatoryAffairs, L’Oréal UK & Ireland

The winners of thehighly contested2014 L’Oréal-UNESCO UK &Ireland For WomenIn ScienceFellowships (FWIS)were announced on19th June 2014 at aceremony at theRoyal Society.

Front cover photos:1. Dr Eva-Maria Graefe2. Dr Sneha Malde3. Dr Clémence Blouet4. Dr Tracy Briggs5. 2014 winners together6. 2014 Jury: from left: Dr Beth

Taylor, Prof Pratibha Gai, Prof John O’Halloran, Prof DameJanet Thornton, Prof JohnPethica, Katriona Methven, Prof Anne Glover

Left to right: Dr Clémence Blouet, Dr Eva-Maria Graefe, Dr Tracy Briggs andDr Sneha Malde

was an exceedingly difficult task,as all of the candidates werehugely impressive in theirindividual fields. However, it wasinspiring to see the extraordinarywork that is being carried out indiverse scientific disciplines allacross the UK.


THE 2014 WINNERS ARE:Dr Clémence Blouet,University of Cambridge, ‘Theconsequences of high-fatintake on the hypothalamusand the mechanism behindobesity.’

Obesity and its associatedconditions, such as type 2diabetes and cardiovasculardisease, are major health threatsworldwide. Research has failedto develop safe therapeutics totreat obesity as we have beenunable to characterise themechanisms underlying eatingand weight gain. The brain playsa huge role in the regulation ofenergy balance. Specialisedbrain cells in the hypothalamusprocess information aboutingested food and fat stores anddirectly regulate food intake,energy expenditure or storage.Recent research indicates that adiet high in fat can cause thesebrain cells to change in type andnumber, through a processcalled adult neurogenesis.Clémence’s research willimprove our understanding ofthe consequences of a high-fatdiet on the plasticity of thesecells in the hypothalamus andhow, this in turn, affects thebody’s energy balance. Shehopes that this understandingwill lead to the discovery ofnovel therapeutic targets to treatobesity.

Dr Tracy Briggs, University ofManchester, ‘Understandingsingle-gene disorders that leadto systemic lupus’

Lupus is a potentially life-threatening disease that causesthe body to attack its own tissue.In many people, it is likely to bethe result of a combination ofboth environmental and geneticfactors. However, in some cases,a change in a single gene cancause the condition. Studies ofsuch single-gene causes ofdisease are helpful to pinpointwhich genes play a role insystemic lupus and help to

further our understanding ofhow the disease occurs. Tracy’sresearch will determine thegenetic basis of a familial formof lupus, which starts inchildhood and predominantlyaffects the skin. By determiningthe chemical and geneticchanges causing disease, Tracyhopes to determine the originsof lupus.

Dr Eva-Maria Graefe, ImperialCollege London, ‘Engineeringholes in quantum systems’

Progress in technology is oftentriggered by paradigm shifts inscience that open up new andunexpected possibilities.Traditionally, loss, leakage,friction, and dissipation ofenergy from a quantum systemwere regarded as undesirableand to be avoided. Recentresearch however, focuses onthe possibility of modifyingsystems via engineering theselosses or holes and using themto our advantage. Eva-Maria’sresearch concerns these leakyquantum systems, using aformalism known as non-Hermitian quantum mechanics.The systematic application ofthese ideas relies crucially on adetailed theoreticalunderstanding of themechanisms and effects of loss,on all scales. There is currently alot of research interest in thisfield and many newexperimental areas are openingup as a result. Eva-Maria hopesto provide new theoretical toolsfor the description andprediction of novel experimentalapplications, building on herown recent conceptualbreakthroughs.

Dr Sneha Malde, University ofOxford, ‘Searching for NewPhysics through measuringthe differences betweenmatter and anti-matter’

The universe began with abang and energy came togetherto form equal quantities ofmatter and antimatter, but as

the universe cooled andexpanded, its compositionchanged and antimatterdisappeared, leaving matter toform everything around us. TheLHCb experiment at CERN’sLarge Hadron Collider was setup to explore what happenedafter the big bang that allowedmatter to survive. Sneha’sresearch at LHCb investigateswhy the universe is matterdominated. The Standard Modelof the universe cannot be thefull picture as it fails to answerthis and Sneha hopes that NewPhysics – the term coined todescribe the fundamentaltheories that go beyond theStandard model – will bediscovered in the data collectedby the LHC experiments. By fullyunderstanding the differencesbetween matter and anti-matter(commonly referred to as CP-violation) that are allowed withinthe Standard Model, Snehaanticipates the breakdown of thestandard model and themanifestation of New Physics.For the first time, the data fromthe LHCb experiment allows aprecise measurement of thisdifference, the CP-violationparameter “gamma”. Sneha aimsto expand a powerful method ofmeasurement she hasdeveloped, to exploit data whichhave not yet been analysed. Sheanticipates a significant stepforward in the search for NewPhysics.

Pratibha Gai, Professor ofChemistry and Physics, FoundingProfessor of Electron Microscopyand co-director of the YorkNanocentre at the University ofYork commented on thewinners: “We had an absolutelyoutstanding shortlist this year,and these four women – DrClémence Blouet, Dr TracyBriggs, Dr Eva-Maria Graefeand Dr Sneha Malde exemplifyperfectly what the For WomenIn Science Fellowships stand for.They are deeply talented,

committed and hard-workingscientists, who have hugepassion for their research areas.I am excited to see what theyall achieve in the coming year,and am confident that theinfluence and dedication of thefemale scientific community inthe UK is well represented bythese remarkable women.”

This year L’Oréal joined theGovernment’s ‘Your Life’campaign, which encouragesgreater participation at all levelsand particularly of young peoplein science, technology, mathsand engineering. With womenaccounting for only 6% of theUK engineering workforce2, from2015 the For Women In Scienceprogramme will encourageapplications from theengineering, mathematics andcomputer science fields andincrease the number offellowships to five worth£15,000 each. In addition,L’Oréal will dedicate a separateannual fund of £20,000 for theUK & Ireland Fellows communityto support their work as STEMambassadors, engaging thewider population – andparticularly young people – inscience.

These fellowships are designedto encourage, but alsoshowcase, the amazingcontribution female scientists aremaking. Considering thisshortlist, I think we haveachieved that.

The awards are run inpartnership with the UK NationalCommission for UNESCO, theIrish National Commission forUNESCO, with the support ofthe Royal Society.

References

1 Research from WISE, based on a 2012labour force survey analysis on women in‘STEM occupations’ http://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/files/useruploads/files/wise_stats_document_final.pdf

2 Research from the Royal Academy ofEngineering analysis of the Labour ForceSurvey, 2004-10 http://www.wes.org.uk/statistics


3D PRINTING – A REVOLUTIONIN THE MAKINGThe emergence of multifunctional 3D Printing has the potential to create high-valueproducts and enable a new manufacturing revolution.

As a manufacturing technology,3D Printing is based on theprinciple of adding material,hence it is also referred to as‘Additive Manufacturing’. Arelatively recent approach to themanufacture of end-usecomponents, it is based oncreating parts and productsdirectly from raw material inpowder, liquid, sheet or filamentform and digital 3D design data.This process works by depositingmaterial, usually layer-by-layer,without the need for moulds,tools or dies.

By operating entirely withoutsuch tooling, AdditiveManufacturing has two keyadvantages over other, moreconventional, manufacturingtechniques. Firstly, it enables themanufacture of products withoutmany of the limitations that arenormally placed on designs byconventional manufacturingprocesses involving tooling suchas moulds. Secondly, AdditiveManufacturing enables the cost-efficient production of bespokelow-medium volume products,which can be highly complexand tailored for a particularfunction or user.

In terms of establishedmanufacturing thinking, thecurrent focus often lies on largenumbers of identical productsoriginating from elaborate globalsupply chains. The keyadvantages of AdditiveManufacturing allows this to bechallenged: it is now possible tocreate efficiently complex andadvanced geometries in a single,integrated, manufacturing stepwith the added possibility ofeach unit of output beingdifferent. This has led to

considerable interest amongmanufacturing experts andsparked the imagination of themedia and the wider public.

As illustrated by currentcommercial applications ofAdditive Manufacturing in themedical and aerospace industries,perhaps the most fundamentalpotential offered by AdditiveManufacturing technology is theability to produce designs thatwould not have been possibleusing traditional processes suchas casting or machining. Theseinclude products with complexinternal channels and pathwaysor with intricate lattices andhoneycombs which can replicatesome of the strongest materialsthat occur in nature, such asbone. In the aerospace andautomotive industries, AdditiveManufacturing could enable theweight of structures to bereduced by up to 40%, whileimproving strength and usingsignificantly less raw material inproduction.

At the Additive Manufacturingand 3D Printing Research Group(3DPRG) at the University of

Nottingham, researchers led byProfessor Richard Hague areinvestigating ways of taking thisto the next technological level:by depositing more than onematerial within a single buildprocess, it will be possible toprint entire working systemsinstead of individual parts andcomponents. These could, forexample, contain embeddedelectronics, chemical agents oreven biological structures.

This special research focus iswhy the 3DPRG is recognisedas the world’s leading researchgroup in the field and ishelping to set the globalresearch agenda.

Work at the University ofNottingham has shown that thestep away from the singlematerial case to multi-materialAdditive Manufacturing allowsusers to move beyond structuralapplications and createfunctional systems rather thanpassive individual components.The possibilities of creatingadded functionality and uservalue – through the embeddingof 3D structures within structural

materials such as engineeringpolymers or metals – appearimmense. Such functionalstructures that may be builtdirectly include electrical circuitry,optical tracks, sensors, conformalbatteries, solar cells, LEDscreens, antennas and otherinterfaces.

The embedding of functionalstructures through the AdditiveManufacturing process results inan ability to generate efficientlycomplex and tailored productsolutions. As a fully digitalmanufacturing process, thisaspect connects AdditiveManufacturing to the ongoingdebate about the consequencesof decreases in marginal costsenabled by digital technology.Think, for example, of the impactthat electronic media have hadon the publishing industry. Thepossibility of integrating complexand customised functionalitydirect within products at(almost) no additional cost mayproduce staggering effects inmanufacturing industry. This islikely to lead to manufacturersand designers increasing thelevels of functionality of theirproducts.

Prototype prosthetic arm and hand

Operating a selective laser meltingsystem


Especially wheremultifunctional AdditiveManufacturing is used, this alsopromises to have importantconsequences for theunderlying design approach. Thisis because low cost sensors andelectronics, embedded directlywithin the component duringmultifunctional AdditiveManufacturing, will be able toprovide a wealth of data on aproduct’s useful life. These datacan then be used to supportdesign optimisation techniquesor customisation approaches,leading to refinements for thefollowing generations ofproducts.

Besides conducting a range ofresearch projects, the 3DPRGhas received funding from theEngineering and PhysicalSciences Research Council(EPSRC) to host the Centre forInnovative Manufacturing inAdditive Manufacturing. This iscarrying out an ambitiousprogramme of research worth inexcess of £24m, designed to laythe foundations for theexploitation of multifunctionalAdditive Manufacturingtechnologies in the UK, enablingfuture commercial applicationsfor the high value manufacturingindustry. Highlights include:

• Development of novel designsystems based on multiphysicsoptimisation

• Research towards structuralmaterials supportingmultifunctional AdditiveManufacturing via ink jettingapproaches

• Deposition of embeddedconductive, optical or biologicalor otherwise functionalisedstructures from secondarymaterials

• Computational modelling ofprocesses within multi-materialadditive deposition

• Micro-scale AdditiveManufacturing based on two-photon polymerisation andoptical tweezer technology

In terms of the technologicalapproaches investigated, aspecial focus within the EPSRCCentre lies on the research ofnovel processes depositingmaterials via the jetting ofdroplets. Such processes areideally suited to deposit a varietyof materials at the same time. Ina recent development, thegroup is proud to announce apioneering project looking intothe high temperature depositionof liquid metal via a materialsjetting process.

The Centre was recentlyawarded an additional £2.7mfrom EPSRC to work with theUniversity’s School of Pharmacyon drug delivery through theAdditive Manufacturing ofpharmaceuticals. Their 3Dprinted tablets formed part of alandmark exhibition at London’s

Science Museum, ‘3D: printingthe future’. The printed tabletsare structured to allow therelease of pharmaceutical agentsat varying speeds according toindividual patient need. TheUniversity is a sponsor andadviser to the exhibition.

Student interns at Nottinghamcreated another highlight of theexhibition – a demonstrator fora 3D printed prosthetic arm,illustrating how the technologycould evolve to print customisedprosthetics with embeddedactuators, electronics and pick-ups for nerve endings (seeimage).

Developing the next generationof researchers is a key strategicgoal of the EPSRC Centre. Itrecently launched the £4.5mCentre for Doctoral Training(CDT) in Additive Manufacturingand 3D Printing. Furtherinvestment at the University ofNottingham Ningbo China givesactivity a global perspective,building capacity within theworld’s biggest manufacturingeconomy.

A multi-material jetting head in a PixDro materials printer

3D printing technology in action

Structurally optimised design, 3Dprinted in stainless steel

The commercial potential ofAdditive Manufacturing isimmense.

In 2013, the size of theAdditive Manufacturing industrywas estimated at round £1.81billion, with an annual growthrate of over 30%. This makesAdditive Manufacturing a small

but fast growing area in themanufacturing sector. Whatreally captures the imaginationof inventors, innovators andentrepreneurs however is thesize of the business opportunity,and the scale of the potentialmarket. As outlined in theWohlers Report 2012, an annualindustry publication, expertsspeculate that AdditiveManufacturing has so far beenadopted in only 1% to 8% ofpotential applications. At fulltechnology diffusion andassuming that industry revenuecorresponds to the potentialmarket, this would equate to anindustry size from at least £14billion to over £110 billion inannual turnover.

Additive Manufacturing mayalso yield environmentalbenefits. The technology willenable many new supply chainconfigurations – possibly heavilydecentralised – in which thecreation of considerable productvalue is compressed into asingle manufacturing processstep. Due to excellent productperformance, energy efficiencyand the minimisation of logistics,it has the potential to reduce theenvironmental burden ofmanufacturing activity.

Identified as a key part of oneof the government’s ‘eight greattechnologies’ to drive UKgrowth, Additive Manufacturinghas the potential to bringmanufacturing back to high-wage economies around theworld. University of Nottinghamresearchers are ensuring that UKcompanies will be at theforefront of that revolution.


CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OFPLANT HEALTH AND AGRI-FOODSOLUTIONS

Dr Philip NewtonDirector of Science, Food andEnvironment Research Agency

June 2014 marked the centenary of what is known today as TheFood and Environment Research Agency (Fera). Over the last 100years Fera has been the leading voice for scientific evidence,advice and solutions across plant health and the agri-foodproduction and supply chain. Only recently, Fera science wascritical in developing early responses to detecting ash diebackand identifying horsemeat and associated chemical residues infood. As the pressures on natural resources grow in the future,Fera’s role will be ever more critical.

I joined Fera as the Director of

Science in April 2014, and am

responsible for growing the

quality of our scientific outputs

and reputation, and translating

research into solutions, both

nationally and internationally. I

century of evolving to meet the

needs of our customers.

Fera’s roots can be traced back

to 1914. At this time, there was

a growing problem of new pests

and diseases brought into Britain

following international

expeditions. This led to the

setting up of the Institute for

Plant Pathology at the Royal

Botanic Gardens, Kew. In 1916,

during World War I, the need to

improve food storage was

brought into focus. Wastage of

imported perishable foods was

becoming so severe that

need to ensure that Fera’s

scientific capability maintains its

leading edge, and sustains the

integrity and quality of all its

scientific activity, so as to enable

us to solve tomorrow’s

challenges in plant health and

agri-food.

In doing this, each year Fera

publishes over 150 scientific

papers, analyses over 50,000

plant and food samples, and

provides expert advice and input

to governments, numerous

national and international

committees and industry. But as

we look to the future, it is

fascinating to look where we

have come from – and to

celebrate Fera’s success over a

... Fera’s scientific capability maintains its leading edge ...

Gumley and Chestnut cottages at Kew Gardens – the original home of theInstitute for Plant Pathology


the Pest Infestation Laboratory.

Their work was so successful

that, even in 1995, well over

200,000 tonnes of food were

still in storage.

By 1994, both plant and food

roots had come together as the

Central Science Laboratory

(CSL), along with a world-

leading honeybee protection

laboratory, the National Bee

Unit, which remains central to

tackling today’s bee-health

problems.

research into food preservation

was urgently needed and the

Food Investigation Board was

formed.

The Kew Institute’s work proved

invaluable, and in 1918 it was re-

organised into the Plant

Pathology Laboratory, and shortly

after was moved to Harpenden,

Hertfordshire, where it remained

for over 70 years. 1988 saw the

now named Harpenden

Laboratory merge with the Pest

Infestation Control Laboratory –

which had arisen largely from the

need to protect Britain’s World

War II grain and flour stocks from

pests and disease, and from the

growth of ecotoxicology —

forming the nucleus of what

would become the UK’s Central

Science Laboratory.

The Cold War led the

Government to set up the

Strategic Food Stockpile,

designed to feed Britain

following a nuclear strike. A

secret network of giant

warehouses held thousands of

tonnes of food ready to enter

the nation’s food chain. Ensuring

this food wouldn’t spoil became

a fundamental responsibility for

the Food Science Laboratory and

CSL has played a vital role in

solving critical challenges over

the years. In 2001, staff helped

to control the foot and mouth

outbreak. In 2003 CSL faced

another challenge, but it had

prepared for this one since the

1980s. Potato ring rot was

discovered in seed potatoes,

and as the devastating disease

favours cooler climates, it could

have spread across the UK.

Decisive action based on CSL’s

scientific evidence and advice

eradicated the disease, and with

continual monitoring, outbreaks

are, thankfully, rare. In 2003/04

CSL became the sole laboratory

for detecting nitrofurans –

banned because of concerns

about the safety of their

chemical residues – in imported

seafood and honey.

In 2009, CSL became Fera,

and this included welcoming a

number of other organisations

including the Plant Health &

Seeds Inspectorate, the Plant

Varieties Rights Office & Seeds

Division and the UK

Government Decontamination

Service, each of which has a

long history. Fera has since

provided solutions to some

... Strategic Food Stockpile, designed to feed Britain ...

... provided solutions to some high-profile problems ...

Fera scientists using the very latestportable plant health diagnosticequipment at ash dieback sites

high-profile problems. These

include controlling the fungus-

like pathogens Phytophthora

ramorum and Phytophthora

kernoviae, which saw the first

wide scale use of field-based

diagnostics, and rapidly

developing an early-detection

technology for ash dieback.

Fera was also on hand to tackle

a wide range of food fraud and

food safety cases.

Responding to crises catches

the eye, but more importantly

the identification of emerging

threats, their early detection, and

advice on intervention is the

routine business of Fera and

results in the avoidance of

economic costs as much as

successfully tackling a crisis. We

are now developing protein-

based approaches to determine

the animal species in processed

foods (in which DNA techniques

don’t work well), and using

advanced analytical technologies

to work out how to ‘fingerprint’

food biologically and chemically.

We are also collaborating with

the Met Office and industry to

improve crop-disease risk

forecasting and early

intervention advice to farmers.

Our broader ambitions include

innovation in agricultural

technologies to improve the

sustainability of food production

and consumption.

Fera is evolving, and the next

year will see us move from

Defra ownership to a joint

ownership between Defra and a

non-Government partner.

Whatever the details, Fera will

discover new ways of using

science to solve our customers’

problems, by providing scientific

evidence, advice and solutions

across the complexity of the

agri-food chain. These problems

will become more challenging

as drivers such as environmental

change, and a rising population

with higher living standards,

increase the pressure on natural

resources, and demand that

nations achieve sustainable

approaches. Fera’s scientists

understand the complexity of

these challenges, and the

evolving regulatory context in

which they sit, and will be a

critical force providing those

elusive, but essential, sustainable

solutions.


the price for a period ofsignificant underinvestment inagricultural research, and ourfarm productivity is suffering. Inparticular, it is in making the linkbetween research andcommercial application wherethe UK is falling behind.

Addressing this situation is animportant goal of theGovernment’s Agri-Tech Strategy,launched in July 2013. Thisrecognises the potential of boththe industry and the agriculturalresearch base to grow and

out any R&D themselves. Theyare very much the end users,usually with no direct link orinput to the underpinningscience. Also, it is easier foreconomic impact to beenvisaged and quantified foragricultural technologies and ‘kit’like GPS and sensors on tractors,robotic milking parlours,hydroponics or even decision-making software. While suchtools are certainly valuable tofarmers, they also needinnovation in managing the

are given sufficient weight andcan be captured by their deliverymechanisms.

In 2013, the National Farmers’Union (NFU), Agriculture andHorticulture Development Board(AHDB), Agricultural IndustriesConfederation (AIC) and RoyalAgricultural Society of England(RASE) published a report“Feeding the Future: InnovationRequirements for Primary FoodProduction in the UK to 2030”(www.feedingthefuture.info). It isdesigned to tell research funderssuch as BBSRC what theindustry’s research priorities are:

1. Use of modern technologiesto improve the precision andefficiency of key agriculturalmanagement practices.

2. Applying modern genetic andbreeding approaches to improvethe quality, sustainability,resilience and yield-ledprofitability of crops and farmanimals.

FARMING NEEDS SCIENCE:SMART SOLUTIONS FOR ANINNOVATIVE INDUSTRY

Meurig RaymondNFU President

Farmers and growers areinnovators and experimentersto the core, even if they donot always realise it. Thehistory of modern agricultureshows how science hastransformed farming from asmall-scale, largelysubsistence activity 300 yearsago into an industry thatcontributes £9.2 billion GrossValue Added to the UKeconomy (Defra AgriculturalAccounts, 2013).

Step-changes in productivityover the past century enabled arapidly growing population to befed. Key advances that drovethis revolution includedmechanisation, rotations,synthetic fertilisers, cropprotection and geneticimprovement of both crops andlivestock. For all its image ofrolling countryside, mud andflocks of sheep, in many waysfarming is a high-tech industry,reliant on tools and practicesgrounded in scientific research.

The UK has a world-leadingtradition in life sciences.However, we are now paying

deliver economic benefit for theUK. I am hopeful that the addedemphasis the Strategy places onapplied research and knowledgeexchange, as well as theinjection of ‘catalyst’ funding intothe sector will make a genuineand long-term difference. TheCentres for Innovation shouldprovide a clear link betweenscience and practice. To deliverthis there must be genuinecollaboration between researchcentres; knowledge exchangethat fosters a culture of equalityof expertise between scientistsand farmers; and a skills andtraining infrastructure that is fitfor purpose.

We appreciate that thereremains a challenge for theDepartment for Business,Innovation and Skills indelivering this Strategy for thefarming sector. Agriculture is notthe same as aerospace,automotive or pharmaceuticalindustries. The vast majority offarm businesses are not carrying

3. Use of systems-basedapproaches to better understandand manage interactionsbetween soil, water and crop/animal processes.

4. Developing integratedapproaches to the effectivemanagement of crop weeds,pests and diseases withinfarming systems.

5. Developing integratedapproaches to the managementof animal disease within farmingsystems.

whole system including soils,water, nutrient flows, animalwelfare etc. The route fromscience to commercial andproduction gain is far less clear,is subject to a wide range ofinfluencing factors and can takea long time. I would urge theLeadership Council to ensurethat practices as well as products

... Key advances that drove this revolution ...

... genuine collaboration between researchcentres ...


term, and often environmentally-focused projects, has furtherfragmented delivery channels forresearch and commercialisationopportunities in agriculture. Thetranslation of science intopractice is arguably one of thebiggest challenges for agriculturein making a functioningconnection between researchand the industry. Several reportshave gone on to link this withour lower level of relative

farm businesses from adoptinginnovative practices andtechnologies?

The European InnovationPartnership (EIP) concept couldbe hugely beneficial for myfarmer and grower members inaddressing these questions. Thenew EIP on AgriculturalProductivity and Sustainabilitysupports closer links betweenresearchers and farmers throughthe new rural developmentprogramme budget. ThereforeDefra must ensure that the

geographical/environmentalcontexts. Importantly, theEuropean Commission insiststhat the EIP must be a bottom-up instrument driven bybusinesses and not researchers.The link to new science is made

6. Develop evidence-basedapproaches to valuingecosystem service delivery byland users, and incorporatethese approaches into effectivedecision-support systems at theenterprise or grouped enterpriselevel.

7. Extending the training,professional development andcommunication channels ofresearchers, practitioners andadvisors to promote delivery ofthe targets above.

8. Improving the use of socialand economic science to

necessary administration is inplace now for the UK to benefitin the future. The EIP will bedelivered at a national level viaOperational Groups, whichshould include farmers,researchers, businesses etc. andsupport activities such as sharinginformation and knowledgetransfer, provision of advice, ortesting out new ideas throughprojects which adapt existingtechniques/practices to new

... food and the environment can be highlyemotive subjects ...

enlightening and thought-provoking. The group highlightsnot only the research andinnovation that underpinsmodern farming, but also theregulatory, commercial andcultural barriers to progress. Itregularly has ministers andGovernment science advisersspeaking at its meetings, andhears from leading scientists andcompanies from around theworld. It is currently running aseries of meetings aboutbuilding public support for UKagri-science. I am very awarethat food and the environmentcan be highly emotive subjects,

and those of us working in thatfield need to be very aware ofthe impact of ourcommunications.

To make a real difference wehave to go wider than justacademic activity, innovativetechnologies, upskilling andoptimising farm management.The whole regulatory context inwhich we work must supportand not hinder progressive,efficient and innovativebusinesses. There remain someserious barriers to the British

... science to commercial and production gain isfar less clear ...

promote the development,uptake and use of sustainable,resilient and profitableagricultural practice that candeliver affordable, safe and high-quality products.

In the NFU’s evidence to the2012 Science & TechnologyCommittee Inquiry “Bridging the“valley of death”: improving thecommercialisation of research”we stated that, in England, theprivatisation of our nationalknowledge transfer capabilitiesand replacement with short-

productivity compared to ourcompetitors.

There is now a significantopportunity to look at howpublic/private partnership and aboost in knowledge exchangecould work better in this vitalarea. Who are the advisers goingon to farms already? How canexisting initiatives be betterharnessed and coordinated toprovide a translation role? Howequipped are advisers andconsultants with the latestscience and research? Critically,what motivates and prevents ... delivery channels for research and

commercialisation opportunities in agriculture ...

farming industry making full useof innovative technologies. Theanti-technology, backwardlooking culture that seems topervade so many EU institutionscontinues to amaze andfrustrate me, given the hugechallenges of global foodsecurity. Food and environmentare always going to be highlyemotive topics, but I think it isthe responsibility of politicians topress strongly for policies andlegislation to be firmly based onsound scientific evidence.Without this our ability to

respond to national and globalneeds, to fulfil ourenvironmental obligations and toboost our productivity andprofitability for the good ofeconomy and society will beseverely constrained.

through the Horizon 2020programme, the new researchfunding framework across theEU that runs from 2014 to2020. Again, there is a particularemphasis on involving SMEs atthe earliest stage.

The NFU is a foundingstakeholder of the All PartyParliamentary Group on Scienceand Technology in Agriculturewww.appg-agscience.org.uk. Forthose parliamentarians with aninterest in science and infarming, the group’s meetingsare always engaging,


for meat and dairy productscontinues to rise. Meatproduction across the world hastripled over the last 4 decadesand is projected to increase by73% by 2050. As of now nearly60 billion chickens, 1.4 billionpigs and 300 million cattle arekilled for meat each year. If thisincreasing demand is to be metby more efficient production,this will mean that more animalswill be reared with less space,less food, less waste and lesswater. And what does this meanfor the welfare of the animalsthemselves? Even where‘sustainable’ is specificallydefined to include animalwelfare 2 the power of the word‘intensification’ is so great that to

many people, the idea oflivestock farming becoming evenmore efficient and even moreintensive looks like a licence toaccelerate and exaggerate thevery conditions that they holdresponsible for welfare problemssuch as lameness in cattle andchickens in the first place.Where, if anywhere, does animalwelfare fit in to the brave newworld of efficiency-driven,climate-friendly farming?

Research at the University ofOxford on the welfare of broiler(meat) chickens aims to showthat, by working closely withcommercial poultry producers,more efficient farming mayactually lead to improvements inanimal welfare. This is becausesome of the greatest

improvements in efficiencycome from reducing mortalityand waste and keeping animalsin conditions that make themless likely to be injured or tosuccumb to disease. These areoften exactly the sameconditions that improve theirwelfare. For example, improvingthe quality of air through goodventilation and the quality oflitter under their feet so that it isdry and doesn’t give off a lot ofammonia leads to lowermortality, lower levels of footand leg damage, which in turnmeans healthier, morecomfortable birds3 and a betterquality end product that is saferfor humans to eat.

Department of Zoology at

Oxford has led to the successful

development of smartphone

software to help farmers

manage their flocks more

effectively and with higher

welfare. The cameras on the

smartphones monitor the

movements of chicken flocks

and the images are analysed on

PRECISION FARMING AND ANIMALWELFAREMarian Stamp DawkinsDepartment of Zoology, University of Oxford

... brave new world of efficiency-drivenfarming? ...

Of course, animal welfare andefficient agriculture do notalways coincide perfectly andthere will be improvements inanimal welfare that do notnecessarily stack upcommercially just as there willbe efficiency gains that wouldbe unacceptable to the publicon welfare grounds, such as

crowding the animals into asmaller space. But there is alarge area of overlap that has yetto be fully explored. Thedevelopment of newtechnologies – sometimesreferred to as ‘precision farming’– is now showing us that it maybe much larger than wepreviously suspected. What isimportant for animal welfare isthat the economic gains of highstandards of animal welfare arebuilt into efficient farming atevery step of the way.

A collaboration betweenStephen Roberts and ThomasNickson in the Department ofEngineering Science, and RussellCain and myself in the

... better quality end product that is safer forhumans to eat ...

the spot by the phones’computers. The cameras do nottrack the movements ofindividual birds (that would bequite overwhelming in a houseof 30,000 or more chickens)but each phone simply deliversa 4-number description of flockmobility every 15 minutes.Remarkably, these four

numbers, which describe theaverage movement of a flockand unusual features of the wayit moves, allow us to detectflocks in which there is, or willbe, a welfare issue. For example,the software can detect whethera flock is made up largely ofhealthy birds that can all walkaround easily or whether theflock contains a proportion oflame birds mixed in with thehealthy walkers. It can predictwhich flocks will have thehighest and lowest mortalitiesand the highest and lowestlevels of damaged legs. Thesoftware can even predict whichflocks will develop damaged legsand feet later on when the

... monitor the movements of chicken flocks ...

chicks are as young as 3 daysold when they as yet show noexternal sign of damage.

This ability to pick up healthand welfare problems at a veryearly stage is potentially of greatvalue to farmers as it enablesthem to intervene and take pre-emptive action before a situationbecomes serious. It is also

Globally, agriculture is underunprecedented pressure tomeet the twin demands offeeding the rising humanpopulation and mitigating theeffects of climate change bybecoming more efficient andmore ‘sustainably intensive’. As arecent FAO report1 put it:“Agriculture will need to producemore food from the same orless land, using less water,energy and other inputs andreducing waste and adverseenvironmental impacts includinggreenhouse gas emissions”.These pressures are particularlygreat on livestock productionwhich now uses 70% ofavailable agricultural land and8% of global water as well asemitting 20% of globalgreenhouse gases. Yet demand


seeing whether our smartphonedevices can detect which flocksare carrying specific diseases.Working with Martin Maiden,Frances Colles and Adrian Smith,we are looking at how thestatistics of flock movement varywith flocks known to havedifferent levels and genotypes ofCampylobacter, Salmonella,

potentially of great importancein actually reducing the totalamount of antibiotics and othermedication used in agricultureby enabling famers to targettheir treatments where they arereally needed. At the same time,it is important to stress that nosmartphone with a camera canreplace a good stockman, but it

agriculture that has animalhealth and welfare at its heartneeds also to take into accountthe commercial realities offarming in a world of scarcity offeed resources, increasingdemand, pressure on land andother constraints. For this reason,we are developing oursmartphone system inconjunction with major poultryproducers, not only so that theycan see the advantages ofprecision farming with highwelfare but also so that weunderstand what works best forthem and can adjust our systemto what they need. We currently

Clostridium and Coccidia.Precision farming that sets‘efficiency’ as its only goal andignores the implications that thismight have for human andanimal disease, will be good forno-one. The agriculture of thefuture, if it is to deliver what isrequired of it, needs to be set awide range of goals thatincludes the health and well-being of both humans and non-humans.

None of these goals will beachieved, however, if farmerscannot also make a living fromwhat they do. So precision

have commercial trials in theUK, France and the US, allsuccessfully using the systemand in each place, the supportwe have received from theproducers themselves has beencrucial for the success of ourtrials. We compare our cameradata with what the producers

‘services’ or ‘natural capital’ thata healthy environment providesto make the case for conservinghabitats and preventing the lossof biodiversity, so the case foranimal welfare based on thebenefits it brings to humans,including financial benefits, willbe stronger than just hopingthat it will somehow comeabout through consumerpressure alone. Making animalwelfare a priority in the efficientfarming of the future is muchmore likely to be achieved if itcan be firmly linked to humanfood security, animal andhuman health and financialcompetitiveness. We hope thatour inexpensive and easy to usephone app, developed inconjunction with keystakeholders in the farming andfood industry, will go some wayto doing just that.

References

1. Gerber, P.J. et al.,Tackling climatechange through livestock: A globalassessment of emissions and mitigationopportunities. (FAO, Rome, 2013).

2. Garnett, T. et al., Sustainableintensification in agriculture: premisesand policies. Science 341, 33-34 (2013).

3. Dawkins, M.S., et al., Chicken welfare isinfluence more by housing conditionsthan stocking density. Nature 427:342-344 (2004).

does provide an extra eye forwhen he or she cannot bepresent and is also a way oftelling them that things are notgoing quite as they should be.To respect the privacy of thefarm staff, our smartphones donot store visual images – justnumbers – so no-one need feelthey are being spied on. It's thebehaviour of the chickens thatinterests us.

Our current research is aimedat exploring further thisimportant interface betweenhealth, welfare, behaviour anddisease resistance. We are

are finding from their ownproduction measurements sothat we can give theminformation that helps them tomanage their flocks moreefficiently as well as with higherwelfare.

Making links between animalwelfare and efficient,commercial production does notdetract from ethical argumentsthat animal welfare should besupported because it is ofethical value in its own right, butbolsters and consolidates them.Just as ecologists increasinglyput a monetary value on the

... intervene and take pre-emptive action ...

... health and well-being of both humans andnon-humans ...


Led by EngineeringUK, The Big Bang UK YoungScientists & Engineers Fair is the largestcelebration of science, technology, engineeringand maths for young people in the UK.Everything we do is aimed at showing youngpeople (primarily aged 7-19) the many excitingand rewarding opportunities there are outthere for them with the right experience andqualifications.

The Big Bang Fair takes place inMarch every year. We work witharound 200 partner organisationsacross business and industry,government and academia togive a flavour of the real scale ofengineering and science in theUK.

The Fair hosts the finals of theprestigious National Science +

THE BIG BANG FAIR BREAKSRECORDS IN 2014

Engineering Competition and isthe flagship event of NationalScience & Engineering Week.

The Big Bang UK YoungScientists & Engineers Fairwelcomed record numbers toBirmingham’s NEC on 13-16March 2014. Over 75,000visitors, including more than70,000 young people, teachers

and parents, attended the Fair tosee science, technology,engineering and maths (STEM)brought to life.

Over 200 organisations fromacross government, business andindustry, education, professionalbodies and charities cametogether to inspire the UK’sfuture scientists and engineers.

Opening the Fair, EducationMinister, Elizabeth Truss MP, said:“The range of high profileemployers present at the Fair –including GCHQ, Siemens andRolls Royce – show the careersthese subjects can open up.Maths commands the highestearnings in the jobs market androles in tech and science arepaid 20% more than other jobs.”

©The Big Bang Fair.



Visitors took part in hundreds ofshows and activities designed toshow young people where theirscience and maths subjects cantake them, from bouncing acrossthe surface of the moon toexploring the insides of thehuman body and witnessing arobot solve a Rubik’s cube atrecord-breaking speed. Hundredsof scientists and engineers frombusinesses and universities were



someone about careers, andmore than seven out of tenknew where to go next for moreinformation. The desirability of acareer in engineering among 11-14 year olds who visited the Fairis 55% higher than the nationalaverage.

“At its core, The Big Bang Fair isall about the STEM communityworking together encouraging thenext generation of scientists andengineers and these early resultsshow the extent to which we aredoing just that.”

The Finals of the NationalScience + EngineeringCompetition took place at theFair, culminating in an AwardCeremony on the Friday.Rebecca Simpson, from DameAlice Owen's School inHertfordshire, was awarded UKYoung Engineer of the Year forcreating an arcade game to help

©The Big Bang Fair. ©The Big Bang Fair.



Shadow Education MinisterSteve McCabe MP were amonga number of parliamentarianswho attended the Fair.

Visiting the Fair for the thirdtime, The Rt Hon Vince CableMP said: “The Fair is enormouslyimportant for the country. Wedesperately need more highly

motivated young people withmaths, physics and othersciences because we’re short ofthem and short of engineersand scientists.”

Big Bang Near Me Fairs aretaking place across the UK andThe Big Bang Fair will return tothe NEC in Birmingham inMarch 2015. There are anumber of ways to get involved.

For information about supportingthe Fair contact AndrewGrazebrook on agrazebrook@engineering uk.com

The call for activities is nowopen and can be found atwww.thebigbangfair.co.uk/Activities

www.thebigbangfair.co.ukwww.engineeringuk.com

on hand to share theirexperience and advice about theexciting career opportunitiesopen to young people.

Paul Jackson, Chief Executive ofEngineeringUK, which leads theFair, said: “A huge thank you toeveryone who has supported theFair. The Big Bang Fair is so muchmore than a great day out – it’shaving a real impact. Earlyevaluation findings for the Fairshow that over half the key age-group of 11-14 year-olds learnt alot, two thirds of young attendeestook the opportunity to speak to

young people to revise STEMsubjects. Twin sisters, Ameetaand Aneeta Kumar, from theAbbey School in Reading,became the UK Young Scientistsof the Year after impressingjudges with their project todevelop an early diagnostic toolfor cancer.

Business Minister Vince CableMP, Education Minister ElizabethTruss MP, Shadow Minister forHigher Education Liam ByrneMP and Labour MP forBirmingham Ladywood and the



change on our lives, we must

become better prepared and

more resilient. Climate science

must evolve to respond to this

shift in demand.

Professor Dame Julia SlingoMet Office Chief Scientist

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)publishes its Fifth Assessment Report on climate change science,the impacts on human and natural systems, and the options foradaptation and mitigation, UK scientific expertise in weather andclimate is more important than ever before. From water resources tofood security, rising sea levels and more extreme weather, the IPCC Reportshowed that climate change impacts are already widespread.

This winter highlighted how

vulnerable we are to extreme

weather. We know the weather

was unusual and we understand

how it was related to weather

patterns elsewhere in the world.

The big question is did climate

change contribute to the severity

and impacts of the storms and

should we expect more of the

same in the future?

Sea levels are rising as the

Earth warms due to increased

greenhouse gases in the

atmosphere, adding to the risk

of coastal inundation from storm

surges. A warmer atmosphere

holds more water, so a storm

today gives more rainfall than

the same storm 50 years ago.

Severe storms have always

affected the UK and are well

documented in historical

records. Throughout history,

societies have adjusted to

climate variability and extremes

with varying degrees of success.

What is different now is our

exposure and vulnerability to

changes in the climate and

weather we experience. There

are many more of us on the

planet, and we rely more than

ever on critical infrastructures to

protect our lives and livelihoods

and to deliver reliable supplies

of water, food and energy. We

live in an interdependent world,

so climate change, whether it’s

in the UK or elsewhere, touches

all our lives.

... how vulnerable weare to

extreme weather ...

A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME?

... We live in an interdependent world ...

RESPONDING TO THECHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Since its establishment by

Margaret Thatcher in 1990, the

Met Office Hadley Centre for

climate prediction and research

has provided Government with

the scientific evidence to inform

climate change policies. Our

science has been critical in

demonstrating that our climate is

changing and that this is largely

due to human activities. Of

course, it is not just about

science – it is really important

that we are able to

communicate and help integrate

this knowledge into decision-

making, whether that be in the

context of regional and national

infrastructure or on the world-

stage at the United Nations

Conference of the Parties.

The Met Office Hadley Centre’s

work has been fundamental to

setting UK policies on mitigation

in terms of controlling

emissions. As evidence grows

around the impacts of climate

THE EVOLVINGLANDSCAPE OFCLIMATE SCIENCE

For too long the climate

change debate has focused on

global mean temperatures as a

simple metric to guide

international negotiations on

reductions in carbon emissions.

We frequently hear that a world

that is 2°C warmer than in the

mid-19th century is dangerous –

but dangerous to whom, when

and where? For some, the

warming of 0.8°C that has

already occurred is dangerous,

... Climate science must evolve ...

as many of the small island

states faced with rising sea

levels would attest.

This fixation on global mean

temperatures has not helped

the communication of the

seriousness of climate change.

People do not generally relate to

small rises in global mean

temperature. They relate to what


happens to their region or them

personally; add to that a growing

appreciation that some of the

most profound impacts of

climate change will be felt

through the intensity and

frequency of extreme weather,

like we experienced this winter.

Understanding regional

implications of a changing

climate is what matters to

individuals, governments,

businesses and the natural

world. That means delivering a

level of local detail that hasn’t

existed in scenarios of climate

change so far. It means being

able to quantify the changing

OPENNESS ANDTRANSPARENCY:COMMUNICATINGUNCERTAINTY INCLIMATE SCIENCE

The IPCC Fifth Assessment

Report was another milestone in

understanding climate change

and its consequences. The scale

of the endeavor is unmatched in

any other branch of science. In

Working Group I alone, which

considered the physical science

basis, 250 scientists reviewed

9,000 papers and addressed

over 50,000 comments.

This sort of consensus on

climate science cannot happen

risks of extreme weather, from

floods, drought, storms and

heatwaves.

Filling that gap has driven the

Met Office Hadley Centre

programme in the last five years

– to get the same level of detail

in climate predictions as in our

weather forecasts. Just as we

could give early warnings of

severe weather this winter to

Network Rail, enabling them to

take mitigating action, we also

need to be able to say how

often we’ll be confronted with

severe weather events in future

and what that means for

investments in our transport

infrastructure, coastal protection

and flood defences. That level of

granularity is essential; only then

can society understand future

risks, invest in the right places

and take adaptation decisions

that use financial resources

wisely.

often. In the meantime, science

advances at pace – climate

models improve, we gather

more observations, and our

understanding of the Earth

system develops. We must have

confidence in the integrity of

new science as it emerges; the

rigour and robustness of the

peer review process is crucial in

this regard. Last year we

published 324 peer-reviewed

articles co-authored with

scientists from 196 institutions

across 31 countries,

emphasising the collaborative

nature and international reach of

through making assumptions

about, for example, how the

oceans take up heat and how

much aerosols – small particles

that typically reflect sunlight –

have cooled the planet. Simple

models are used to make these

deductions, but there are

uncertainties in the assumptions

that underlie these models

because of the complex

processes they seek to emulate.

Conversely, climate sensitivity

produced by full climate models

is an emergent property of the

complex, non-linear dynamics

and thermodynamics of the full

climate system – atmosphere,

ocean, land and ice. There is

uncertainty here too because

our understanding of the climate

system is incomplete and the

granularity of our models –

often referred to as resolution –

has been limited by

and indirect impacts on us – our

livelihoods, property, well-being

and prosperity.

There is increasing advantage

in the UK being the best at

global environmental science

and I accept the responsibility

that the Met Office has, with its

partners, to maintain our

leadership on the international

stage. We will drive our models

to greater detail so that we can

give more definitive answers on

the changing risks of high

impact weather and extreme

seasons. Through our

understanding of customer

needs for weather services, we

will seek to understand the

nature of the risks that society

will be exposed to as our

climate changes. More and

more, our climate research must

place customer needs at its

heart – making climate science

work for society.

... intensity and frequency of extreme weather ...

... severe weather events in future ...

weather and climate science.

It is understandable that, with

so much at stake, many are

entering the debate on the

science of climate change. This

is to be welcomed. Scientists are

sceptical and continually

question our understanding and

the evidence behind it.

A good example is the debate

on climate sensitivity – how

much the planet will warm if

supercomputing power. We

must have an open debate on

the fundamentals and

uncertainties of climate science,

rather than the ‘black and white’

debate that often ensues.

WHERE NEXT?In the last decade the world

has experienced extremes of

weather and climate that exceed

those in living memory, and

increasingly affect us as

carbon dioxide concentrations

are doubled. Some claim

climate model estimates are

wrong – and too high –

because ‘observations’ suggest a

lower sensitivity. The truth is that

climate sensitivity cannot be

observed directly, but only

deduced from observations

individuals either directly or

indirectly. Impacts of these

events around the world have

been profound. The UK has not

been exempt from this.

Challenging weather – from cold

winters and drought to the

wettest summer and wettest

winter on record – has asked

more of our science than ever

before.

Whilst there is as yet no

definitive answer on whether

climate change contributed to

the severity of these events, the

impacts on all of us –

individuals, businesses and

policymakers – brought our

vulnerability into sharp focus.

More than ever, weather and

climate have considerable direct

... integrity of new science ...

... Simple models are used to make these

deductions ...

... as yet no definitiveanswer ...


The rocks beneath our feetcontain abundant evidenceof past changes in ourclimate. This geologicalrecord does not makecomfortable reading. Butthe geosphere is not just arepository of informationabout the past. Long-termunderground sequestrationof CO2 could make asignificant contributiontowards the reductions inglobal carbon emissionswhich are necessary if weare to avoid the likelihoodof dangerousanthropogenic climatechange. Indeed, it is hardto see how thesereductions can beachieved without rapidand widespreaddeployment of carboncapture and storage (CCS).

CARBON CAPTURE ANDSTORAGE: a role for the geospherein mitigating climate change

Nic BilhamDirector of Policy andCommunications, the GeologicalSociety

The more recent geologicalrecord can also tell us a greatdeal about the complexfeedbacks and lags whichoperate in the Earth system, andabout what our world was likewhen the atmospheric CO2 levelwas last at 400 parts per millionfor a sustained period – that is,the annual average level reachedagain during 2014. Temperatureswere 2-3° C higher than today,and sea level rose by up to 20min places. Sea level takes a few

This geological evidence,entirely independent of presentday atmospheric measurementsand climate modelling, shouldhelp to dispel any lingeringdoubt about the urgency ofdrastically reducing our CO2

emissions.

The House of CommonsEnergy and Climate Change(ECC) Committee’s May 2014report on CCS highlights thedifficulty of achieving the

reliance on CCS in its plans todecarbonise our electricitysystem. Furthermore, as the ECCCommittee points out, CCS isthe only large-scale mitigationoption currently available tomake significant reductions inemissions from industrial sectorssuch as cement, iron and steel,chemicals and refining. Suchchange will be necessary if weare to bring carbon emissionsdown to the required levels –decarbonising the electricitysystem will not be enough.

Despite Government’s stated

... widespread extinction of species resulted ...

‘Image courtesy of Statoil ASA’

The present day is not the firsttime in Earth’s history that largeamounts of carbon have beeninjected into our atmosphere atrates comparable to those nowresulting from human activity.This has happened half a dozentimes over the last 500 millionyears, most recently 55 millionyears ago, when a rapid releaseof carbon – possibly fromdestabilisation of methanehydrates on the sea floor –triggered a period of abruptwarming known as thePalaeocene-Eocene ThermalMaximum. At that time,temperatures rose by about 6° Cglobally and by 10-20° C at thepoles. Sea levels rose, theoceans became more acidic andless oxygenated, andwidespread extinction of speciesresulted. It took the Earth systemin the order of 100,000 years torecover. It is increasingly evidentthat the outcome was broadlysimilar on each occasion thatsuch rapid carbon injectionshave occurred.

hundred years to reachequilibrium in response toatmospheric CO2 andtemperature, which may explainwhy present day sea levels havenot yet increased to such anextent. (See the GeologicalSociety’s 2010 Climate ChangeStatement and 2013 addendumat http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/climaterecord for furtherinformation.)

required emissions reductionswithout rapid and widespreadimplementation of CCS. We willcontinue to depend on fossilfuels for decades to come, notleast to complement theintermittency of most renewableenergy sources and the lack offlexibility of nuclear plant (whichcannot be fired up and shutdown rapidly). Consequently, UKGovernment places considerable


commitment to CCS, progress indelivering this, including thecompetition to award funds tosupport full-chain commercial-scale demonstration projects,has been very slow. The ECC’sreport concludes that ‘this delayhas called into question thecredibility of Government CCSpolicy and has resulted in a lostdecade for this vital fledglingindustry’.

CCS is still sometimes referredto as an unproven technology.This is quite misleading.Although no full-chaincommercial-scale CCS project

The fact that a structural orstratigraphic ‘trap’, where aporous rock is overlain by animpermeable ‘cap rock’, has keptrelatively buoyant oil or gas inplace for millions of years (untilwe drilled into it to extract thehydrocarbons) is a goodindication that CO2 can be heldsecurely in such a formation.This is borne out by fielddemonstrations, for example inthe Sleipner field in the NorthSea, where 11 million tonnes ofCO2 has been injected since1996. Subsequent monitoringshows this has so far beencontained in the reservoir.

improved capture technologiesand the storage potential ofvarious ‘unconventional’geological settings, shouldproceed in tandem withimplementation in well-understood and low-risk sites, toreap the dividends of ‘learningthrough doing’, in order to bringdown costs, improve efficiencyand underpin public trust andconfidence.

While depleted hydrocarbonsreservoirs and closed salineaquifers (which are geologicallysimilar, but do not host oil orgas) offer significant storageopportunities, this potentialcould be much greater still ifpromising research into novelCO2 trapping mechanisms in a

significant barriers to itsimplementation at large scale.The principal constraints arepolitical and economic. If thepotential of CCS is to berealised, an urgent priority is todevelop storage capacity – toidentify and characterisepotential storage sites, and tomodel and test the injection ofCO2 there – at a far greater ratethan at present. Generictechnologies and geologicalresearch may be transferablebetween nations, butdevelopment of storage capacityis not. If we are to implementCCS in the UK, we cannotdepend on such work beingdone elsewhere.

Under current marketconditions and policyframeworks, the prospects oflarge-scale CCS becomingcommercially viable are dubious.

... huge potential to reduce future carbon emissions ...

(from capturing CO2 producedfrom the burning of fossil fuelsor other industrial applications,to transporting it and injecting itinto a suitable geologicalformation where it will be heldsecurely in the long-term) is yetoperational, several suchprojects are in advanced stagesof development worldwide,many smaller demonstrationprojects are already operational,and each element of the chainis well tested. CCS is not adistant prospect – it is alreadyhappening.

In April 2014, the GeologicalSociety hosted the third in aseries of conferences on CCSheld jointly with the AmericanAssociation of PetroleumGeologists. Speakers anddelegates from a range ofgeoscience specialisms andfrom across academia andindustry were unanimous inconcluding that geologicalstorage of carbon in depleted oiland gas reservoirs and other‘conventional’ geological settingsis a low-risk technology in whichwe can have a high level ofconfidence, with huge potentialto reduce future carbonemissions.

Sleipner is by no means unusualin terms of its storage potential– there is significant potentialeconomic advantage to the UKin developing a CCS industry,and our North Sea pore space,infrastructure and know-how is aconsiderable asset.

As with many technologies, thefact that CCS can be shown towork does not mean that thereis no need for further research –nor should the continuation ofthat research be taken asgrounds for lack of confidence inthe technology. Research into

range of ‘unconventional’geological settings bears fruit.Examples are migration-assistedtrapping in open saline aquifers,and mineral trapping in maficrocks (those with highmagnesium and iron content,such as basalt, which are verywidespread). (See theGeological Society’s submissionto the ECC Committee’s recentinquiry at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/CCS-inquiry13 for furtherdetails.)

The science and engineeringassociated with CCS are not

... urgent priority is todevelop storage

capacity ...

But this does not weigh the costof implementing CCS against thecost of not doing so, while stillmeeting our future energy andother resource needs. Thequestion for policy-makers toaddress should be how – notwhether – to create the politicaland economic conditions tostimulate rapid and widespreaddeployment of CCS.

Further reading:

House of Commons Energy and ClimateChange Committee report on CCS, May2014: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmenergy/742/742.pdf

Geological Society submission to ECCCommittee CCS inquiry, September 2013:http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/CCS-inquiry13

Geological Society Climate ChangeStatement, November 2010 andAddendum, December 2013:http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/climaterecord

Sleipner demonstration project:http://www.bgs.ac.uk/science/CO2/home.html

Sleipner gas field. Image credit: Bair175, Wikimedia Commons


... recent shale gas boom ...

HYDRAULIC FRACTURINGMeeting of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee on Tuesday 8th April

FACTS ABOUT FRACKS:RESEARCHING FRACKINGIN EUROPE

Richard DaviesDurham Energy Institute,Department of Earth Sciences,Durham University

Co authors:

Liam Herringshaw

Sam Almond

... environmental impacts of fracking fluidsand shale gas ...

INTRODUCTIONIf the biggest talking point of

UK energy in the last two yearscan be summed up in a singleword, it’s probably “fracking”. Theprocess of creating permeabilityin rocks by injecting fluids intothem at high pressure, hydraulicfracturing (to give fracking itsproper name) has beenemployed in oil and gasproduction for many years.However, the technique hascome to particular attentionduring the recent shale gasboom in North America.

Shales (Figure 1) aresedimentary rocks that havebeen formed by mudaccumulating over millions ofyears and then slowly buriedand compressed. If the mudscontained a lot of organic matter(the remains of plants andanimals) this can be turned intooil or gas during burial. However,as shales are so fine-grained,these hydrocarbons cannoteasily escape from the rock. Toextract the oil or gaseconomically artificialpermeability must be created,which is where fracking comesin.

As the first fossil fuel of theinternet age, shale gas hasattracted plenty of controversy.Many aspects of its discoveryand exploitation have provokedpublic concerns, so it is crucial

exploitation. These range fromwhether fracking can causeearthquakes or subsidence, towhat the environmental impactsof fracking fluids and shale gasemissions might be.

that scientific research into thesetopics is carried out. The ReFINE(Researching Fracking InEurope) project, an independentresearch consortium led byDurham Energy Institute atDurham University, focuses onthe risks associated with shalegas and oil exploration and

The first three peer-reviewedstudies by the ReFINE teamhave examined the verticaldistance that hydraulic fracturescan propagate, the likelihoodand magnitude of earthquakes

6/hydraulicfractures.pdf) showsthat natural hydraulic fracturescan extend upwards more than1 km (see Figure 2). However,the maximum vertical distancerecorded for a stimulated (man-

caused by fracking, and thelong-term integrity of shale gaswells.

HOW FAR DO THEFRACTURES GO?

Our research into hydraulicfracture propagation(http://refine.org.uk/media/488

made) hydraulic fracture is 588m (Figure 2), and ourcalculations indicate that there isa <1% chance of a stimulatedfracture extending verticallymore than 350 metres.

Since gas-bearing shales anddrinking water aquifers areusually separated by more than1 kilometre of rock (Figure 2), itis very unlikely that fracking itself

Figure 1


... Results of such monitoring should be madepublicly available ...

review of published data oninduced seismicity(http://refine.org.uk/media/4883/inducedseismicity.pdf). Thisshowed that although frackinghas caused earthquakes, theyare much smaller in magnitudethan those generated by otherhuman activities, such as mining,reservoir impoundment, andconventional oil and gasextraction.

The likelihood of hydraulicfracturing causing felt seismicityis very small, though it ispossible that fault reactivationduring frackng might causeinduced seismicity larger thanthat recorded to date. Again, afuller understanding of shalegeology can further mitigateagainst this risk. DECC has alsoproposed a traffic lightmonitoring scheme. If shale gassites record seismicity ofmagnitude 0.0 or less, frackingcan continue (green). Ifseismicity between 0.0 and 0.5in magnitude is recorded,fracking can only proceed with

caution and increasedmonitoring (amber). If amagnitude of 0.5 is exceeded,fracking is immediatelysuspended (red).

WELL LEAKAGEThe long-term integrity of shale

gas wells is something weexamined in our most recentstudy (https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/refine/Publishedversio

n.pdf). To reach shale gas targethorizons, wells have to be drilleddown through groundwateraquifers. To preventhydrocarbons leaking out fromthe well, barriers such as steelcasings and cement are added.If one of these barriers fail, thisis termed a well barrier failure,but hydrocarbons might notescape as a consequence.However, if all the barriers fail,this well integrity failure couldcreate a pathway for pollutionand contamination.

could create a pathway for watercontamination. Nonetheless, it iscrucial to understand thestructural geology of areas inwhich shale gas fracking isproposed. It would also be wiseto impose a minimumseparation distance betweenshale gas intervals targeted forfracking, and the groundwateraquifers above them.

CAUSING EARTHQUAKESEarth tremors and quakes are

referred to collectively asseismicity, and occur when ageological fault moves suddenly.Seismic activity in a regionreflects the structure of theEarth’s crust there, and thestresses being applied to it. Ifhuman activities cause adormant fault to move this isdescribed as ‘induced seismicity’.

One of the commonly raisedconcerns about fracking is thepossibility that it could causeearthquakes that would be feltat the surface. Members ofReFINE carried out a global

Data from the USA indicatethat a small percentage of shalegas wells leak, so it is veryimportant that there isassessment of wells, both duringtheir lifetime and afterabandonment. Results of suchmonitoring should be madepublicly available, and theappropriate financial andmonitoring processes should beput in place, particularly afterwell abandonment, so thatlegacy issues associated with thedrilling of wells for shale gas andoil are minimized.

CONCLUSIONSResearch by the ReFINE

consortium is funded by theNatural Environment ResearchCouncil, Shell, Total, andChevron. The project has anIndependent Science Board, ledby Professor John Loughhead ofthe UK Energy Research Centre,to ensure that research isaccurate, relevant to the publicinterest, and free from industrybias.

Current ReFINE studies areexamining the risk of subsidencein shale gas sites, methaneleakage, and the quantity ofradioactive materials occurring influids that flow back to thesurface after fracking. When itcomes to determining what the

true risks of fracking are, suchscientific research carried out byindependent academic expertsis crucial. From there, informeddecisions can be made on thebasis of scientific evidence.

For more information on theresearch being carried out byReFINE, and for resources suchas videos and research briefs,visit www.refine.org.uk/research.aspx

Figure 2


HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

SEPARATING FACTS FROMFANTASY IN THE SHALE GASDEBATE

Huw ClarkeSenior Geoscientist, CuadrillaResources

It’s been fascinating, and

occasionally infuriating, to

watch the debate around

hydraulic fracturing develop in

the UK during the last 18

months.

Cuadrilla has often found itself

at the forefront of this debate.

Last summer, for example, our

exploratory site at Balcombe was

surrounded by protesters, many

of whom seemed to believe we

were about to start fracking for

gas within shale rock. In fact, we

drilled a 2,700ft exploratory oil

well through limestone.

Subsequently, our actual plans

to undertake exploratory

... separate facts from fantasy ...

... focusing our efforts on community engagement ...

hydraulic fracturing for shale gas,

250 miles away in Lancashire,

are attracting considerable

interest, as we do our best to

separate facts from fantasy.

Unfortunately, the residents of

Lancashire and Sussex, along

with people across the UK, have

been subjected to a vociferous

spread of misinformation from

anti-fracking activists.

One of the most famous

examples concerns the

misleading Gasland

documentary, which has been

shown many times on TV. One

section features Mike Markham

from Colorado setting light to his

tap water. The State of

Colorado’s investigation

concluded that Mr Markham, in

Bowland Basin and specifically

our 1,200km2 licence area in

north-west England.

In February, we announced our

intention to apply for planning

permission to drill, hydraulically

fracture and test the flow of gas

sinking his water bore-hole, had

inadvertently drilled his very own

coal bed methane well.

More recently, we have seen

outrageous claims that hydraulic

fracturing can cause cancer or

pollute drinking water, despite

the utter lack of evidence to

from up to four exploration wells

on two sites – one at Preston

New Road and the other at

Roseacre Wood. Since then we

have been focusing our efforts

on community engagement and

consultation as well as preparing

an Environmental Impact

Assessment for both sites.

Separate applications will also

be made to install two seismic

arrays that would be used to

monitor the hydraulic fracturing

process. Seismic activity above

the level of 0.5 magnitude (m),

which can only be detected at

surface by extremely sensitive

equipment, will mean fracturing

jobs will be halted; immediate

flow back of the fracture water

will commence alleviating the

stress on the rock. This traffic

light system in place for

seismicity provides confidence

that any seismic events created

by our engineering works will be

substantiate a single verified

case from the hundreds of

thousands of fracked wells

around the world.

This is not to say there are no

concerns with shale gas, rather

that we should form opinions

from peer-reviewed facts,

instead of relying on sensational

“most viewed” You-Tube clips or

ill-informed scaremongering.

Looking ahead, the primary

focus for Cuadrilla is continuing

exploration work within the


... great importance to the hydraulicfracturing discussion ...

... water aquifer contamination ...

... benefits from shalegas are obvious ...

far below the threshold of even

superficial structural damage and

further more greatly decrease

the likelihood of detection from

human perception.

The Bowland Basin is one of a

number of lower-carboniferous

(320 million years old)

extensional basins that lie

onshore within the UK.

Compared with similar basins

such as the Gainsborough

Trough or Edale Gulf, the

Bowland Basin has undergone

deeper burial and greater

inversion meaning greater

thermal maturity pushing the

rocks further into the gas

window. Cuadrilla was drawn to

the Lancashire region by a

combination of large open

acreage, a small unconventional

producing gas field (Elswick)

and the rather more substantial

East Irish Sea gas field. The gas

in Elswick and that in the East

Irish Basin have long thought to

be sourced by the deeper

carboniferous Bowland Shales.

The Elswick 1 well, drilled in

1990, is of great importance to

the hydraulic fracturing

important to note that the first

commercial fracturing treatment

was carried out in 1947.

At community engagement

meetings, by far the most

frequent question I am asked is

with regard to groundwater

pollution. This covers a wide

range of misinformation with the

most common being that hydro-

fractures will grow from the

contamination by thermogenic

gas, not the process of

fracturing. Well bore integrity is

critical to all oil and gas wells

(hydraulic fractured or not); poor

isolation of the gas zone can

result in gas channelling to a

water aquifer. Cuadrilla spends a

vast amount of time on ensuring

well integrity to mitigate any

water contamination. As a

Cuadrilla’s approach to public

concern is one of openness and

transparency. Our public

information evenings in

Lancashire countryside work well

to allay residents’ concerns,

empowering local people with

real information regarding

Cuadrilla’s operations. Time

spent listening to concerns and

explaining our operations is time

well spent.

The benefits from shale gas

are obvious: employment, taxes,

lower gas prices for a greener

natural gas compared with what

we currently import and most

importantly, security of supply.

The challenge lies not in the

extraction of the gas or the

environmental management as

discussion. It is one of a number

of onshore gas wells within the

UK that have undergone

hydraulic fracturing treatments

and have shown to be a

productive safe gas well with no

adverse effects. Opponents of

shale gas often state that

hydraulic fracturing is a poorly

understood new technology, it is

depth of the gas reservoir all the

way up through the crust into

the water aquifer. I will address

this assertion head-on as it

needs to be put to bed.

Geo-mechanical theories

disproving this concern are

robust. They include the

energies required to make such

a gigantic fracture height, the

rocks layers that act as fracture

growth barriers containing

vertical height growth, and the

fracture evolution direction,

which is controlled by maximum

stress direction. These are peer

reviewed accepted theories but

anti-scientific anti-fracking blogs

often claim otherwise. We hope

that with micro-seismic imaging

showing fracture evolution

during fracturing operations we

will physically demonstrate the

true reality.

As an industry we do not deny

that water aquifer contamination

can occur as a result of drilling

oil and gas wells, but these

cases are few and very far

between. But it is lack of well

bore integrity that leads to water

control we drill three to four

shallow monitor wells around

the perimeter of the drill pad

prior to drilling for shale gas,

monitoring background levels to

ensure methane in ground

water remain unaffected by our

operation.

Other concerns include toxic

chemicals mixed in with the

fracture fluid, the use of large

quantities of water, flow back

water, land subsidence, negative

property prices, air pollution,

increased traffic volume, noise

and light pollution from the

drilling itself. One concern, raised

at a recent public meeting

regarded the risk of damaging

the geopathic stress of the earth,

left me perplexed. As a scientist

it is not easy to accept that the

feng shui of the ground should

be a determining factor! These

concerns amount to a great deal

of anxiety attached to shale gas

extraction. A benefit from the US

experience is most of those

anxieties that are valid have

been addressed and solutions

found which we in the UK have

already adopted.

solutions are already in place,

but rather persuading the

communities in which we work

that the industry can be trusted.

From the opinion polls we’ve

conducted in Lancashire, we’ve

found that most people have

open minds when it comes to

shale gas exploration. It’s crucial

that we continue providing local

communities with as much

information as possible

concerning our plans, so they

can make decisions on facts

instead of rumours.


STRENGTHENING LINKS WITHJAPAN ON EDUCATION ANDRESEARCH

Beth HogbenScience and Innovation NetworkBritish Embassy, Tokyo

Japan and UK as partnersJapan is vital to the UK

economy. More cars were builtin Sunderland last year than inthe whole of Italy, thanks toJapan. Over 140,000 British jobsare due to Japanese investment.More than half of all UK Internettraffic goes through Japaneseservers in the UK. MoreJapanese investment comes tothe UK than any other Europeancountry.

And the Japanese market,which was closed a generationago, is now open for business.JAL, the flag carrier, boughtAirbus over Boeing last year forthe first time – half the contentof all the 31 planes is built in

the UK. UK expertise is helpingwith Fukushima clean-up. Andthe 2020 Olympics is a majoropportunity for British firms whohelped make London 2012 agreat success, in areas like cybersecurity and design.

It is not only a commercialrelationship. We share acommitment to rules basedeconomic governance andinternational security. We worktogether to protect an internetfree of government diktat, toprotect intellectual property, andthe rule of law in commercialdisputes. We also share acommitment to harnessingscience and research to tackleglobal challenges like infectiousdiseases, dementia, resourcesecurity and climate change.

Universities open up tointernational collaboration

Japan’s universities are alsoopening up to international links.A programme of reform aims toproduce outstanding talent,research excellence andinnovation at a global level. Thiswill bring further opportunitiesfor relationships to be forgedbetween UK and Japan that will

lead to even more knowledgeexchange and researchcollaboration. The UK has astrong reputation in Japan for itsworld class universities and asan international hub forresearch, innovation andpersonnel exchange.

Like the UK, Japan recognisesthat scientific research andinnovation are key to economicsuccess. Science, technologyand innovation form a key pillarof Japan’s growth strategy andthe Prime Minister himself chairsthe Government’s Council forScience, Technology andInnovation Policy.

The quality of scientific andtechnological research anddevelopment in Japan is highand our two nations have asimilar outlook on the societalvalue of science with manyareas of complementarystrengths. The Nobel prizes wonin 2012 by Prof ShinyaYamanaka and Prof JohnGurdon for their work oninduced pluripotent stem cells isa good example but ourresearchers are working togetherin many other areas. Projects

supported by the UK’s Scienceand Innovation Network team inJapan are helping develop abroad range of collaboration:from cutting edge research innew materials, synthetic biology;technology opportunities suchas big data for healthcare oroptical imaging for neuroscience;security and sustainabilityresearch on manufacturingdisaster resilience andcybersecurity.

Aside from researcher links,strong institutional levelrelationships also exist. Thestrong and enduring historicallinks that University CollegeLondon has with Japan, werecelebrated last year on the150th anniversary of the ChoshuFive’s arrival in Britain. These 5


PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE ANDINNOVATION POLICIES:WHERE ARE WE NOW?

The words “hope” and“change” were pervasive inBarack Obama’s 2008Presidential campaign, and theyare part of the narrative intoday’s America. Although nottypically a high-profile campaignissue, science enjoyed arelatively strong stature in 2008.Of the science issues that he

discussed during the campaign,three have taken a place at thehead of the class, and in somecases, with significant capitalinvestments.

CLIMATE CHANGEClimate change was the first

scientific issue that theAdministration addressed, withthe announcement of three-highlevel appointments even beforeObama’s 2009 inauguration.These had backgrounds inclimate research and signalled ashift from the Bushadministration, whom manyviewed as indifferent to suchissues. The trio of John Holdren,Science Advisor to the President;Jane Lubchenco, Administratorof the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration(NOAA); and Nancy Sutley,

Chair of the White HouseCouncil on EnvironmentalQuality, gave greater visibility toclimate research and policy.

In 2009, the Administrationstrongly supported theCongressional initiative to begina National Climate Service(NCS) within NOAA, similar tothe National Weather Service,which would provide climatedata free of charge and to issueweather forecasts. Contrary tothe Administration’s expectation,the effort failed due toCongressional refusal to approvethe budget for NCS for FY 2012.

The NCS’s setback was notterminal. In 2013, theAdministration set its direction oftravel on climate policy with theClimate Action Plan. The CAP isa high-level policy document

which contains one research-relevant section. This lays outaction items for the USgovernment that ensure theUnited States is prepared for theimpacts of climate change.Notably, the CAP does not calldirectly for increased spending,but does recommend significantcoordination among federalagencies in areas like resilienceand green buildings.

OPEN DATAOpen data was the second

scientific issue that the ObamaAdministration focused on withthe appointment in early 2009of Aneesh Chopra and VivekKundra, Chief Technology Officerand Chief Information Officer.This marked the first time eitherposition existed on a nationallevel. Kundra was tasked with

Bradley KeelorScience and Innovation NetworkBritish Embassy, Washington

young Japanese noblemenendured a perilous 135-day seajourney to come to Victorian-eraLondon and study at UCL. Ontheir return to Japan, they wenton to form the core of a newJapanese government, leadingthe nation’s transformation toone of the world’s foremosttechnological powers.

Japan-UK Universitiesconference on education andresearch

On Thursday 1 May 2014, tomark the visit of Prime MinisterShinzo Abe to the UK, theJapanese Embassy in Londonheld a Japan-UK UniversitiesConference for Collaboration inResearch and Education co-hosted by UCL, supported byBritish Council, JSPS London,

MEXT in Japan and the Scienceand Innovation Network.Attended by seniorrepresentatives from 14Japanese universities and 16 UKuniversities, this conference wasan unprecedented landmarkevent, with discussions on awide range of issuessurrounding research andeducation. It was also a valuableopportunity to deepen anddevelop collaboration andcooperation between universitiesof the two countries.

As well as variouspresentations and paneldiscussions, there was aroundtable discussion attendedby Prime Minister Abe.Participants discussed measuresto promote exchange of

students and young researchersbetween Japanese and UKuniversities, consideration of aframework for multilateral (ratherthan bilateral) collaboration, andcooperation between Japaneseand UK universities in facingglobal challenges such as ageingsocieties. The British Council’sresearch and education networkfor knowledge economyinitiatives, known as RENKEI forshort (the Japanese word forcollaboration), has been helpingto develop and extend theselinks.

Attended by Ministers EdDavey and David Willetts, theconference also provided avenue for presenting UK-Japanagreements on climate changeand energy, and in particular

nuclear cooperation, includingthe announcement of new jointfund for nuclear safety researchand an agreement betweenTEPCO FDEC and NDA &Sellafield Ltd.

The conference was a valuableopportunity to deepen anddevelop collaboration andcooperation between universitiesof the two countries. Participantsagreed the Joint Announcementat the Conference whichpledges to hold regular follow-up meetings regarding bothresearch and education in orderto continue and develop theseareas.

Further information:http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/event/2014/05/uni.html


launching, publicising, andmaintaining data.gov – anambitious attempt to create arepository of data generatedwith federal funding, which thepublic could then use to createnew applications andtechnologies. Within a year, over250,000 data sets had beenuploaded. Despite initialoperational hiccups, theutilisation of the dataset hasgained national acceptance.Recently, the government hasutilised the data to run appschallenges, including theparticularly successfulInternational Space AppsChallenge, which is sponsoredby NASA and has nearly 100teams participating on sixcontinents in the 2014 event.

As the age of big data dawns,the Administration is takingevery step to ensure that theUnited States is not left behind.It created the NationalInformation Technology

Research and Development(NITRD) as the coordinatingoffice for interagency big datagroup, in which over 20 federalagencies participate. NITRDcoordinates over $4 billion inresearch funding.

ADVANCEDMANUFACTURING

Advanced Manufacturing wasthe third top priority issue.Building on the momentum theBush Administration andCongress initiated with theAmerica COMPETES Act in 2007and again in 2010, the Presidentannounced the AdvancedManufacturing Partnership inJune 2011. In the three yearssince, the initiative hasdeveloped into a network ofmanufacturing centrescoordinated by the NationalInstitute of Standards andTechnology (NIST). Congresshas not funded the NationalNetwork for ManufacturingInnovation (NNMI), but

consortia of businesses anduniversities have been rolledout, each with its own researchportfolio. The most recent roundincludes the 60-memberLightweight and Modern Metalshub, headquartered in Michigan,and the Digital Manufacturingand Design Innovation Institute,headquartered in Chicago.Several new centres will beannounced in the comingmonths.

The AMP’s majoraccomplishment to date hasbeen the coordination of severalgovernment-fundedmanufacturing initiatives,including the 25-agency NationalNanotechnology Initiative, theNational Robotics Initiative, andthe Materials Genome Initiative.

TRANSLATING WORDSTO ACTIONS

Many of the Administration’sscience-based proposals havestruggled to get off the ground,chiefly because of a lack of

funding and Congressionalreluctance to fund something itdid not create – this has beenthe case with all three initiativesnamed here. Over the pastseveral years, Congressionalappetite for large, sweepinginitiatives has lessened,especially at the Committeelevel, and several Congressionalscience champions from bothparties have retired. Withmidterm Congressional electionsin 2014 and the 2016Presidential election looming,little time remains to create andimplement broad policies inscience or other issue areas.Areas like open data andadvanced manufacturing willcontinue to deliver results forthe President’s priorities. We inthe UK’s Science and InnovationNetwork will continue tochampion and promote UK’sscience and innovation agendain Washington and across thewhole of the United States.

TELLUSMeeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Earth and Environmental Sciences on Tuesday 13 May

VALUING AND REALISING OURNATURAL CAPITAL ASSETS –TELLUS ALL ABOUT IT

Andy HowardBritish Geological Survey

Mike Young Marie Cowan

The 2011 White Paper ‘The Natural Choice: Securing the Value of Nature’ commits us to be the firstgeneration to leave the natural environment in a better state than it inherited. The Tellus projects – aseries of multi-partner environmental survey and research projects carried out in the UK and Ireland –have delivered innovative data and research that have successfully shaped policy and stimulated newinvestments in mineral, energy and infrastructure resources. On 13 May, at a meeting of the All-PartyParliamentary Group for Earth and Environmental Sciences, chaired by Martin Caton MP, Andy Howard,Mike Young and Marie Cowan explained how the Tellus Projects are transcending their original goals tocontribute to the measuring and realising the value of our natural capital assets, and to deliver theworld-leading research needed to inform decisions and measure success in meeting the White Paperobjectives.

In the early 2000s the geological surveys of Britain, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, andFinland joined forces to design a Resource and Environmental Survey for Ireland (RESI). RESI’s purposewas not only to provide new data to stimulate exploration investment and licensing in minerals andenergy resources but also to inform research, regulation and management of other natural capital

Co-authors from Geological Surveyof Northern Ireland:


assets including soil,groundwater and landscapeamenity. Re-branded as ‘Tellus’,the first of these was completedin Northern Ireland between2005-8, with funding from theDepartment of Enterprise, Tradeand Investment. Building on ahighly positive, post project costbenefit analysis of the impactsof Tellus, €5M funding wassecured from the EU INTERREGIV programme for a secondproject – Tellus Border – whichran from 2010 to late 2013 and

maps that are delivered online,providing a stock take of theextent and quality of minerals,soil and water resources, ahealth check of both natural andman-made chemical andradiological contaminants in theenvironment, and an objectivedata resource formultidisciplinary scientificresearch.

From an original cost of£5.8M, the outcome and impactof Tellus Northern Ireland hasbeen considerable. The maps

wetland ecosystem status andtrace element toxicology.

Following the lead of the Tellusprojects in Ireland, the TellusSouth West project in Devonand Cornwall is the first regionalscale project of this type inGreat Britain. The regionpresents a unique combinationof future mineral andgeothermal resourceopportunities counter-balancedby environmental constraints ondevelopment, some of which

the scale, an airborne lidarsurvey flown by an aircraft fromthe BAS fleet has used highprecision laser range-findingtechnology to make a 3dimensional map of the groundsurface, built assets andvegetation canopy, accurate towithin a few centimetres.Combining these datasetsprovides us with a powerful setof tools to value resources andmeasure environmental changeat a range of scales andtimespans. We can model and

proceeding with the release ofthe Tellus Border data.Furthermore, 20 new Tellusdata-based research degreesand 16 short term grants havedelivered on topics such ascancer epidemiology, criticalmetal resource potential,

landscape, flood plains andnatural habitats. Sampling oforganic films on the beds ofstreams, for example, is lookingfor tell-tale evidence of theimpacts of industrial activity onthe smallest organisms in thefood chain. At the other end of

electrical conductivity to build a3 dimensional map of theproperties of the soils, rocks,minerals and fluids belowground. At the same time,ground-based geochemicalsurvey teams collect soil, streamsediment and water samples foranalysis of over 50 keyelements from the periodictable, representing acombination of the mostessential minerals, nutrients andcontaminants present in theenvironment. The results arecombined into datasets and

radon hazard, soil moisture andcarbon stocks, residualChernobyl fallout, soil erosionand landfill contamination. Dataon subsurface properties ofaquifers, notably on previouslyunresolved barriers togroundwater flow, haveinformed new strategies formanaging Belfast’s groundwatersupplies. Commercialisation ofthe Tellus data to provideinformation products and expertservices to the agriculturalindustry on nutrient balances insoil, water and feed is

Hydrology (CEH), and the BritishAntarctic Survey (BAS). TheUniversity of Exeter CamborneSchool of Mines connects uswith local businesses and theresearch community. TellusSouth West has augmented theoriginal Tellus specification withsurveys of the status of the

The most important outcome

of these projects is the ‘Tellus

Effect’, the ability of these

projects to encourage

knowledge exchange and

collaboration between specialists

in businesses, research and

government with a common

surveyed the six border countiesof the Republic of Ireland.

What does a Tellus surveyinvolve? Firstly, an airbornegeophysical survey flies aspecially equipped light aircraftat low altitude over thelandscape, in some places only60m above ground. On-boardsensors measure trace amountsof magnetism, radioactivity and

and data have led to investmentcommitments of over £32million in new mineralsexploration activity, with licensedblocks increasing from 15% to70% of Northern Ireland’s landarea. The data are now routinelyused to inform implementationof soil, water and wastedirectives, and deliver new mapson diverse themes such as

relate to the region’s industrialand mining legacy and others toa changing natural environment.Funded by the NaturalEnvironment Research Council,the project is a collaborationbetween 3 of the NERC’sresearch centres, the BritishGeological Survey (BGS), theCentre for Ecology and

predict how much rainfall isabsorbed into the soil, howmuch runs off into streams andrivers, how nutrients and man-made contaminants aremobilised and transported bythis water, how much of thiswater is taken up by vegetation,and which areas may be at riskof flooding and landslides.

... world-leading research needed to inform decisions ...

... samples for analysis of over 50 key elements ...

... value resources and measure environmental change ...

Presenters at the Tellus South West project launch, Eden Project Cornwall,October 2013

Magnetic (left), conductivity (centre) and radiometric (right) airbornegeophysical survey maps, Northern Ireland. Coastline © Crown Copyright DMOU205


interest in the data. Launches ofthe Tellus Border data inOctober 2013 and the TellusSouth West data in May 2014brought together data usersfrom the minerals, energy,agricultural and water industries,from local government andenvironmental regulators, fromheritage and conservationbodies, and from researchers ingeoscience, ecology, hydrology,agricultural science andenvironmental health. Mostimportantly, the data from bothprojects are available free ofcharge both to view anddownload from easily accessibleweb portals. This catalyses thefurther sharing of environmentaldata among these groups, andthe development of newpartnerships to deliver value andinnovation from new cross-disciplinary combinations ofresearch capability. Momentumis building from one Tellus

projects in the so-called EnergyCoast of north west England andin the major regeneration areas

project to the next, with newsurveys and new partnerscontributing to more diversity ofdata and joined-up research.With a bid for INTERREG Vfunding, we hope to expandTellus into the marineenvironment, joining the IrishSea, western Wales and easternIreland, and partners arecurrently being sought for other

of the central belt of Scotland.

So what of Natural Capital, andthe White Paper commitment?The Tellus Effect helps to pulltogether the partnerships ofbusinesses, decision makers andresearchers that need to work inconcert to value, manage andsustain our natural capital. Theprojects provide an ‘instrumentpanel’ of indicators and ‘bigdata’ to observe and learnlessons from past and presenthuman impacts on ourenvironment, and measure ourfuture progress towards a ‘betterstate’ for future generations.Working together, we hope thatthese projects, and others likethem, can help us understandthe business of theenvironment, and ensure thateconomic growth and asustainable natural environmentare mutually compatibleobjectives.

Authors:Andy Howard (British Geological Survey)Mike Young (Geological Survey ofNorthern Ireland)Marie Cowan (Geological Survey ofNorthern Ireland)

Tellus Partners:Geological Survey of Northern Irelandhttp://www.bgs.ac.uk/gsni/Geological Survey of Irelandhttp://www.gsi.ie/Natural Environment Research Councilhttp://www.nerc.ac.uk/British Geological Surveyhttp://www.bgs.ac.uk/British Antarctic Surveyhttp://www.bas.ac.uk/Centre for Ecology and Hydrologyhttp://www.ceh.ac.uk/University of Exeter Camborne School ofMines http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/csm/

Tellus websites:Tellus http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gsni/Tellus/Tellus Border http://www.tellusborder.eu/Tellus South Westhttp://www.tellusgb.ac.uk/

WHY EXPLORE THE SOLARSYSTEM?Tom GunnerParliamentary Space Committee

In September last year, theP&SC teamed up with theParliamentary SpaceCommittee in a specialsession chaired by AndrewMiller and Phillip Lee, to hearfrom Britain’s leadingplanetary scientists what wehave learnt recently about ourown Solar System, what morethere is to find out, and why itmatters.

Space still has a mixed rep inand around Parliament. Probablythe most common questionasked on the subject, is “I didn’tknow we did space!” rapidly

followed by, “why do we dospace? Isn’t that a cold warsuperpower thing? Can we reallyafford to do that kind of thing?”

average day, you will quietlydepend on a host of space-enabled services. The showeryou take, if it is gas powered,

There are many responses to

these questions. The response

to the first question, is yes, we

do space. And we do it very

well. Britain’s space sector now

supports 83,000 jobs, and adds

£9.1 billion to the economy.

When you think about it, it’s

perhaps not surprising. In your

could rely on gas pumpedthrough National Grid’s nationalnetwork of 170,000 miles ofpipeline, managed by a networkof nearly 500 switch points. Theinstructions to these points aretransmitted up into orbit andback, because satellites offersome of the most secure formof communications available.

Whether you pick up a brolly orsuncream will depend on theinformation satellites provide theMet Office. All data for five dayforecasts, and 90% of the datafor shorter term forecasts, comefrom satellites. And then ofcourse as you move about,most people now depend onnavigation services powered bysatellites. And no, satellites arenot responsible for driving youinto ditches. That’s the software.For many in remote areas,satellites are the only realisticchance of getting online, to fill inDEFRA’s online farm paymentforms, perhaps. But perhaps

... rely on gas pumped through National Grid’snational network ...

Airborne geophysical surveysrequire low altitude flying to acquirehigh resolution data on thesubsurface. Image courtesy TellusBorder project, supported by the EUINTERREG IVA Cross-Borderprogramme.


... Why does such an old moon have such anunrippled surface? ...

most of all, the space industry isa real wealth creator for the UK,exporting high technology goodsand services across the world.Last year, the PM and thepremier of China witnessed thesigning of £1.2 billion of UKexport deals to China. 10% ofthese came in the form of asingle satellite contract,supplying the data from threeearth observation satellites.

But there is also space science,and here the answer to thesecond question, “can we reallyafford to do that kind of thing?”,is very different. Quite simply,we do space science for thesame reasons we do science.Space is in many areas the bestplace to do science, and insome fields, the only place.Space is the biggest lab in theuniverse, free from Earth’sgravity and atmosphere. AsPhillip Lee highlighted in arecent debate, the InternationalSpace Station is a unique lab forthe world’s scientists to conduct

In September last year, theParliamentary and ScientificCommittee joined with theParliamentary Space Committeeto find out more about some ofthe most exciting research beingconducted today by Britain’sleading planetary scientists,alongside the EuropeanPlanetary Science Congress, held

last year in London for the firsttime. According to Dr LewisDartnell of Leicester University,Mars, our closest and mostaccessible planetary neighbour,could once have been teemingwith life. We now know thatbillions of years ago, Mars was amore inviting place for life to sethold – it was wetter, warmerand had a thicker atmosphere.Organic molecules would haverained down on its surface, inthe same way that brought lifeto Earth – perhaps, even fromMars, according to one new

miniaturised box of tricks has

been spun off and down to

Earth, powering mobile solar

powered radios, for instance, in

Africa.

Further afield, Michele

Dougherty, professor of space

physics at Imperial, has been

enquiring into the properties of

Enceladus, one of Saturn’soldest moons and one of thebrightest objects in our solarsystem. Why does such an oldmoon have such an unrippledsurface? Could it be the sourceof Saturn’s E-ring, the largest ringin the Solar System, made upmostly of water compounds?The surface of Enceladus is alsomainly ice. The Europeanspacecraft Cassini hasundertaken two flybys ofEnceladus to take a closer look.What they found was that themagnetic fields emanating fromEnceladus suggested anatmosphere, and at its poles,vast water vapour plumes werebelching out from vast cracks onits surface. So there is a sub-surface heat source, which is asurprising feature of such an oldmoon. For life to form, you needwater, organic material, a heat

In a generation, we should knowfar more about the solarsystem’s second biggest planet,and perhaps solve some ofthese mysteries.

Why bother looking at cometsand asteroids? Professor JohnZarnecki of the OU gave usthree reasons. Firstly, science.The solar system was formedwhen a cloud of dust congealedto form our planetary system.Asteroids and comets offer us aunique glimpse into thefounding blocks of our solarsystem. It is almost certain that amajor asteroid strike 65 millionyears ago wiped out thedinosaurs. In the case of a killerasteroid hitting the Earth again,the question is not if, but when.The problem is, we don’t knowif it will happen tomorrow or ina million years! The spectacularand damaging airburst of anasteroid above Chelyabinsk on15th February this year, on thesame day, in fact, as a nearmiss, in cosmic terms, of a farbigger comet, reminded us thatthe date may be closer totomorrow than a million years!Fortunately, Britain’s spaceindustry could provide theanswer. A team of engineersand scientists at Astrium inStevenage are working on asuitably Hollywood namedproject, NEO shield, to look into

experiments in microgravity,looking into the impact of ageingon human skin cells, or theimpact of zero gravity on bonedensity (our bones lose 1% oftheir density for every month inspace). And there is also theother reason for discoveringmore about our Solar System –curiosity. Because we can. AsFabio Favata of the EuropeanSpace Agency argued, curiositywas the primary driver inmankind’s interest in theCosmos. Curiosity gave birth tothe ancient science ofastronomy. Astronomy providedthe key to long-distancenavigation. Astronomy thereforeenabled the British Empire! Andtoday, a new constellation ofman-made stars position usanywhere on the Earth’s surfaceto less than a metre.

theory. Europe’s response is itsMars rover, the mostsophisticated robot ever to besent to Mars. The Mars rover isbeing designed and tested herein the UK, by Astrium, inStevenage. Capable ofwithstanding cosmic radiationwhich would fry a human, thislab on wheels has a six wheeldrive and twin robotic cameras,allowing it to see in 3D. But it isits drill that most excitesplanetary scientists, allowing it todrill into the Martian soil andsearch for signs of life. There isno better way to inspire youngpeople into STEM subjects thanthe search for life. If one day wefind the signs of past life onMars, we will have our newpost-Apollo generation ofscientists and engineers. Andthe advanced technologyneeded to develop this

source and stable conditionsover time. Enceladus,tantalisingly, has three of theseconditions. In 2022, Europe’snext explorer, the Jupiter IcyMoons Explorer, or JUICE forshort, will be launched, reachingJupiter by 2030, and will spend2½ years exploring the Jupitersystem, focusing on threemoons, Ganymede, Europa andCallisto. Ganymede is the largestmoon in the solar system, andscientists believe it has a large,deep ocean beneath its surface.

the technologies to avert thenext strike, whenever it mayhappen. Three ideas arecurrently being looked at:blasting it into tiny fragments,deflecting it, and slowing it to ahalt using gravity.

There have been five close-upviews by spacecraft of comets.Some of Man’s earliest recordedart are from China, 3,000 yearsago, of comets. The firstspacecraft to conduct a flyby ofa comet was part designed and

... The Mars rover is being .. tested here in theUK, by Astrium ...

... Asteroids and comets offer us a unique glimpse ...


built in Bristol in 1986. The hardbit is to land on a comet.Europe’s spacecraft Rosettahopes to rendezvous with andactually put a lander on thesurface of a comet. Put the 10thNovember 2014 in your diary!About 10:30am. The lander willcarry a whole suite of cleverstuff, to study its chemical andisotopic composition, all in apiece of kit not much biggerthan a shoebox, so compact infact that the technology has

... carry the samples safely back to Earth ...

Last autumn saw theprestigious conference,EuroPlanet, come to London,hosted by UCL. Attended bynearly one thousand scientistsfrom around the world, this wasthe biggest such conference yet,and included sessions inplanetary science on everythingfrom Mars missions to distantsolar systems. But, mostimportantly, this was the firstEuroPlanet ever to hold asession in a legislative body:

hosted jointly by theParliamentary and ScientificCommittee and theParliamentary Space Committee.I was one of three scientistsinvited to present an overview ofthe research we are involved in,and its wider significance, to thepacked audience.

I am an astrobiologist; Iinvestigate the possibility of lifebeyond the Earth. I’m not talkingabout green bug-eyed aliensand UFOs, but the possibility of

hardy microorganisms survivingin the watery environmentsfound on other planets andmoons in our solar system. Asyou might imagine, astrobiologyis a deeply 'interdisciplinary' fieldof science – it sits as the overlapbetween geology and planetaryscience, biochemistry andmicrobiology, and physics andastronomy.

My own piece of the puzzleinvolves studying what effect thebombardment of cosmic

radiation might have on thesurvival of bacteria, or‘biosignatures’ of their pastexistence, in the martian surface,and what are the best ways tolook for them. One especiallyexciting forthcoming mission isthe ExoMars probe, due tolaunch in 2018 to look for signsof past life. The UK is playing aleading role in many of thesystems and instruments for thisMars rover. The UK SpaceAgency is funding my fellowship

been spun off to detecttuberculosis in sub-SaharanAfrica, and monitor air quality insubmarines. But now the race ison. Several space agencies aremounting missions to asteroidsto bring back significant amountsof material. In the UK, Astrium isdeveloping special technologiesto land the lander and carry thesamples safely back to Earthwithout contaminating them.

There are also at least two

Schmidt. If only Britain hadsomehow managed to net thepassing comet in February, wemight have been able to pay offthe national debt!

walk tall as a nation, and oureyes are set firmly on thehorizon.

private consortia developingtechnologies to mine asteroids,backed with big money fromserious investors, including LarryPage of Google and Walt

It is easy to dismiss spacescience as an area of luxuryBritain can ill afford. But in ourworld leadership in spacescience and industry, we still

MARS – did life ever evolvethere and what will futureexploration reveal?Dr Lewis DartnellDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester


to work on a Ramanspectrometer – a laser-basedtechnique which reveals boththe minerals of a rock as well asorganic molecules indicative oflife that might be there. Raman

security scans for traces ofexplosives at airports. ExoMarswill be the first mission to tryRaman spectrometry beyond theEarth; scrutinising martian soiland rocks.

simultaneously miniaturised andcompact, lightweight, and havevery low power demands. Theseare exactly the attributesrequired for portable devices –to be used by health workers inrural Africa testing forcompounds indicative ofdifferent diseases, for example.

This isn’'t the only down-to-Earth benefit of astrobiology andspace exploration. I devote a lotof my time to delivering publiclectures and outreach events atschools (I also hold a Science inSociety fellowship from theScience & Technology FacilitiesCouncil, STFC) and I have foundthat few things inspire young

... everything from Mars missions to distant solar systems...

spectrometry is a classic

example of a technology that

has been tried and tested in civil

applications, proving itself time

and time again before being

adopted for space missions. It is

now used for analysing the

pigments used in oil paintings to

spot fakes, drugs testing, and

The transfer of knowledge andequipment also flows in theopposite direction: spacehardware – technology literallyout-of-this-world – beingrepurposed to solve real-worldproblems back down on solidground. Instruments designed tobe launched to explore otherplanets need to be

minds like hearing about our on-going exploits in exploring otherworlds and searching for life.Encouraging more students tocontinue with STEM subjects(Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics)through A-levels andundergraduate degrees is utterlycritical if the UK is to continue asa world-leader in fundamentaldiscovery and innovation, andfor us to financially thrive as aninformation economy.

Dr. Lewis Dartnell is aresearch fellow at University ofLeicester, and author of ‘Life inthe Universe: A Beginner’sGuide’

HOUSE OF LORDS SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY SELECT COMMITTEE

The members of the Committee(appointed 12 June 2014) are LordDixon-Smith, Baroness Hilton ofEggardon, Lord Hennessy ofNympsfield, Lord O’Neill ofClackmannan, BaronessManningham-Buller, Lord Patel, LordPeston, Lord Rees of Ludlow, ViscountRidley, the Earl of Selborne(Chairman), Baroness Sharp ofGuildford, Lord Wade of Chorlton,Lord Willis of Knaresborough andLord Winston.

Lord Krebs’ term as Chairmanconcluded at the end of the 2013-14session. He has been succeeded bythe Earl of Selborne. Baroness Perryof Southwark rotated off theCommittee at the end of the 2013-14 session. New Members of theCommittee are Lord Hennessy ofNympsfield and Viscount Ridley.

Behaviour Change

In May and June 2014, the Committee tookoral evidence from witnesses to follow up on its2011 report into behaviour change and assesswhat progress has been made in this area. Thisfocused on the two behaviour change casestudies that the Committee had investigated inits original inquiry: modal shift in transport andobesity.

International STEM students

In January 2014, the Committee launched afollow up inquiry to its 2012 report on highereducation in science, technology, engineeringand mathematics (STEM) subjects. The inquiryfocused specifically on the effect on internationalSTEM students of immigration policy. More thanforty written submissions were received, sevenoral evidence sessions were held in Februaryand March, and a report published on 11 April2014. A Government response is expectedshortly.

Waste and the bioeconomy

The Committee launched an inquiry into wasteand the bioeconomy in July 2013. The Call forEvidence closed on 27 September. Evidencewas collected on the technology used to exploitbio-waste and waste gases in order to generatehigh-value products. The inquiry aimed to assessthe potential for this technology to enable bio-waste and waste gas to replace current

feedstocks, and the potential contribution thiscould make to a bioeconomy. The Committeepublished its report on 6 March 2014. AGovernment response was received in early June.

Scientific infrastructure

The Committee launched an inquiry intoscientific infrastructure in May 2013. The call forevidence closed on 22 June. Oral evidence wastaken across June and July on the large andmedium-sized scientific infrastructure currentlyavailable in the UK with a particular focus on:future needs and strategic planning, funding andgovernance arrangements, internationalpartnerships and partnerships with industry. TheCommittee published its report on 21 November2013. A Government response was received inFebruary 2014 and a debate held on 13 May2014.

Regenerative medicine

The Committee launched an inquiry intoregenerative medicine before the 2012 summerrecess. A group from the Committee visited theCalifornia Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Oralevidence was taken from October to March2013. The Committee reported on 1 July 2013and a Government response was received on 1October. A debate was held in the Chamber on13 March 2014.

Nuclear follow-up

In July 2013, the Committee undertook an


evidence session with Professor David Mackay, Chief ScientificAdvisor at the Department of Energy & Climate Change, to followup on its November 2011 report, Nuclear research anddevelopment capabilities. A further follow-up evidence session washeld with the Minister for Energy, Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, on 10 December 2013.

Science spend

In May 2013, ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review, theCommittee held a one-off evidence session on the topic of sciencespend. A letter was sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 4June 2013 calling for an increase in the science budget. In aseparate but related development, on 4 December 2013, the

Committee wrote to the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister forUniversities and Science, to seek clarity on claims in the mediasuggesting that the ring-fenced science budget may be used toshore up the Department’s budget in other areas.

FURTHER INFORMATIONThe reports, Government responses, written and oral evidence to

the Committee’s inquiries mentioned above, as well as the Calls forEvidence and other documents can be found on the Committee’swebsite. Further information about the work of the Committee canbe obtained from Chris Clarke, Committee Clerk,[email protected] or 020 7219 4963. The Committee Officeemail address is [email protected].

PARLIAMENTARY OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (POST)

RECENT POST PUBLICATIONS There have been no recent POST Publications

CURRENT WORK Biological Sciences – Minimum Age of Responsibility, ChildhoodAllergy, Population Health Management, GM Crops, Biobanks, Parityof Esteem between Physical and Mental Health

Environment and Energy – Short Lived Climate Pollutants, AncientWoodlands, Reducing Diffuse Water Pollution from Agriculture,REDD+, Smart Metering of Energy and Water, Energy Storage,Phosphate Resources, Environmental Citizen Science, GM Insects,Integrated Management of Floodplains, Biodiversity Auditing

Physical sciences and IT – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Big DataOverview, Big Data in Business

Social Sciences – Big Data, Crime and Security, Big and Open Datain Transport, End of Life Care, Alternative Currencies

CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS Urban Green Infrastructure

On 6th May, POST hosted a breakfast briefing on urban greeninfrastructure for parliamentarians on the evidence for theeffectiveness of urban green infrastructure in supporting differentaspects of human wellbeing and challenges to its implementationand maintenance, with representatives from academia, planning,policy and local authorities. It was chaired by Chi Onwurah MP andpresentations were made by: Professor Richard Mitchell, Professorof Public Health at Glasgow University and Co-Director of Centre forResearch on Environment Society and Health (CRESH), ProfessorJim Harris, Chair of Environmental Technology, Cranfield University,Professor Rosie Hails, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Chair ofthe Natural Capital Initiative and Member of the Natural CapitalCommittee, Diane Smith, Interim Chief Executive, Town & CountryPlanning Association, Dr Shepley Orr, Department of Civil &Environmental Engineering, UCL, Dr Ian Mudway, Analytical &Environmental Sciences Division, King's College London, Dr MathewWhite, European Centre for Environment and Human Health, ExeterUniversity, Peter Massini, Urban Greening Team Leader, GreaterLondon Authority and Tom Butterworth, Natural England’s SeniorAdviser for Local Government. A summary of the discussion at theevent is available on the POST website.

STAFF, FELLOWS AND INTERNS AT POST Fellows Adriana De Palma, Natural History Museum, Biotechnology andBiological Sciences Research CouncilOscar Branson, University of Cambridge, Natural EnvironmentResearch CouncilMark Richardson, University of Reading, Natural EnvironmentResearch CouncilRosalind Davies, University of Birmingham, Engineering and PhysicalSciences Research CouncilDaniel Rathbone, Imperial College London, Engineering andPhysical Sciences Research CouncilMaria Thorpe, University of Manchester, Engineering and PhysicalSciences Research CouncilElizabeth Duxbury, University of East Anglia, BBSRCHelen Brewer, Rothamstead Research Centre, BBSRCClare Wenham, University of Aberystwyth, Nuffield Council onBioethicsLouise Moyle, King’s College London, Nuffield Foundation FlowersMemorial FellowshipRachel Stocker, University of Durham, British Psychological SocietyPaul Gilbert, University of Sussex, Economic and Social ResearchCouncilStephen Hanley, University of Leeds, Economic and Social ResearchCouncilRosanna Greenop, University of Southampton, Natural EnvironmentResearch CouncilKimberley Pyle, Cardiff University, Natural Environment ResearchCouncilLucy Anderson, University of Leeds, Natural Environment ResearchCouncilIan Keyte, University of Birmingham, Royal Society of Chemistry

Visiting ResearcherDr Anusha Panjwani, Pirbright Institute

StaffNadine Walters, Publication and Events Secretary, is leaving POST inJuly 2014.


HOUSE OF COMMONS SELECTCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGYCURRENT INQUIRIES

Climate: public understanding and its policyimplications

On 28 February 2013 the Committeeannounced an inquiry: Climate: publicunderstanding and its policy implications.

On Monday 9 September 2013, the Committeetook evidence from James Randerson, TheGuardian, Catherine Brahic, New Scientist; FionaHarvey, The Guardian, Lewis Smith, FreelanceCorrespondent and Richard Black, Former BBCEnvironment Correspondent.

On Wednesday 11 September the Committeetook evidence from Tony Grayling, EnvironmentAgency, Phil Rothwell, Environment Agency, PaulCrick, Kent County Council and Katie Stead,Kirklees Council; John Hirst, Met Office andProfessor Julia Slingo OBE, Met Office.

On Wednesday 9 October the Committee tookevidence from Rt Hon the Lord Deben, Chairman,and David Kennedy, Chief Executive, Committeeon Climate Change; Rt Hon David Willetts MP,Minister of State for Universities and Science,Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; Rt Hon Gregory Barker MP, Minister of State forClimate Change, Department of Energy andClimate Change, Professor David MacKay, ChiefScientific Advisor, and David Warrilow, Head ofScience, Department of Energy and ClimateChange.

On Wednesday 6 November the Committeetook evidence from Professor Sir Mark Walport,Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government andHead of the Government Office for Science.

The evidence received is on the Committee’swebsite. A Report was agreed and was publishedon 2 April 2014. The Government’s response waspublished on 23 June 2014.

Government Horizon Scanning

On Wednesday 23 October the Committee tookevidence from Alun Huw Williams, Principal, SAMIConsulting, Doug McKay, Vice President,International Organisations, Shell International, andNatalie Day, Head of Policy, Oxford Martin School,University of Oxford; Dr Martyn Thomas, RoyalAcademy of Engineering, Jonathan Cowie, former

Head, Science Policy, Institute of Biology, andProfessor Ann Buchanan, Academy of SocialSciences.

On Wednesday 27 November the Committeetook evidence from Fiona Lickorish, Head,Institute for Environment, Health, Risks andFutures, Cranfield University, Jessica Bland,Technology Futures Analyst, Nesta, and MarcusMorrell, Senior Futures Analyst, Arup; ProfessorBurkhard Schafer, Professor of ComputationalLegal Theory, Edinburgh School of Law, ProfessorPaul Newman, Mobile Robotics Group, Universityof Oxford, Nick Reed, Intelligent TransportSystems UK, and Dr Graeme Smith, BusinessManager, Connected Services, Control andElectronics, Ricardo UK Ltd.

On Wednesday 4 December the Committeetook evidence from Sir Mark Walport,Government Chief Scientific Adviser, and JonDay, Chair, Horizon Scanning Oversight Group,Cabinet Office.

The evidence received is on the Committee’swebsite. A Report was published on 4 May2014.

Women in STEM careers

On Wednesday 16 October the Committeetook evidence from Dr Bryn Jones, VisitingFellow, School of Physics, University of Bristol,Jenny Marsden, Principal Physicist, Hull and EastYorkshire NHS Trust, and Dr Nicola Patron, Head,Synthetic Biology, Sainsbury Laboratory.

On Wednesday 30 October the Committeetook evidence from Dr June McCombie, formerChair of IOP Project, Juno Panel, Institute ofPhysics, Sarah Dickinson, Manager, Athena SWANCharter, Equality Challenge Unit, Professor DameJulia Higgins, Chair of Diversity Programme, RoyalSociety, and Dr Pia Ostergaard, Senior FellowshipAdvisor, Daphne Jackson Trust; Professor UtaFrith, Emeritus Professor of CognitiveDevelopment, University College London,representing Russell Group, Professor JanePowell, Deputy Warden, Goldsmith's, Universityof London, representing 1994 Group, and ClemHerman, Senior Lecturer, Computing andCommunications, Open University.

The Science and TechnologyCommittee is established underStanding Order No 152, andcharged with the scrutiny of theexpenditure, administration andpolicy of the Government Office forScience, a semi-autonomousorganisation based within theDepartment for Business,Innovation and Skills.

The members of the Science andTechnology Committee are:

Jim Dowd (Labour, Lewisham Westand Penge), David Heath (LiberalDemocrat, Somerton and Frome),Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative,South Basildon and East Thurrock),Andrew Miller (Labour, EllesmerePort and Neston), David Morris(Conservative, Morecambe andLunesdale), Stephen Mosley(Conservative, City of Chester),Pamela Nash (Labour, Airdrie andShotts), Sarah Newton(Conservative, Truro and Falmouth),Graham Stringer (Labour, Blackleyand Broughton), David Tredinnick(Bosworth) and Hywel Williams(Plaid Cymru, Arfon).

Andrew Miller was elected by theHouse of Commons to be the Chairof the Committee on 9 June 2010.The remaining Members wereappointed to the Committee on 12July 2010. Caroline Dinenage,Gareth Johnson, Sarah Newton andHywel Williams were appointed tothe Committee on 27 February2012 in the place of Gavin Barwell,Gregg McClymont, StephenMcPartland and David Morris. JimDowd was appointed to theCommittee on 11 June 2012 in theplace of Jonathan Reynolds. DavidMorris was re-appointed to theCommittee on 3 December 2012in place of Gareth Johnson. DavidTredinnick was appointed to theCommittee on 4 February in placeof Caroline Dinenage. David Heathwas appointed to the Committeeon 25 November 2013 in place ofRoger Williams.


On Monday 4 November the Committee took evidence from Dr Lesley Thompson, Engineering and Physical Sciences ResearchCouncil (representing the Research Councils UK), and DavidSweeney, Director, Research, Innovation and Skills, Higher EducationFunding Council for England.

On Monday 18 November the Committee took evidence from Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of State for Universities andScience, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The evidence received is on the Committee’s website. A Reportwas agreed and was published on 6 February 2014. TheGovernment response was published on 7 May 2014.

Antimicrobial resistance

On Wednesday 18 December the Committee took evidence fromDr Pat Goodwin, Society of Biology, Professor Laura Piddock, BritishSociety for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Professor John Threlfall,Society for Applied Microbiology, and Professor Sharon Peacock,Cambridge Infectious Diseases Initiative, University of Cambridge.

On Wednesday 8 January 2014 the Committee took evidencefrom Professor Anthony Kessel, Public Health England, Dr MichaelMoore, Royal College of General Practitioners, Professor AlisonHolmes, Imperial College London and Dr Susan Hopkins, RoyalCollege of Physicians; John Hardcastle, Novolytics, Dr DavidMcIntosh, Novartis, Professor George Lewith, University ofSouthampton Medical School and Doris-Ann Williams, British InVitro Diagnostics Association.

On Wednesday 29 January 2014 the Committee took evidencefrom Phil Sketchley, National Office of Animal Health, JohnFitzGerald, Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance,Catherine McLaughlin, National Farmers’ Union and Cóilín Nunan,Alliance to Save our Antibiotics.

On Wednesday 26 February 2014 the Committee took evidencefrom Professor Jeremy Farrar, Wellcome Trust, Professor Sir JohnSavill, Research Councils UK, Kush Naker, Universities Allied forEssential Medicines UK and Professor Sir Anthony Coates, AntibioticDiscovery UK; Dr Louise Leong, Association of the BritishPharmaceutical Industry, James Anderson, GlaxoSmithKline, Dr David Williams, Discuva and Michael McIntyre, European Herbaland Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association.

On Wednesday 12 March 2014 the Committee took evidencefrom Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, SallyWellsteed, Department of Health, and Nigel Gibbens, ChiefVeterinary Officer; George Eustice MP, Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs, Jane Ellison MP, Department of Health,Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer and ProfessorPeter Borriello, Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

The evidence received is on the Committee’s website. A report isbeing prepared.

Blood, tissue and organ screening

On Wednesday 5 February the Committee took evidence fromMark Ward and Joseph Peaty, TaintedBlood, Liz Carroll, HaemophiliaSociety, Dr Matthew Buckland, UK Primary ImmunodeficiencyNetwork and Christine Lord; Professor Marc Turner, AdvisoryCommittee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs Prion

Group, Dr Roland Salmon, Advisory Committee on DangerousPathogens and Dr Sheila MacLennan, UK Blood Services JointProfessional Advisory Committee.

On Wednesday 5 March 2014 the Committee took evidence fromDr Steven Burton, ProMetic Biosciences Ltd, Dr Kelly Board, DuPontChemicals and Fluoroproducts, Dr Alex Raeber, Prionics AG, NigelTalboys, Terumo BCT and Professor John Collinge, MRC Prion Unit.

On Wednesday 26 March 2014 the Committee took evidencefrom Professor Richard Knight, National CJD Research andSurveillance Unit, Professor Sheila Bird, Medical Research CouncilBiostatistics Unit, Dr Paula Bolton-Maggs, Serious Hazards ofTransfusion (SHOT) Haemovigilance Scheme and Dr Simon Mead,Association of British Neurologists.

On Monday 28 April 2014 the Committee took evidence from Dr Richard Baker, British Transplantation Society, Dr Mike Knapton,British Heart Foundation, Ed Owen, Cystic Fibrosis Trust and KeithRigg, Transplant 2013.

On Wednesday 30 April 2014 the Committee took evidence fromProfessor James Neuberger, NHS Blood and Transplant, Dr LornaWilliamson, NHS Blood and Transplant, Dr Paul Cosford, PublicHealth England, and Dr Katy Sinka, Public Health England; JaneEllison MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Healthand Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer,Department of Health.

The evidence received is on the Committee’s website. A report isbeing prepared.

National health-screening programmes

On Wednesday 7 May 2014 the Committee took evidence fromProfessor Jane Wardle, Academy of Medical Sciences, Jessica Kirby,Cancer Research UK and Dr Sian Taylor-Phillips, Warwick MedicalSchool.

On Wednesday 11 June 2014 the Committee took evidence fromRobert Meadowcroft, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, ProfessorMichael Baum, Advocates for Honesty and Transparency in BreastScreening and Steve Hannigan, Children living with inheritedmetabolic diseases (Climb); Síle Lane, Sense About Science, Dr Margaret McCartney and Dr John Middleton, UK Faculty of PublicHealth.

Practical science in schools

The Committee held a one-off session to discuss proposals fromOfqual to change the practical assessment of science at A level.

On Monday 12 May 2014 the Committee took evidence fromProfessor Julia Buckingham, SCORE, Dr Sarah Main, Campaign forScience and Engineering, Professor Ian Haines, UK Deans ofScience and Malcolm Trobe, Association of School and CollegeLeaders; Dennis Opposs, Ofqual, Glenys Stacey, Ofqual and JanetHolloway, Ofqual; and Elizabeth Truss MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Childcare.

Proposed takeover of AstraZeneca

The Committee held a one-off session to discuss the implicationsof Pfizer’s proposed takeover of AstraZeneca on the UK sciencebase.


On Wednesday 14 May the Committee took evidence from Dr Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer, Dr Rod MacKenzie, Pfizer and Ian C. Read,Pfizer; Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca plc, Dr Mene Pangalos,AstraZeneca plc and Dr Jane Osbourn, AstraZeneca plc; and Rt HonDavid Willetts MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science.

REPORTS

Government horizon scanning

On 4 May 2014, the Committee published its Ninth Report ofSession 2013-14, Government horizon scanning, HC 703.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSES

Government Response to the Committee’s report ‘Women inscientific careers’, the Committee’s Sixth Report of Session2013–14

On 7 May 2014 the Committee published the GovernmentResponse to the Committee’s report on Women in scientificcareers.

Government Response to the Committee’s report‘Communicating climate science’, the Committee’s EighthReport of Session 2013–14

On 23 June 2014 the Committee published the GovernmentResponse to the Committee’s report on Communicating climatescience.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information about the Science and Technology Committeecan be obtained from the Clerk of the Committee, StephenMcGinness, or from the Senior Committee Assistant, DarrenHackett, on 020 7219 2792/2793; or by writing to: The Clerk ofthe Committee, Science and Technology Committee, House ofCommons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. Enquiries can also be e-mailed to [email protected]. Anyone wishing to beincluded on the Committee’s mailing list should contact the staff ofthe Committee. Anyone wishing to submit evidence to theCommittee is recommended to obtain a copy of the guidance notefirst. This can be found at www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/witguide.htm. The Committee has a website, www.parliament.uk/science, where recent publications, terms of reference for inquiriesand press notices are available.

HOUSE OF COMMONS LIBRARYSCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTSECTIONRECENT PUBLICATIONS

Planning for Nationally SignificantInfrastructure ProjectsSN06881

The Planning Act 2008 introduced a newdevelopment consent process for NationallySignificant Infrastructure Projects. NSIPs areusually large scale developments (relating toenergy, transport, water, or waste) which require“development consent”. An extension of theregime in 2013 allows certain business andcommercial projects to opt into this process.

A Development Consent Order (DCO) removesthe need to obtain several separate consents,including planning permission, and is therefore amuch quicker process. Applications for DCOs aredecided in accordance with National PolicyStatements (NPSs), which after a process ofconsultation and Parliamentary scrutiny areformally “designated” by Government. There arecurrently 12 designated or proposed NPSs, whichfall under the categories of hazardous waste,water supply, energy, transport networks, aviationand ports.

Staff in the Science andEnvironment Section provideconfidential, bespoke briefing toMembers and their offices on adaily basis. They also providesupport to Commons SelectCommittees, and produce longernotes and research papers whichcan be accessed on line athttp://www.parliament.uk/topics/topical-issues.htm

Opposite are summaries of somerecent briefings.

For further information contact: Sarah Hartwell-NaguibHead of Section Tel: 020 7219 1665email: [email protected]

In November 2013 the Government concludedthat there was no need for a wholesale changeto the DCO regime, which could damagedeveloper confidence, but that some minorchanges were needed to provide more clarityabout the process and to speed it up. Thesechanges will be introduced through theInfrastructure Bill introduced in June 2014.

Shale Gas and FrackingSN06073

Drilling for shale gas is at the exploratory phase inthe UK. The rapid development of shale gasresources in North America has transformed theworld gas market.

The consensus is that shale gas will not be a‘game changer’ in the UK as in the US. There is,for example, less land available to drill andlandowners do not own the rights tohydrocarbons beneath their land. However, inJune 2013 Centrica acquired a 25% stake inCuadrilla’s exploration licence in Lancashire andthe Government and British Geological Surveypublished raised estimates of the shale gasresource in Northern England. The Government is


also consulting on tax incentives for shale gas exploration, and hasannounced community financial benefits. Existing onshorepetroleum exploration and development licences, which are notspecific to shale gas, are therefore now likely to be explored fortheir shale potential.

The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering reviewed therisks of hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, concluding that the health,safety and environmental risks can be managed effectively in theUK and calling for more research on the carbon footprint of shalegas extraction. A report published by DECC in September 2013, inwhich shale gas emissions were said to be similar to those ofconventional gas and lower than those of coal and LNG, led theSecretary of State to describe shale gas as a ‘bridge’ to a low-carbon future.

The Queen’s Speech in 2014 confirmed Government plans tostreamline the underground access regime and make it easier forcompanies to drill for shale gas.

Broadband – Update 2014SN06643

The Government’s ambition is to provide everyone in the UK withaccess to broadband with a download speed of at least 2Megabytes per second (Mbps) and to provide 90% of the UK with‘superfast broadband’ (at least 24Mbps).

The Government allocated £530 million to do this with a strategyfor Britain’s superfast broadband future (December 2010) whichincentivises the deployment of broadband through a variety oftechnologies. It also set up Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) tomanage the roll-out of broadband in rural areas.

On 5 July 2013 the NAO report on the Government’s broadbandprogramme noted that Departmental forecasts predict theprogramme will complete its rollout 22 months later than originallyplanned.

Marine Conservation Zones in England SN06129

Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ) are being introduced under theMarine and Coastal Access Act 2009 to protect important marinewildlife, habitats, geology and geomorphology. They will sitalongside other protected areas such as those designated underEuropean law. Controls on damaging activities may be required insome MCZ. As a result their designation may be controversial insome cases.

127 MCZ were identified by regional stakeholder groups in 2011.An independent Science Advisory Panel concluded that the 127sites would contribute to an ecologically coherent network ofmarine protected areas, but that the network would need to bestrengthened. In July 2013 the Government said that it would nottake forward all of the 127 MCZ at this stage due to concerns aboutthe evidence.

On 21 November 2013, the Government designated 27 MCZcovering 8,000 sq km offshore and around 2,000 sq km of inshorewaters. Measures to protect these sites will be developed afterconservation bodies publish “site-specific conservation advice”. Thisprocess would involve dialogue with stakeholders. The Government

plans to designate two more phases of MCZs over the next threeyears. A consultation on the next phase will be launched in early2015.

Carbon Price FloorSN05927

Fluctuations in the price of carbon in the form of EU ETSallowances have resulted in uncertainty for investors in low carbontechnologies. This has contributed to a lower level of investment inthese technologies, below what is required to meet UK carbonreduction and renewable targets.

To address this, the Coalition Government committed to introduce afloor price for carbon and published a consultation on carbon pricesupport in December 2010. Following this it announced in theMarch 2011 Budget that it would be introducing price support viathe Climate Change Levy and fuel duty with a target price of £30per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2020. The floor price will start atabout £16 per tonne. At the time of the announcement the tradingprice was around £15 per tonne, but by January 2013 it had fallento under £4.

The Treasury published carbon prices three years in advance fromApril 2013, together with indicative prices up to 2017. These weredue to rise every year until 2020, with all revenue raised retainedby the Treasury. However in the Budget 2014 the Governmentannounced that prices would be capped at £18 per tonne from2016 to 2020 to limit the competitive disadvantage faced bybusiness and reduce energy bills for consumers.

Nuclear powerSN06228

On 21 October 2013 the Secretary of State for Energy, EdwardDavey, announced that a deal had been reached between EDFEnergy and the Government to build the first new nuclear powerstation in the UK since Sizewell B was commissioned in 1995. Itwill be funded by the private sector but will receive a guaranteedprice for the electricity it generates.

As part of the deal, under a Memorandum of Understanding oncivil nuclear cooperation between the UK and ChineseGovernments, EDF will be allowed to sell minority stakeholdings inHinkley Point C to the Chinese companies, CGN and CNNC.

It is now highly likely that nuclear power will continue to make animportant contribution to the UK’s electricity needs within a mixedeconomy of gas, coal and renewables.

ACTIVITIESIn addition to its usual work providing bespoke briefings for MPs,and publishing briefing papers such as those highlighted above, theSection has contributed topical pieces to the Library’s blog (See forexample the blog on halal slaughterhttp://commonslibraryblog.com/2014/05/16/is-better-labelling-the-answer-to-concerns-about-slaughter-methods/#more-927) andcollaborated with the Parliamentary Office of Science andTechnology to ensure that updated briefing was available for anevent on Food Banks and Food Poverty (SN06657).

The section has kept up its outreach activities participating in a tripto Warwick University to help run a workshop to inform academics


about engaging with Parliament. Following a successful visit byHouse staff to Lancaster University’s Environment Centre (LEC)earlier this year, LEC Director, Kevin Jones, visited Westminster inMay to showcase LEC’s work to specialists across Parliament (readmore at http://commonslibraryblog.com/2014/05/21/establishing-academic-connections/).

On 4th June Her Majesty the Queen opened the 2014-15 Sessionof Parliament and set out the Government’s legislative programmegiving rise to new areas of work for the Section. The Queen’sSpeech included plans to introduce an Infrastructure Bill which

would reform planning law, open up access to shale andgeothermal sites and maximise North Sea resources (see blog poston fracking in the Queen’s Speech: http://commonslibraryblog.com/2014/06/05/fracking-in-the-queens-speech/#more-997), and provide for a scheme to set a zero carbon standard fornew housing. The Infrastructure Bill has now been published andhas had its second reading in the Lords. Secondary legislation waspromised to implement electricity market reform and to reduce theuse of plastic bags. There were also announcements on GardenCities, and governance of the National Parks in England.

SELECTED DEBATES

Listed opposite (grouped bysubject area) is a selection ofDebates on matters of scientificinterest which took place in theHouse of Commons, House ofLords or Westminster Hallbetween 1st May and 24th June2014.

A full digest of debates and PQson scientific issues during the2013/14 and to date in the2014/15 sessions of Parliamentcan be found athttp://www.scienceinparliament.org.uk/publications/uk-digests/

HEALTH

Cervical Cancer Screening 1.5.14 HoC 1025 Steve Rotheram

Melbourne Declaration on Diabetes 18.6.14 HoC 94WH Adrian Saunders

National Health Service 17.6.14 HoL GC47 Lord Crisp

Organ Donation Register 17.6.14 HoC 1WH Andrew Griffiths

Patient Safety 24.6.14 HoC 191 Statement by Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt

INFRASTRUCTURE

Draft National Policy Statement 8.5.14 HoL 1623 Lord Berkeleyfor National Networks

Infrastructure Bill Second Reading 18.6.14 HoL 837 Baroness Kramer

Scientific Infrastructure (S&T Report) 13.5.14 HoL GC453 Lord Krebs

Self-Build and Custom-Build 7.5.14 HoC 246 Richard Bacon

EDUCATION

Education Institutions: 24.6.14 HoL GC104 Baroness PerryAutonomy and Accountability of Southwark

Student Visas 24.6.14 HoC 206 Statement by James Brokenshire

MISCELLANEOUS

All-party Parliamentary Groups 13.5.14 HoC 709 Kevin Barron

Migratory Birds (Malta) 7.5.14 HoC 122WH Sir John Randall

Sulphur Regulations 18.6.14 HoC 120WH Karl Turner

Economic andSocial ResearchCouncilContact: Jacky Clake, Head of Communications,Economic and Social Research Council,Polaris House, North Star Avenue,Swindon SN2 1UJTel: 01793 413117E-mail: [email protected]: www.esrc.ac.uk

The ESRC is the UK’s largest organisation forfunding research on economic and social issues andis committed to supporting the very best researchwith wide-ranging impact. Social sciencecontributes to greater knowledge andunderstanding of the many challenges our societyfaces today and by ensuring that ESRC-fundedresearch makes the biggest possible impact, ourresearch shapes public policies and makes business,voluntary bodies and other organisations moreeffective, as well as shaping wider society. We alsodevelop and train the UK’s future social scientists.


Biotechnologyand BiologicalSciences Research Council(BBSRC)Contact: Matt GoodeAssociate Director, Communications &External RelationsBBSRC, Polaris House, North Star AvenueSwindon SN2 1UH. Tel: 01793 413299E-mail: [email protected]: www.bbsrc.ac.uk

BBSRC invests in world-class bioscience research,innovation and training on behalf of the UK public.Our aim is to further scientific knowledge topromote economic growth, wealth and job creationand to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.BBSRC research is helping society to meet majorchallenges, including food security, green energyand healthier lifespans and underpins important UKeconomic sectors, such as farming, food, industrialbiotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Research Councils UKContact: Alexandra SaxonHead of CommunicationsResearch Councils UKPolaris HouseNorth Star AvenueSwindon SN2 1ET

Tel: 01793 444592E-mail: [email protected]: www.rcuk.ac.uk

Each year the Research Councils invest around £3 billion in research covering the full spectrum of academicdisciplines from the medical and biological sciences to astronomy, physics, chemistry and engineering, socialsciences, economics, environmental sciences and the arts and humanities.

Research Councils UK is the strategic partnerships of the seven Research Councils. It aims to:

• increase the collective visibility, leadership and influence of the Research Councils for the benefit of theUK;

• lead in shaping the overall portfolio of research funded by the Research Councils to maximise theexcellence and impact of UK research, and help to ensure that the UK gets the best value for money fromits investment;

• ensure joined-up operations between the Research Councils to achieve its goals and improve services tothe communities it sponsors and works with.

Contact: Sarah Cooper, Parliamentary Relations Manager, EPSRC, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1ETTel: 01793 444570E-mail: [email protected]:www.epsrc.ac.uk

EPSRC is the UK’s main agency for funding researchand training in engineering and physical sciences,investing around £800m a year in research andpostgraduate training, to help the nation handle thenext generation of technological change.

The areas covered range from informationtechnology to structural engineering, andmathematics to materials science. This researchforms the basis for future economic development inthe UK and improvements for everyone’s health,lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside otherResearch Councils with responsibility for other areasof research.

MedicalResearchCouncilContact: Sophie Broster-JamesPublic Affairs and Stakeholder EngagementManagerOne Kemble Street, London WC2B 4AN.Tel: 020 7395 2275E-mail: [email protected]: www.mrc.ac.uk

Over the past century, the MRC has been at the forefront ofscientific discovery to improve human health. Founded in1913 to tackle tuberculosis, the MRC now invests taxpayers’money in the highest quality medical research across everyarea of health. Twenty-nine MRC-funded researchers havewon Nobel prizes in a wide range of disciplines, and MRCscientists have been behind such diverse discoveries asvitamins, the structure of DNA and the link betweensmoking and cancer, as well as achievements such aspioneering the use of randomised controlled trials, theinvention of MRI scanning, and the development oftherapeutic antibodies. We also work closely with the UK’sHealth Departments, the NHS, medical research charitiesand industry to ensure our research achieves maximumimpact as well as being of excellent scientific quality.

NaturalEnvironmentResearch CouncilContact : Judy ParkerHead of CommunicationsNERC, Polaris House, North Star Avenue,Swindon SN2 1EUTel: 01793 411646 E-mail: [email protected]: www.nerc.ac.uk

NERC is the UK’s leading public funder of environmentalscience. We invest £330 million each year in cutting-edgeresearch, postgraduate training and innovation inuniversities and research centres.Our scientists study the physical, chemical and biologicalprocesses on which our planet and life itself depends –from pole to pole, from the deep Earth and oceans to theatmosphere and space.We partner with business, government, the public and thewider research community to shape the environmentalresearch and innovation agenda. Our science providesknowledge, skills and technology that deliver sustainableeconomic growth and public wellbeing.

Science &TechnologyFacilities CouncilMark FosterPublic Affairs ManagerRutherford Appleton LaboratoryHarwell Science & Innovation CampusDidcot OX11 0QXTel: 01235 778328 Fax: 01235 445 808E-mail: [email protected]: www.stfc.ac.uk

The Science and Technology Facilities Council is one ofEurope’s largest multidisciplinary research organisationssupporting scientists and engineers world-wide. TheResearch Council operates world-class, large-scaleresearch facilities and provides strategic advice to theUK Government on their development. The STFCpartners in two of the UK’s Science and InnovationCampuses. It also manages international researchprojects in support of a broad cross-section of the UKresearch community, particularly in the fields ofastronomy, nuclear physics and particle physics. TheCouncil directs, co-ordinates and funds research,education and training.

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Contact: Jonathan BrüünChief ExecutiveBritish Pharmacological SocietyThe Schild Plot, 16 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2PTTel: : 020 7239 0171Fax: 020 7417 0114Email: [email protected]: www.bps.ac.uk

The British Pharmacological Society is the primaryUK learned society concerned with research intodrugs and the way they work. Our 3000+ memberswork in academia, industry, regulatory agencies andthe health services, and many are medicallyqualified. We cover the whole spectrum ofpharmacology, including laboratory, clinical, andtoxicological aspects. Enquiries about the discovery,development and application of drugs arewelcome.


AIRTO

Contact: Professor Richard Brook OBE FREng AIRTO Ltd: Association of IndependentResearch & Technology Organisations Limitedc/o The National Physical LaboratoryHampton Road, TeddingtonMiddlesex TW11 0LWTel: 020 8943 6600E-mail: [email protected]: @airtoinnovationWebsite: www.airto.co.uk

AIRTO – The Association for Independent Research andTechnology Organisations – is the foremostmembership body for organisations operating in theUK’s intermediate research and technology sector.AIRTO’s members deliver vital innovation andknowledge transfer services which include applied andcollaborative R&D, frequently in conjunction withuniversities, consultancy, technology validation andtesting, incubation of commercialisation opportunitiesand early stage financing. AIRTO members have acombined turnover of over £4bn from clients both athome and outside the UK, and employ over 40,000scientists, technologists and engineers.

Associationof the BritishPharmaceuticalIndustryContact: Dr Louise LeongDirector of R&D Policy7th Floor, Southside, 105 Victoria Street,London SW1E 6QTTel: 020 7747 7193Fax: 020 7747 1447E-mail: [email protected]: www.abpi.org.uk

The ABPI is the voice of the innovative pharmaceuticalindustry, working with Government, regulators and otherstakeholders to promote a receptive environment for astrong and progressive industry in the UK, one capable ofproviding the best medicines to patients.

The ABPI’s mission is to represent the pharmaceuticalindustry operating in the UK in a way that:• assures patient access to the best available medicine;• creates a favourable political and economic environment;• encourages innovative research and development; • affords fair commercial returns

Contact: Dr Catherine Ball (Science Policy Officer)Biochemical SocietyCharles Darwin House12 Roger StreetLondon WC1N 2JUTel: 020 7685 2433Email: [email protected]: www.biochemistry.org

The Biochemical Society exists for the advancementof the molecular and cellular biosciences, both asan academic discipline and to promote its impacton areas of science including biotechnology,agriculture, and medicine. We achieve our missionthough our publications and journals, scientificmeetings, educational activities, policy work,awards and grants to scientists and students. TheBiochemical Society is the largest discipline-basedlearned society in the biosciences with 6800members.

The BritishEcologicalSocietyThe British Ecological SocietyContact: Ceri Margerison, Policy ManagerBritish Ecological SocietyCharles Darwin House, 12 Roger Street,London, WC1N 2JUEmail: [email protected]: 020 7685 2510 Fax : 020 7685 2501Website: www.BritishEcologicalSociety.orgEcology into Policy Bloghttp://britishecologicalsociety.org/blog/Twitter: @BESPolicyThe British Ecological Society’s mission is to advanceecology and make it count. The Society has nearly 6,000members worldwide. The BES publishes fiveinternationally renowned scientific journals andorganises the largest scientific meeting for ecologists inEurope. Through its grants, the BES also supportsecologists in developing countries and the provision offieldwork in schools. The BES informs and advisesParliament and Government on ecological issues andwelcomes requests for assistance from parliamentarians.

AMPS

Contact:Tony Harding07895 162 896 for all queries whether formembership or assistance.Branch Office Address:Merchant Quay,Salford Quays,SalfordM50 3SG.

Website: www.amps-tradeunion.com

We are a Trades Union for Management andProfessional Staff working in the pharmaceutical,chemical and allied industries.

We also have a section for Professional Divers workingglobally. We represent a broad base of both office andfield based staff and use our influence to improveworking conditions on behalf of our members.

We are experts in performance based and field relatedissues and are affiliated to our counterparts in EUProfessional Management Unions.

BritishNutritionFoundationContact: Professor Judy Buttriss,Director GeneralImperial House 6th Floor15-19 KingswayLondon WC2B 6UNTel: +44(0) 20 7557 7930Email: [email protected]

Websites: www.nutrition.org.ukwww.foodafactoflife.org.uk

The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) was

established over 40 years ago and exists to deliver

authoritative, evidence-based information on food

and nutrition in the context of health and lifestyle.

The Foundation’s work is conducted and

communicated through a unique blend of

nutrition science, education and media activities.

BritishIn VitroDiagnostics Association(BIVDA)Contact: Doris-Ann Williams MBEChief ExecutiveBritish In Vitro Diagnostics AssociationDevonshire House164 – 168 Westminster Bridge RoadLondon SE1 7RW

Tel: 0845 6188224Email: [email protected]

BIVDA is the UK industry association representingcompanies who manufacture and/or distribute thediagnostics tests and equipment to diagnose,monitor and manage disease largely through the NHSpathology services. Increasingly diagnostics are usedoutside the laboratory in community settings and alsoto identify those patients who would benefit fromspecific drug treatment particularly for cancer.

Contact: Dr Matt Norton3 Riverside, Granta ParkCambridge, CB21 6ADTel: 01223 824575E-mail: [email protected] Website:http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/

Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK’s leadingdementia research charity. Currently, we support130 projects worth over £21.5m. As researchspecialists, we fund pioneering research at leadinguniversities across the UK and the globe with theaim of defeating dementia. Our expertise helpsbring together leading dementia scientists to shareideas and understanding.

We work with people with dementia to reflect theirconcerns and firmly believe that science holds thekey to defeating dementia.

Mrs Tracey GuiseChief Executive OfficerBritish Society for Antimicrobial ChemotherapyGriffin House | 53 Regent Place | BirminghamB1 3NJwww.bsac.org.uk | www.antibiotic-action.comwww.e-opat.com | www.nas-pps.com|www.appg-on-antibiotics.comwww.bsacsurv.org

The BSAC is an inter-professional organisation with overforty years of experience and achievement in antibioticeducation, research and leadership. The Society has anactive international membership and:

• Is dedicated to saving lives through the effective use anddevelopment of antibiotics, now and in the future.

• Communicates effectively about antibiotics and antibioticusage via workshops, professional guidelines and its ownhigh impact international journal, the Journal ofAntimicrobial Chemotherapy.

• Is home to the UK-led global initiative Antibiotic Action

• Serves as secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Groupon Antibiotics


TheBritishPsychologicalSocietyContact: Tanja SiggsPolicy Advisor - LegislationThe British Psychological SocietySt Andrews House48 Princess Road EastLeicester LE1 7DRTel: 0116 252 9526Email: [email protected]: www.bps.org.uk

The British Psychological Society is an organisationof over 48,000 members governed by RoyalCharter. It maintains the Register of CharteredPsychologists, publishes books, 11 primary scienceJournals and organises conferences. Requests forinformation about psychology and psychologistsfrom parliamentarians are very welcome.

BrunelUniversity Contact: Geoff RodgersBrunel UniversityKingston LaneUxbridge UB8 3PHTel: 01895 265609Fax: 01895 269740E-mail: [email protected]: www.brunel.ac.uk

Brunel is a world-class university based in London.

Our distinctive mission combines teaching and

research excellence with the practical and

entrepreneurial approach of our namesake,

Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Brunel works closely with business to bring social

and economic benefit by undertaking

groundbreaking research to find solutions to major

problems and producing graduates with the

knowledge and skills sought by employers.

CavendishLaboratoryThe Administrative Secretary, The CavendishLaboratory, J J Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.E-mail: [email protected]://www.phy.cam.ac.uk

The Cavendish Laboratory houses the Department of Physicsof the University of Cambridge.

The research programme covers the breadth ofcontemporary physics

Extreme Universe: Astrophysics, cosmology and highenergy physics

Quantum Universe: Cold atoms, condensed matter theory,scientific computing, quantum matter and semiconductorphysics

Materials Universe: Optoelectronics, nanophotonics,detector physics, thin film magnetism, surface physics andthe Winton programme for the physics of sustainability

Biological Universe: Physics of medicine, biologicalsystems and soft matter

The Laboratory has world-wide collaborations with otheruniversities and industry

Chartered Institute of Patent AttorneysContact: Lee Davies – Chief ExecutiveThe Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys95 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1DTTel: 020 7405 9450Fax: 020 7430 0471E-mail: [email protected]: www.cipa.org.uk

Members of CIPA practise in intellectual property,especially patents, trade marks, designs, andcopyright, either in private partnerships or industrialcompanies. It advises government and internationalcircles on policy issues and provides informationservices, promoting the benefits to UK industry ofobtaining IP protection, and to overseas industry ofusing British attorneys to obtain internationalprotection.

Contact: Judith Willetts, CEOVintage House37 Albert EmbankmentLondon SE1 7TL.Tel: 020 3031 9800Fax: 020 7582 2882E-mail: [email protected]: www.immunology.org

The BSI is one of the oldest, largest and most activeimmunology societies in the world. We have over4,000 members who work in all areas ofimmunology, including research and clinicalpractice.

The BSI runs major scientific meetings, educationprogrammes and events for all ages. Wedisseminate top quality scientific research throughour journals and meetings and we are committed tobringing the wonders and achievements ofimmunology to as many audiences as possible.

CliftonScientificTrustContact: Dr Eric Albone MBEClifton Scientific Trust 49 Northumberland Road, Bristol BS6 7BATel: 0117 924 7664 Fax: 0117 924 7664E-mail: [email protected]: www.clifton-scientific.org

Science for Citizenship and Employability,Science for Life, Science for Real

We build grass-roots partnerships between school andthe wider world of professional science and itsapplications

• for young people of all ages and abilities

• experiencing science as a creative, questioning,human activity

• bringing school science added meaning andnotivation, from primary to post-16

• locally, nationally, internationally (currentlybetween Britain and Japan; also the Ukraine)

Clifton Scientific Trust Ltd is registered charity 1086933

The Council for the Mathematical SciencesContact: Lindsay WalshDe Morgan House57-58 Russell SquareLondon WC1B 4HSTel: 020 7637 3686Fax: 020 7323 3655Email: [email protected]: www.cms.ac.uk

The Council for the Mathematical Sciences is anauthoritative and objective body that works to develop,influence and respond to UK policy issues affectingmathematical sciences in higher education andresearch, and therefore the UK economy and society by:• providing expert advice;• engaging with government, funding agencies and

other decision makers; • raising public awareness; and• facilitating communication between the

mathematical sciences community and otherstakeholders

Eli Lilly andCompanyLtdContact: Thom Thorp, Senior Director,Corporate AffairsTel: 01256 315000Fax: 01256 775858Eli Lilly and Company Ltd, Lilly HousePriestley Road, Basingstoke, Hants,RG24 9NLEmail. [email protected]: www.lilly.co.uk

Lilly UK is the UK affiliate of a major Americanpharmaceutical manufacturer, Eli Lilly and Companyof Indianapolis. This affiliate is one of the UK’s toppharmaceutical companies with significantinvestment in science and technology including aneuroscience research and development centre andbulk biotechnology manufacturing operations.

Lilly medicines treat schizophrenia, diabetes, cancer,osteoporosis, attention deficit hyperactivitydisorder, erectile dysfunction, depression, bipolardisorder, heart disease and many other diseases.

Contact: Sophia Griffiths5 Cambridge Court210 Shepherds Bush RoadLondon W6 7NJTel: 020 7603 6316E-mail: [email protected]: www.ifst.org

IFST is the independent qualifying body for foodprofessionals in Europe. Membership is drawn fromall over the world from backgrounds includingindustry, universities, government, research anddevelopment and food law enforcement.

IFST’s activities focus on disseminating knowledgerelating to food science and technology andpromoting its application. Another importantelement of our work is to promote and upholdstandards amongst food professionals.


Contact: Miriam LaverickHead of CommunicationsEngineeringUKWeston House, 246 High HolbornLondon WC1V 7EXTel: 020 3206 0444Fax: 020 3206 0401E-mail: [email protected]: www.EngineeringUK.com

EngineeringUK is an independent organisation thatpromotes the vital role of engineers, engineeringand technology in our society. EngineeringUKpartners business and industry, Government and thewider science and technology community:producing evidence on the state of engineering;sharing knowledge within engineering, andinspiring young people to choose a career inengineering, matching employers’ demand forskills.

GAMBICAAssociation Ltd

Contact: Dr Graeme PhilpBroadwall House21 BroadwallLondon SE1 9PLTel: 020 7642 8080 Fax: 020 7642 8096E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.gambica.org.uk

GAMBICA Association is the UK trade association

for instrumentation, control, automation and

laboratory technology. The association seeks to

promote the successful development of the industry

and assist its member companies through a broad

range of services, including technical policy and

standards, commercial issues, market data and

export services.

TheGeologicalSocietyContact: Nic BilhamDirector of Policy and CommunicationsBurlington HousePiccadillyLondon W1J 0BGTel: 020 7434 9944Fax: 020 7439 8975E-mail: [email protected]: www.geolsoc.org.uk

The Geological Society is the national learned andprofessional body for Earth sciences, with 11,000Fellows (members) worldwide. The Fellowshipencompasses those working in industry, academiaand government, with a wide range of perspectivesand views on policy-relevant science, and theSociety is a leading communicator of this science togovernment bodies and other non-technicalaudiences.

Glass and GlazingFederation Contact: James Lee54 Ayres StreetLondon SE1 1EUTel: 020 7939 9100Fax: 0870 042 4266E-mail: [email protected]: www.ggf.org.uk

The GGF is the main representative organisation forcompanies involved in all aspects of themanufacture of flat glass and products and servicesfor all types of glazing, in commercial and domesticsectors.

Members include companies that manufacture andinstall energy efficient windows, in homes andcommercial buildings, the performance glass usedin every type of building from houses to high-risetower blocks and the components that are used tomanufacture every type of glazing.

Institute ofMarine Engineering,Science andTechnology (IMarEST)Contact: Bev MackenzieInstitute of Marine Engineering, Scienceand Technology (IMarEST), Aldgate House,33 Aldgate High Street, London, EC3N 1EN

Tel: +44(0) 20 7382 2600Fax: +44(0) 20 7382 2667E-mail: [email protected]: www.imarest.org

Established in London in 1889, the IMarEST is aleading international membership body and learnedsociety for marine professionals, with over 15,000members worldwide. The IMarEST has an extensivemarine network of 50 international branches,affiliations with major marine societies around theworld, representation on the key marine technicalcommittees and non-governmental status at theInternational Maritime Organization (IMO) as wellas other intergovernmental organisations.

Contact: Joseph Winters76 Portland Place, London W1B 1NTTel: 020 7470 4815E-mail: [email protected]: www.iop.org

The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society.We are a charitable organisation with a worldwidemembership of more than 50,000, workingtogether to advance physics education, researchand application.

We engage with policymakers and the generalpublic to develop awareness and understanding ofthe value of physics and, through IOP Publishing,we are world leaders in professional scientificcommunications.

In September 2013, we launched our firstfundraising campaign. Our campaign, OpportunityPhysics, offers you the chance to support the workthat we do.

Visit us at www.iop.org, follow us@physicsnews

Contact: Mr Peter Martindale,CEO and SecretaryThe Institute of Measurement and Control87 Gower Street, London WC1E 6AFTel: +44 (0) 20 73874949Fax: +44 (0) 20 73888431E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.instmc.org.ukReg Charity number: 269815

The Institute of Measurement and Control provides aforum for personal contact amongst practiioners,publishes learned papers and is a professionalexamining and qualifying organisation able to conferthe titles EurIng, CEng, IEng, EngTech; Companies andUniversities may apply to become Companions.Headquartered in London, the Institute has a strongregional base with 15 UK, 1 Hong Kong and 1 MalaysiaLocal Section, a bilateral agreement with the ChinaInstrument Society and other major international links.

Contact: Dr Philip NewtonDirector of ScienceThe Food and Environment Research AgencySand Hutton, York, YO41 1LZTel: 01904 462415E-mail: [email protected]: www.defra.gov.uk/fera

The Food and Environment Research Agency’s overarching purpose is to support and develop asustainable food chain, a healthy naturalenvironment, and to protect the global communityfrom biological and chemical risks.

Our role within that is to provide robust evidence,rigorous analysis and professional advice toGovernment, international organisations and theprivate sector.


Contact: Rosemary Cook CBE (CEO)Fairmount House, 230 Tadcaster Road,York, YO24 1ESTel: 01904 610821 Fax: 01904 612279E-mail: [email protected]: www.ipem.ac.uk

IPEM is a registered, incorporated charity for theadvancement, in the public interest, of physics andengineering applied to medicine and biology. Itaccredits medical physicists, clinical engineers andclinical technologists through its membership register,organises training and CPD for them, and providesopportunities for the dissemination of knowledgethrough publications and scientific meetings. IPEM islicensed by the Science Council to award CSci, RSci andRSciTech, and by the Engineering Council to awardCEng, IEng and EngTech.

Institute ofPhysics andEngineeringin Medicine

The Institution of Chemical Engineers

With over 38,000 members in 120 countries, IChemE is the global membership organisation for chemical engineers. A not for profit organisation, we serve the public interest by building and sustaining an active professional community and promoting the development, understanding and application of chemical engineering worldwide.

Alana Collis, Technical policy officer+44 (0) 1788 [email protected]

Kuala Lumpur | London | Melbourne | Rugby | Singapore | Wellington

Institutionof Civil EngineersContact: Joanna Gonet, Public Affairs Manager,One Great George Street, Westminster,London SW1P 3AA, UKTel: 020 7665 2123E-mail: [email protected]: www.ice.org.uk

Representing over 80,000 professional civil engineers aroundthe world, ICE actively contributes to the development ofpublic policy at all levels of government in areas concerninginfrastructure, engineering and our quality of life. Established in 1818, ICE is recognised worldwide for itsexcellence as a centre of learning, as a qualifying body andas a public voice for the profession. Our members design,build and maintain the infrastructure that keeps our countryrunning.Under our Royal Charter, we have a duty to provideindependent, expert advice on infrastructure issues for thebenefit of the public and to serve wider society. We are seenby Parliament and industry alike as the authoritative voice ofinfrastructure.

Institution ofEngineeringDesigners

Contact: Libby BrodhurstCourtleighWestbury LeighWestburyWiltshire BA13 3TATel: 01373 822801Fax: 01373 858085E-mail: [email protected]: www.ied.org.uk

The only professional membership body solely forthose working in engineering and technologicalproduct design. Engineering Council and CharteredEnvironmentalist registration for suitably qualifiedmembers. Membership includes experts on a widerange of engineering and product designdisciplines, all of whom practise, manage oreducate in design.

LGCQueens Road, TeddingtonMiddlesex, TW11 0LYTel: +44 (0)20 8943 7000 Fax: +44 (0)20 8943 2767E-mail: [email protected]: www.lgcgroup.com

LGC is an international science-based company andmarket leader in the provision of analytical, forensicand diagnostic services and reference standards tocustomers in the public and private sectors.

Under the Government Chemist function, LGCfulfils specific statutory duties as the referee analystand provides advice for Government and the wideranalytical community on the implications ofanalytical chemistry for matters of policy, standardsand regulation. LGC is also the UK’s designatedNational Measurement Institute for chemical andbiochemical analysis.

With headquarters in Teddington, South WestLondon, LGC has 36 laboratories and centres acrossEurope and at sites in China, Brazil, India, SouthAfrica and the US.

Institution ofMechanicalEngineersContact: Richard Campbell1 Birdcage WalkLondon SW1H 9JJTel: 020 7973 1293E-mail: [email protected]: www.imeche.org

The Institution provides politicians and civil servants

with information, expertise and advice on a diverse

range of subjects, focusing on manufacturing,

energy, environment, transport and education

policy. We regularly publish policy statements and

host political briefings and policy events to establish

a working relationship between the engineering

profession and parliament.

Contact: Paul DaviesIET,Michael Faraday House,Six Hills Way,Stevenage,SG1 2AYTel: +44(0) 1438 765687Email: [email protected]: www.theiet.org

The IET is a world leading professional organisation,sharing and advancing knowledge to promotescience, engineering and technology across theworld. Dating back to 1871, the IET has 150,000members in 127 countries with offices in Europe,North America, and Asia-Pacific.

Contact: Katriona Methven, Director of

Scientific and Technical-Regulatory Affairs,

L’Oreal UK & Ireland

255 Hammersmith Road, London W6 8AZ

Tel: 0208 762 4489

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.loreal.co.uk

L’Oréal employs more than 3,500 scientists world-wide and dedicates over €600 million each year toresearch and innovation in the field of healthy skinand hair. The company supports women in scienceresearch through the L’Oréal UNESCO For Womenin Science Programme and engages young peoplewith science through the L’Oréal Young ScientistCentre at the Royal Institution. L’Oréal alsocollaborates with a vast number of institutions inthe UK and globally.

Contact: Dr Elizabeth Rollinson, Executive SecretaryThe Linnean Society of LondonBurlington House, Piccadilly,London W1J 0BFTel: 020 7434 4479 ext 12E-mail: [email protected]: www.linnean.org

The Linnean Society of London is a professionallearned body which promotes natural history in allits branches, and was founded in 1788. The Societyis particularly active in the areas of biodiversity,conservation and sustainability, supporting itsmission through organising open scientificmeetings and publishing peer-reviewed journals, aswell as undertaking educational initiatives. TheSociety’s Fellows have a considerable range ofbiological expertise that can be harnessed to informand advise on scientific and public policy issues.

A Forum for Natural History


NationalPhysicalLaboratoryContact: Fiona AutyNational Physical LaboratoryHampton Road, TeddingtonMiddlesex TW11 0LWTel: 020 8977 3222Website: www.npl.co.uk/contact-us

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the UnitedKingdom’s national measurement institute, aninternationally respected and independent centre ofexcellence in research, development andknowledge transfer in measurement and materialsscience. For more than a century, NPL hasdeveloped and maintained the nation’s primarymeasurement standards - the heart of aninfrastructure designed to ensure accuracy,consistency and innovation in physicalmeasurement.

Marine BiologicalAssociation

Contact: Dr Matthew FrostMarine Biological Association, TheLaboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PBTel: 07848028388Fax: 01752 633102E-mail: [email protected]: mba.ac.uk

Since 1884 the Marine Biological Association hasbeen delivering its mission ‘to promote scientificresearch into all aspects of life in the sea, includingthe environment on which it depends, and todisseminate to the public the knowledge gained.’The MBA represents its members in providing aclear independent voice to government on behalfof the marine biological community. It also has anextensive research programme and a long history asan expert provider of advice for the benefit of policymakers and wider society.

Met Office

Contact: John Harmer Met Office127 Clerkenwell RoadLondon EC1R 5LP.Tel: 020 7204 7469E-mail: [email protected]: www.metoffice.gov.uk

The Met Office doesn’t just forecast the weather ontelevision. Our forecasts and warnings protect UKcommunities and infrastructure from severeweather and environmental hazards every day –they save lives and money. Our Climate Programmedelivers evidence to underpin Government policy.Our Mobile Meteorological Unit supports theArmed Forces around the world. We build capacityoverseas in support of international development.All of this built on world-class environmentalscience.

NaturalHistoryMuseumContact: Joe BakerHead of External AffairsNatural History MuseumCromwell Road, London SW7 5BDTel: +44 (0)20 7942 5478Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 5075E-mail: [email protected]: www.nhm.ac.uk

We maintain and develop the collections we care for anduse them to promote the discovery, understanding,responsible use and enjoyment of the natural world.

We are part of the UK’s science base as a major scienceinfrastructure which is used by our scientists and others fromacross the UK and the globe working together to enhanceknowledge on the diversity of the natural world.

Our value to society is vested in our research responses tochallenges facing the natural world today, in engaging ourvisitors in the science of nature, in inspiring and training thenext generation of scientists and in being a major culturaltourist destination.

The Science of Nature

NEF: The InnovationInstituteContact: Robyn BurrissBective House, 10 Bective Place, London,SW15 2PZTel: 0208 786 3677Fax: 0208 271 3620E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.thenef.org.uk

The Innovation Institute aims to drive innovation and growthin science, technology and engineering to achieve growth,prosperity and wellbeing in the UK. Our partners, clients andstakeholders include: � Businesses� Education providers � Government bodiesNew Engineering Foundation, our charitable arm, focusses onSciTech skills development. NEF work in vocational trainingand further education is supported by a Panel drawn from keyindustries.Our Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange is aprofessional body and a “do tank”, led by the InnovationCouncil to support the role of innovation in society.

Nesta

Contact: Simon MorrisonExecutive Director of Communications 1 Plough PlaceLondon EC4A 1DETel: 020 7438 2608E-mail: [email protected]: 020 7438 2501

Nesta is the UK’s innovation foundation with a mission tohelp people and organisations bring great ideas to life.We do this by providing investments and grants andmobilising research, networks and skills.

Nesta doesn’t work alone. We rely on the strength of thepartnerships we form with other innovators, communityorganisations, educators and investors too.

We are an independent charity and our work is enabledby an endowment from the National Lottery.

Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales with acompany number 7706036 and charity number1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland numberSC042833. Registered office: 1 Plough Place, London,EC4A 1DE.

www.nesta.org.uk

PHARMAQ LtdContact: Dr Benjamin P North PHARMAQ Ltd Unit 15 Sandleheath Industrial Estate FordingbridgeHants SP6 1PA. Tel: 01425 656081 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pharmaq.no

PHARMAQ is the only global pharmaceutical companywith a primary focus on aquaculture. Our mission is toprovide environmentally sound, safe and efficacious healthproducts to the global aquaculture industry throughtargeted research and the commitment of dedicatedpeople. We have a product portfolio that includes over 20fish vaccines along with specialist feed additives,anaesthetics, antibiotics, sea lice treatments and biocidedisinfectants. Through our sister company, PHARMAQAnalytiq, we also offer a range of diagnostics services thatcan be used to help safeguard fish welfare and improveproductivity.

Boughton Green Road, Northampton, NN2 7ALTel: 01604 735500Fax: 01604 716502E-mail: [email protected]: www.northampton.ac.uk

The University of Northampton is a Top 50 UK

University*. We are committed to science education

through initial teacher training, a STEM

Ambassador network which works within the

community and teaching and research to doctoral

level. We are only UK University with Ashoka U

‘Changemaker Campus’ status recognising our

commitment to social innovation and

entrepreneurship.

(*Guardian University Guide 2015)

Contact: Tim Utton,Deputy Director of Communications University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD Tel: +44 (0) 115 846 8092Fax: +44 (0) 115 846 6787E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.nottingham.ac.uk

With 43,000 students and campuses inNottingham, China and Malaysia, The University ofNottingham is ‘the nearest Britain has to a trulyglobal university.’ With more than 90 per cent of allresearch of international quality according to themost recent Research Assessment Exercise, theUniversity is ranked in the World’s Top 75universities by the QS World University Rankings.


Contact: Dr Ed HayesPolicy OfficerHodgkin Huxley House30 Farringdon LaneLondon EC1R 3AWTel: +44 (0) 20 7269 5722E-mail: [email protected]: www.physoc.org

Physiology is the science of how molecules, cells andorgans work in the body. Representing over 3000life scientists, The Physiological Society supportsscientific research through its grants schemes,conferences and its three open access journals.

The Society also supports the teaching of physiologyin schools and universities, and works to promote anunderstanding of physiology amongst policy-makersand the general public.

Prospect

Contact: Sue Ferns, Director of Communications and Research,New Prospect House8 Leake St, London SE1 7NNTel: 020 7902 6639 Fax: 020 7902 6637E-mail: [email protected]

Prospect is an independent, thriving and forward-looking trade union with 117,000 members acrossthe private and public sectors and a diverse range ofoccupations. We represent scientists, technologistsand other professions in the civil service, researchcouncils and private sector.

Prospect’s collective voice champions the interests ofthe engineering and scientific community to keyopinion-formers and policy makers. Withnegotiating rights with over 300 employers, we seekto secure a better life at work by putting members’pay, conditions and careers first.

Contact: Juniour BlakeExternal Relations ManagerRoyal Academy of Engineering 3 Carlton House TerraceLondon SW1Y 5DGTel: 020 7766 0600E-mail: [email protected]: www.raeng.org.uk

As the UK’s national academy for engineering, webring together the most successful and talentedengineers for a shared purpose: to advance andpromote excellence in engineering. We have fourstrategic challenges: drive faster and more balancedeconomic growth; foster better education and skills;lead the profession; and promote engineering at theheart of society.

Contact: Office of the Director of ScienceRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond,Surrey, TW9 3ABTel: 020 8332 3121Email: [email protected]: www.kew.org

RBG Kew is a centre of global scientific expertise in plantand fungal diversity, conservation, and sustainable use,housed in two world-class gardens. Kew is a non-departmental public body with exempt charitable statusand receives approximately half its funding fromgovernment through Defra. The key strategic priorities ofKew’s science programme are to: • understand and conserve biodiversity• accelerate discovery and global access to plant and

fungal diversity information• map and prioritise species and habitats most at risk• promote sustainable local use of plants and fungi• collect and store seed from 25% of plant species

through the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership• restore and repair habitats• inspire interest in plant and fungal science and

conservationKew’s mission is to inspire and deliver science-based plantconservation worldwide, enhancing the quality of life.

Royal BotanicGardens, Kew

Contact: Dr Gail CardewDirector of Science and EducationThe Royal Institution21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BSTel: 020 7409 2992 Fax: 020 7670 2920E-mail: [email protected]: www.rigb.org,www.richannel.orgTwitter: ri_science

The Royal Institution (Ri) has been at the forefront ofpublic engagement with science for over 200 yearsand our purpose is to encourage people to thinkfurther about the wonders of science. We run publicevents and the famous CHRISTMAS LECTURES®, anational programme of Masterclasses for youngpeople in mathematics, engineering and computerscience, educational activities at the L’Oréal YoungScientist Centre and policy discussions with sciencestudents. And through the Ri Channel we share thestories behind cutting-edge science with peoplearound the world.

The Royal SocietyContact: Becky PurvisHead of Public AffairsThe Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House TerraceLondon SW1Y 5AG.Tel: 020 7451 2261 Email: [email protected]: www.royalsociety.org

The Royal Society is the UK academy of science

comprising 1400 outstanding individuals

representing the sciences, engineering and

medicine. It has had a hand in some of the most

innovative and life-changing discoveries in scientific

history. Through its Fellowship and permanent staff,

it seeks to ensure that its contribution to shaping

the future of science in the UK and beyond has a

deep and enduring impact.

Contact: Dr Matthew BrownHead of Communications and CampaignsRoyal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House,Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BA

Tel 020 7440 3306Email [email protected]: www.rsc.org

The Royal Society of Chemistry is the world’s leadingchemistry community, advancing excellence in thechemical sciences. With 48,000 members and aknowledge business that spans the globe, we arethe UK’s professional body for chemical scientists; anot-for-profit organisation with 170 years of historyand an international vision of the future. Wepromote, support and celebrate chemistry. We workto shape the future of the chemical sciences – forthe benefit of science and humanity.

Society forAppliedMicrobiologyContact: Philip WheatSociety for Applied MicrobiologyBedford Heights, Brickhill DriveBedford MK41 7PHTel: 01234 326661Fax: 01234 326678E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.sfam.org.uk

SfAM is a UK organization, serving microbiologistsinternationally. It works to advance, for the benefit ofthe public, the science of microbiology in its applicationto the environment, human and animal health,agriculture, and industry. With Wiley-Blackwell, SfAMpublishes five internationally acclaimed journals. Valuefor money and a modern, innovative and progressiveoutlook are its core principles. A friendly society, SfAMvalues integrity, honesty, and respect, and seeks topromote excellence and professionalism and to inspireyoung microbiologists.

Contact: Dariel BurdassHead of CommunicationsSociety for General MicrobiologyCharles Darwin House12 Roger Street, LondonWC1N 2JUE-mail: [email protected]: www.sgm.ac.uk

The Society for General Microbiology is the largestlearned microbiological society in Europe with aworldwide membership based in universities, industry,hospitals, research institutes and schools. The Societypublishes key academic journals, organisesinternational scientific conferences and provides aninternational forum for communication amongmicrobiologists. The Society promotes theunderstanding of microbiology to a diverse range ofstakeholders, including policy-makers, students,teachers, journalists and the wider public, through acomprehensive framework of communication activitiesand resources.


Society of MaritimeIndustriesContact: John MurraySociety of Maritime Industries28-29 Threadneedle Street,London EC2R 8AYTel: 020 7628 2555 Fax: 020 7638 4376E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.maritimeindustries.org

The Society of Maritime Industries is the voice of the

UK’s maritime engineering and business sector

promoting and supporting companies which

design, build, refit and modernise ships, and supply

equipment and services for all types of commercial

and naval ships, ports and terminals infrastructure,

offshore oil & gas, maritime security & safety,

marine science and technology and marine

renewable energy.

Societyof Biology

Contact: Dr Stephen BennDirector of Parliamentary AffairsSociety of Biology Charles Darwin House12 Roger StreetLondon WC1N 2JUTel: 020 7685 2550E-mail: [email protected]: www.societyofbiology.org

The Society of Biology is a single unified voice,representing a diverse membership of individuals,learned societies and other organisations. We arecommitted to ensuring that we provide Governmentand other policy makers – including funders ofbiological education and research – with a distinct pointof access to authoritative, independent, and evidence-based opinion, representative of the widest range ofbioscience disciplines. Our vision is of a world thatunderstands the true value of biology and how it cancontribute to improving life for all.

UniversitiesFederation for Animal WelfareContact: Dr Robert HubrechtChief Executive and Scientific DirectorThe Old School, Brewhouse HillWheathampstead, Herts. AL4 8AN.Tel: 01582 831818. Fax: 01582 831414.Email: [email protected]: www.ufaw.org.uk Registered in England Charity No: 207996

UFAW, the international animal welfare sciencesociety, is an independent scientific and educationalcharity. It works to improve animal lives by:

• supporting animal welfare research

• educating and raising awareness of welfareissues in the UK and overseas

• producing the quarterly scientific journal AnimalWelfare and other high-quality publications onanimal care and welfare

• providing advice to government departmentsand other concerned bodies.

Contact: Chris EadyThe Welding Institute, Granta Park, GreatAbington, Cambridge, CB21 6AL

Tel: 01223 899614Fax:01223 894219E-mail: [email protected]: www.twi-global.com

The Welding Institute is the leading institution providingengineering solutions and knowledge transfer in allaspects of manufacturing, fabrication and whole-lifeintegrity management.

Industrial membership provides access to innovativeproblem-solving from one of the world’s foremostindependent research and technology organisations.

Non-Corporate services include membership andregistration, education, training and certification forinternationally recognised professional developmentand personnel competence assurance.

TWI provides Members and stakeholders withauthoritative and impartial expert advice, knowhowand safety assurance through engineering, materialsand joining technologies.

Society of CosmeticScientists

Contact: Gem Bektas,Secretary GeneralSociety of Cosmetic ScientistsSuite 109 Christchurch House40 Upper George StreetLuton Bedfordshire LU1 2RSTel: 01582 726661Fax: 01582 405217E-mail: [email protected]: www.scs.org.uk

Advancing the science of cosmetics is the primaryobjective of the SCS. Cosmetic science covers a widerange of disciplines from organic and physicalchemistry to biology and photo-biology, dermatology,microbiology, physical sciences and psychology.

Members are scientists and the SCS helps themprogress their careers and the science of cosmeticsethically and responsibly. Services include publications,educational courses and scientific meetings.

SCI

Contact: Reshna RadivenSCI14-15 Belgrave SquareLondon SW1X 8PS

Tel: 020 7598 1500E-mail: [email protected]: www.soci.org

SCI is an inclusive, multi-disciplinary forumconnecting scientists and business people toadvance the commercial application of chemistryand related sciences for public benefit. SCI is opento all to join and share information, ideas,innovations and research. Members can networkwith specialists from sectors as diverse as food andbio-renewables, water, waste and environment,energy, materials, manufacturing and health.

STEMNET

Contact: Kirsten Bodley, Chief Executive2nd Floor, Weston House246 High HolbornLondon WC1V 7EXTel: 020 3206 0450E-mail: [email protected]: www.stemnet.org.uk

STEMNET is an independent charity which enables youngpeople to meet inspiring role models, understand real worldapplications of STEM and experience practical activities thatbring learning and career opportunities to life. We do thisthrough three core programmes:• STEM Ambassadors - We run the UK network of STEM

Ambassadors: over 27,000 inspiring volunteers • STEM Clubs Programme - We provide free, expert advice

and support to all schools which have set up or plan todevelop a STEM Club

• Schools’ STEM Advisory Network (SSAN) - We deliver freeimpartial advice to teachers and use our business links andpartnerships to enhance the STEM curriculum in secondaryschools in the UK


Published by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, 3 Birdcage Walk, London SW1H 9JJ.

Published four times a year. The 2014 subscripton rate is £80. Single numbers £20. ISSN 0263-6271

All enquiries, including those from members wishing to take the front or back covers, advertise in the journal or appear in the directory to Mrs Annabel Lloyd, Tel 020 7222 7085

Copyright ©2014 by Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. All rights reserved. None of the articles in this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Typeset and printed by The Bridge Press.

THE PARLIAMENTARY ANDSCIENTIFIC COMMITTEETel: 020 7222 [email protected]

Tuesday 15 July 17.30A LevelsSpeakers: Dr Sarah Main, Director,Campaign for Science and EngineeringProfessor Ian Haines, Executive Secretary,UK Deans of ScienceDr Michelle Meadows, Director of Researchand Evaluation, Ofqual

Tuesday 21 October 17.30National Infrastructure

Tuesday 18 November 17.30Energy Storage

Tuesday 9 December 17.30Dementia

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THE ROYAL SOCIETYThe Royal Society hosts a series of freeevents, including evening lectures andconferences, covering the whole breadth ofscience, engineering and technology forpublic, policy and scientific audiences.Events are held at the Royal Society’s officesin London, at the Royal Society at ChicheleyHall, home of the Kavli Royal SocietyInternational Centre, Buckinghamshire andother venues.

Many past events are available to watch orlisten to online at http://royalsociety.tv Thecollection includes events with speakerssuch as Jocelyn Bell Burnell FRS, ValMcDermid and Professor Brian Cox OBE.

Details of all events can be found atroyalsociety.org/events

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THE ROYAL INSTITUTIONDetails of future events can be found atwww.rigb.org

Booking is essential. For more informationand to book visit www.rigb.org

There is a charge for tickets. Members gofree.

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PARLIAMENTARY OFFICE OFSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYFor details of events organised by POST visit

http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/bicameral/post/post-events/

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THE INSTITUTION OFMECHANICAL ENGINEERSThe Institution of Mechanical Engineersplays a leading role in the internationalengineering community in providing adviceto governments, industry and global society.Each year it organises some 300 technicalconferences, seminars, lectures, debatesand workshops around the UK andinternationally, on key updates,developments or new techniques across 18engineering and manufacturing sectors.

For details visit: www.imeche.org/events

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THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OFLONDONFor details visit: www.linnean.org

The Linnean Society, in Piccadilly, has adiverse programme of evening lectures andday meetings covering the natural world,encompassing science, history and art.Most meetings are open to the public andmany are free. Please subscribe to our freeemail-based newsletter - Linnean-News orvisit our website www.linnean.org where youwill find full programme details andregistration forms.

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More information on P&SC members’events can be found at: www.scienceinparliament.org.uk/members-news

SCIENCE DIARY

OFFICERS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY& SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

President: The Lord Oxburgh KBE FRS Chairman: Mr Andrew Miller MPDeputy Chairman: Mr Tom Blenkinsop MP

Mr Stephen Metcalfe MPHon Treasurer: The Lord Willis of KnaresboroughHon Secretary: Mr Stephen Mosley MPVice-Presidents: Mr Paul Ridout

Mr Philip Greenish CBEMr John SlaterDr Stephen BennMr Atti Emecz

3 Birdcage WalkLondon SW1H 9JJT: 020 7222 7085F: 020 7222 7189

www.scienceinparliament.org.ukEditor: Professor Alan MalcolmEditorial Assistant: Annabel Lloyd

The production of this issue has been supported bycontributions from L’Oréal-UNESCO UK & Ireland For WomenIn Science Fellowships, the Food and Environment ResearchAgency, the University of Nottingham, the Society of Biologyand those organisations which have entries in the ScienceDirectory (pages 40-47).


Professor Ian HainesDr Guy HemburyProfessor Colin Seabrook MBE

Advisory Panel: Dr Stuart TaylorMr David YoudanDr David Dent

Secretariat: Professor Alan MalcolmMrs Annabel Lloyd

Research witha global impactThe University of Nottingham is an exciting place to be for the researchers and scientists of the future

Inside:

www.nottingham.ac.uk

From MRI to global food security we have long been associated with world-changing research which has a real impact on everyday lives. More than 90% of our research is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise

Andrew Miller MP, Stephen Metcalfe MP and Dr Julian Huppert MP invite you to attend on behalf of the science and engineering community

Parliamentary Links Day 2014Science and Public Trust

Tuesday 24 June 2014 10:00 - 13:00 The Attlee Suite Portcullis House House of Commons London SW1A 0AA RSVP [email protected]

science in parliament summer 2014 animation without mathematics! the ima seeks to make this...

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