Science: As Vital As Ever

Conway Hall26th October 2015

Jenny Rohn #40

Dear George,

My lab at UCL studies chronic urinary tract infection – a serious problem in the elderly.

Mr Cameron says that the antibiotic resistance crisis could send us back to the Dark Ages. The bacteria are winning, and only research will solve this looming calamity.

In labs like mine across the UK, experiments need feeding. Petri dishes aren’t as sexy as big capital, but they’re equally important.

Please boost the science budget so we can carry on fighting for our lives. Time is running out.

Jenny Rohn, London

Pete Etchells #78

Dear George,

Every year, I give a lecture to my students about forging a career in academic research. Every year, I find it harder to give that lecture.

Why? Because of the erosion of UK science investment, it is getting tougher for young scientists to gain a start in developing a sustainable research career. I can't encourage our future research leaders into making those first steps if those jobs aren't going to exist.

That can change, but only if you invest in UK science.

Pete Etchells, Bristol

Stuart Clark #99

Dear George,

Science is both a traditional and a progressive route to knowledge. It links us to the past and paves the way to the future. Any country that turns its back on fundamental research, looses its way and will end up wandering in the dark labyrinth of unsubstantiated opinion.

Stuart Clark, Hertfordshire

Tom Hartley #12

Dear George,

“If Britain is not leading the world in science, technology and engineering, then we are condemning our country to fall behind [other industrialised economies].” Your own words in Budget 2014.

Science is vital. I am working on a new test to help diagnose Alzheimer's Disease earlier and cheaply. It could save the NHS money, help with the development of new treatments and improve life for so many older people.

Such rewards can come only if you invest in science.

Please increase research funding as a proportion of GDP - you know it makes sense - you told us yourself.

Tom Hartley, York

Alex Tipping #32

Dear George,

It is getting harder and harder to compete with the American and European labs and institutes. Please recognise the critical need for protected funding to deliver among other things the UK-led cellular therapies BIS can encourage via the research councils.

Alex Tipping, Oxford

Marianne Baker #102

Dear George,

Why are we so far behind the other G8 countries in science funding? It's not good enough to say "we do well with what we've got" - we have to invest!

Scientists are struggling to find work here. Families are split apart. We're losing interest from overseas students and professionals.

We can do even better than we already are, but we need the cash. We cannot survive more budget cuts - great scientists are losing out on grant funding every day. It's ruining UK science & it's vital!

Marianne Baker, London

Jennifer Skillen #138

Dear George,

I am a women returner to academic science. I have spent the last 18 years taking care of my disabled child. I am still doing so, he hasn't gone away; I will have to take care of him for the rest of my life.

That is why I want to get my PhD. Not just to contribute to science but to be in a position where I can get a job to support myself and my son, as well as helping with the research into his genetic condition.

But in the mean time, we need to eat! Please don't cut science funding.

Jennifer Skillen, Gloucestershire

Michael Merrifield #178

Dear George,

In 2003, my colleague Sir Peter Mansfield won the Nobel Prize for inventing MRI. When he undertook this research, there was no way of knowing that it would spawn a billion-pound-per-year industry and save countless lives.

It would be tragic both culturally and economically if the UK continues to scale back its investment in such blue-skies research and falls further behind our more enlightened competitors.

Michael Merrifield, Nottingham

Tim Wright #202

Dear George,

Earthquakes, like the recent event in Nepal, can be devastating.

In our globalised world, they also impact the UK population and economy, directly and indirectly: 151 UK citizens died in the 2004 Tsunami; the 2011 Japan quake cost the re-insurance sector $35 Billion.

UK physical and social scientists are leading the global effort to understand earthquakes, assess hazard, and increase resilience in countries at risk.

I urge you to protect and increase the science budget.

Tim Wright, Leeds

Phil Evans #298

Dear George,

I am a scientist. I was educated from the age of 5 to the age of 24 (when I finished my PhD) at expense of the UK taxpayer, of which I am now one.

Over recent years many highly skilled people similarly educated have left the UK and therefore do not contribute to the exchequer that supported them. They have done this because they can't find jobs in the UK.

Since it vital. Failure to invest in it will cripple the long-term economic growth of this country and saddle us with intellectual debt.

Phil Evans, Leicester

Katy Moorhead #376

Dear George,

You need science in this day and age the way you need weather forecasters. Science can help understand new medicines, fish populations and carbon dioxide sequestration. Science innovations help drive and save economies, provide jobs to your people, and generate taxes.

I have an MSc in science yet I work in a bar, where is the sense in that?

Thank you for your time.

Katy Moorhead, Gwynedd

Ian Wall #384

Dear George,

As a property developer you might not think I am that concerned with Science but, from BIM to new energy requirements, the research of our Universities has been critical to our practical work.

It is vital to our economic growth that we continue to invest and to restore the expenditure, as a percentage of GDP, at least to the level of 2010-11.

Ian Wall, Edinburgh

Jenny Shepperson #402

Dear George,

Scientific research is vital for the sustainable management of our seafood - which is the primary source of animal protein for 1 BILLION people globally.

With a growing global population, this demand is expected to grow too. We will need sound science to help us manage this food source to be sustainable for future generations.

Don't be shellfish - invest in science for sustainability.

Jenny Shepperson, Anglesey

Andrew Ray #450

Dear George,

Science is vital because it underpins technology which in turn underpins civilization. We all will lose if we do not reverse the decline in science funding.

Science is vital to me as a retired blind diabetic who was technical director of a private limited company that designed, developed and manufactured computer interfaces for engineering, scientific and medical use.

I believe pure research is just as important as applied research.

Andy Ray, Hampshire

Cheryl Smythe #530

Dear George,

Working in a UK life science research organisation helping scientists get grants to fund their world class science, I see valuable time wasted applying for funds to support science that will improve the health and lifespan of the UK population.

You are in the enormously privileged position of having the capacity to change this. Funding UK science properly will enable progress and innovation that is as yet unforeseen - such is the wonderful serendipity of science.

Do the right thing - fund it.

Cheryl Smyth, Cambridge

Ruth Booth #546

Dear George,

Our grandson Jake lost his fight against Batten Disease in 2013. Jake was 6 years old. He lost his sight, his speech, his ability to walk and ability to eat. He had seizures, frequent infections and became 'mentally impaired''.

We love and miss him more than words can say.

Batten Disease is so rare that there is no cure. Yet. The BDFA raises money to fund a small research project.

If you cut Government funding to Science & Research, you are sentencing more children to death.

Ruth Booth, Yorkshire

Piers Gibbon #173

Dear George,

We were at Oxford at the same time! Well done. I was the one on stage too much.

Science is the best investment you can make right now in Britain. My degree is in Human Sciences and I use it every day as a TV presenter, voiceover and entrepreneur.

My partner uses scientific insights to create real jobs right now (in her health and beauty salons) for unemployed young people in Stoke Newington London....also Tottenham...where the riots started.

PLEASE invest in science!

THANKS

Piers Gibbon, London

Roberto Trotta #84

Dear George,

Cosmology is about the most fundamental and universally fascinating questions in the whole of science: Where did the Universe come from? What is it made of? What will its ultimate fate be?

As Faraday answered to one of your predecessors, when asked about the use of electricity in 1850: "One day, Sir, you may tax it!".

I might not live to see the Dark Matter Tax, but the serendipitous discoveries of fundamental research will change the world -- again and again. Don't kill it.

Roberto Trotta, London

Richard Grant #111

Dear George,

Medical miracles like penicillin originate from basic research. But it's stochastic: you don't know where the next breakthrough is going to come from.

That is why a sustained investment in research is necessary.

For people who could have died without it.

Richard Grant, Gravesend

Bruce Hood #132

Dear George,

This is me. Really it is.

All my thoughts, desires, fears & dreams for the future are here.

Everything that makes George Osborne is also generated by a 3 pound lump of tissue.

You really don't exist independently of it and as you read these words, it is already starting to malfunction and breakdown.

Help science understand these processes and slow it down.

Bruce Hood, Bristol

Alan Fitzsimmons #192

Dear George,

As a scientist, I speak to thousands of school children, encouraging them to study STEM subjects. As a University Professor, I know most of my students will go on to professional jobs, helping to build our economy.

I took this picture of the comet being studied by our Rosetta spacecraft with the largest telescope in the world. The UK's economy and stature is fundamentally linked with being world leaders in science projects like this. Please help the UK preserve its science.

Alan Fitzsimmons, Antrim

Jordan Raff #209

Dear George,

I am writing to register my strong support for the Science is Vital campaign to protect and enhance Government support for basic research in the UK.

I have seen you in countless interviews extolling the importance you personally place on basic research in driving future economic growth.

I simply cannot understand how you have allowed the real level of Government support for such research to fall so drastically during your tenure as Chancellor.

This is shameful.

Jordan Raff, Oxford

Paul Clarke #227

Dear George,

The European Strategic Action Plan on Antibiotic Resistance 2011-16 estimates that these infections cost the EU an additional Є1.5bn in extra hospital treatments and societal costs.

In the UK 6.4% of hospital patients contracted a healthcare-acquired infection (HCAI), with this rising to 23.4% of patients in intensive care wards.

Only substantial continued investment in fundamental science can deliver the new antibiotics needed to combat the rise of resistant superbugs.

Paul Clarke, North Yorkshire

Aidan Doherty #232

Dear George,

You spend a lot of time talking about the Northern power house but Science is the engine of our society!

Over successive governments, the science budget has been in massive decline and we now spend much less of our % GDP than nearly all of the larger western countries do on their Science research budget.

I urge you not to not to make any cuts to an already meager allocation to the very area that underpins our whole society.

Aidan Doherty, Brighton

Alan Elliot #251

Dear George,

You will remember from school that there are four fundamental forces in physics; gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear.

To these you, and your predecessors, have added a fifth, market forces. This 'fifth force' is not fundamental to science and in fact it can be extremely damaging.

Scientists need resources to do the amazing work they do which brings us the modern world.

Please stop cutting their funding, and putting a price tag on everything they do.

Alan Elliot, Oxford

Simon Titmuss #1011

Dear George,

We use the fantastic facilities such as @isisneutronmuon, @ILLGrenoble, @DiamondLightSou funded by contributions from @STFC_Matters to do a range of interesting fundamental science on problems inspired by a range of societally important problems from understanding how to control bacterial growth to how to make better chocolate.

It is vital that I, my collaborators and colleagues continue to have access to these facilities, such that we can continue to do the science that will drive technology.

Simon Titmuss, Edinburgh

Sallie Harkness #813

Dear George,

My husband is diagnosed with dementia.

Science can provide research vital to developing understanding of causes and treatments.

Cash for research projects is vital for our future and for all UK citizens. Please do not cut the budgets!

Sallie Harkness, Glasgow

Alexandra Burkitt, #982

Dear George,

I'm a biology undergraduate wanting to make my career in scientific research in the UK.

My friends and I chose our degrees with enthusiasm about tackling the big problems- climate change, cancer and antibiotic resistance, amongst others.

Cut science funding and you cut our ability to deal with these problems. You cut my generation's ability to make the first steps in our scientific careers.

Scientists are great, but not magicians. We need funding too!

Alexandra Burkitt, Lincolnshire

Jess Wade, #981

Dear George,

I think the picture speaks for itself…

Jess Wade, London

Michael Fairhead, #946

Dear George,

Cutting the budget affects our credibility as a nation. If you wish to encourage investment in this country an active R&D base is essential. Why would anyone be interested in a bunch of dummies!?

Michael Fairhead, Oxford

Sarah Montgomery, #934

Dear George,

Lab equipment is expensive and we chemists are very good at making things last.

Last year I was using a glass column that was manufactured in West Germany, making it at least 25 years old!

However, wear and tear is a reality. Universities have already faced huge cuts and both research and education are suffering as a result.

Investing in science will boost GDP and help to reverse the contraction of the economy.

You can't keep cutting forever.

Sarah Montgomery, Manchester

Selina Wray, #928

Dear George,

These are human neurons (brain cells) generated from patients with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). We are using them to understand why these cells die in disease and to develop new and effective treatments.

There are currently 850, 000 people in the UK living with dementia. Science is Vital to ensure we can develop the treatments to slow down or prevent diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease and FTD.

Selina Wray, London

FOTSN, #921

Dear George,

Our shows would be half as long, and half as funny, without well-funded a brilliant UK science.

In other words, if you cut science funding, the OHP gets it...

Helen ArneySteve MouldMatt Parkerfestivalofthespokennerd.com

Carolyn Bedwell, #916

Dear George,

Without people such as Ada Lovelace, Michael Faraday, Alan Turing and Isaac Newton, I would not be writing this on a computer today.

But there is still so much to learn. Their successors won't be able to continue to make significant discoveries without sufficient funding.

Don't let science become history.

Carolyn Bedwell, Leicester

Ann Blanking, #706

Dear George,

Science is vital as it underpins every element of our existence:

(i) industry and the economy; without qualified scientists, industry cannot progress and our economy grow.

(ii) the NHS; without qualified professionals the NHS cannot operate to it's maximum potential

(iii) Scientific research and development is vital to the future of this country.

Even a blind person can see that! Recruitment of scientists starts in our schools where STEM subjects should be central to the curriculum.

Ann Blanking MBE, Lisaghmore

Andreas Heinemeyer, #733

Dear George,

As a scientist from Germany living in this country I have always praised the excellent work of British Science.

This could only be achieved through excellence in funding, enabling ideas and novelty to thrive. This is now endangered by your government's proposed cuts. I do believe that the science in this country will never be able to recover from such a hit.

Already, lots of talented scientists are jobless, due to research council cuts and tightening application processes.Andreas Heinemeyer, York

Dear George,

I am a publicly-funded scientist & those funds have given me & my research team the opportunity to try to improve healthcare & understand infectious diseases better for the public good.

It is a challenging, long-game & often costly endeavor to discover new things & to develop that knowledge into applied technologies.

However, without adequate funding to support this research now, we won't have the advances that we need for the future.

Reducing research funding is a false economy.

Claire Bourke, London

Claire Bourke, #762

Kirsty Hutchison, #774

Dear George,

I have experienced the devastation that lack of funding can cause to researcher's careers. We are losing talented PhDs in droves because they can't see a career in science going anywhere. We need proper financial support for science. Just because we decrease funding doesn't mean the crucial questions facing our country go away. They still need to be answered if we are going to be prepared for an uncertain future. I was forced to leave a career I loved & I'd do anything to return.

Kirsty Hutchison, Stirlingshire

Jennifer Marchant, #775

Dear George,

As a head of science in a secondary academy in Derby, a city built on Engineering, I ask you to consider again the long term consequences of cutting the budget for scientific research and development.

For the future of effective food production, drug development, polymer design and alternative energy provision we need long term and sustained investment in science and technology.

It takes many years and scientists to get a product right; it will not survive as it is if you cut it back.

Jennifer Marchant, Derby

Peter Moody, #777

Dear George,

This is a neutron diffraction image from a crystal of a heme peroxidase enzyme, taken at the ILL reactor in Grenoble last week.

Using neutron diffraction we are uncovering how this class of enzymes work. This will help us to understand how plants are protected from damage by peroxides and to find new ways to synthesise new drugs & other economically important chemicals.

This work is funded by the UK research councils, please don't cut funding, as Science is Vital.

Peter Moody, Rutland

Chris Staddon, #780

Dear George,

In my experience there is a distinct lack of scientific knowledge in the general population which leads to confusion over informed decisions . i.e. pollution.

More worryingly in primary school; when a scientific equipment doesn't work and the teacher doesn't know why or how to answer any other queries; they say "never mind - lets move on”. The message that children often receive is that SCIENCE DOESN'T WORK AND SCIENCE DOESN'T MATTER !

Chris Staddon, Nottingham

Susan Wilkinson, #799

Dear George,

I am a chemistry teacher, and mother of science graduates, one of whom is doing research abroad and two who have left science altogether.

In school we find it increasingly difficult to recruit suitably qualified science teachers to teach up to A-level standard.

Unless there is the prospect of career progression in science, then it will be difficult to persuade our pupils to take up science as a career.

It is essential to keep investing in our scientific future.

Susan Wilkinson, Kent

Comerasamy Govinda, #843

Dear George,

We want Britain to be a leader in science and engineering.

That means not only working closely with manufacturing and design businesses,… but to also make the world a better place to live in.

Science, combined with creative thinking, is vital.

Comerasamy Govinda, London

Tara Spires-Jones, #854

Dear George,

Right now caring for dementia patients costs over £26 billion per year in the UK and we have no effective treatments. These costs will grow as our population ages if we do not fund the basic science to understand the disease and develop treatments.

It is more cost effective to fund science. Science is Vital!!

Tara Spires-Jones, Edinburgh

Victoria Foster, #881

Dear George,

I'm a cancer research scientist, who had cancer twenty years ago and survived thanks to science.

I'd like to give something back, by dedicating my whole career to the cause and by giving more children with cancer the change to grow up and be scientists or anything else they want to be.

Please don't cut my funding - it saves lives, and I wouldn't be here without such funding.

Victoria Foster, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Arttu Rajantie, #891

Dear George,

I moved to the UK because it is one of the best places in the world for scientific research.

UK science leads the world, thanks to the culture, the institutions and the people.

This has enormous benefits for the whole society, but this is all under threat if funding is reduced any further.

It is time to maximise those benefits and unleash the full potential of UK science by increasing the funding to the same level as in other countries.

Arttu Rajantie, Reading

Harry Cliff, #895

Dear George,

Two years ago you spoke at the opening of the Collider exhibition at the Science Museum alongside Peter Higgs, who had just won the Nobel Prize.

You highlighted the importance of investment in fundamental science in stimulating the economy, inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers and deepening our understanding of the world in which we live.

I urge you to remember you commitment to science and the disastrous consequences of cuts to science funding.

Harry Cliff, London

Rebecca Nesbit, #912

Dear George,

Our farming system isn't sustainable. If we want to grow more food with less environmental impact, we need major investment in agricultural science.

This is me studying butterfly flight in 'flight simulators'. We need to understand more about the migratory behaviour of insects - some species are crop pests, others of important in conservation.

Thank you for all you commit to science.

Rebecca Nesbit, Herts

Mark Watney, Sol #586

Dear George,

Watch out – these guys are going to scienceisvital the shit out of this!

Mark Watney, Mars