Events
Stand up for science
By Paul Richards, BBSRC Policy Fellow at the Society of Biology No doubt many scientists, especially young researchers, would approach dealing with the media with at least a little apprehension and distrust. We’ve all come across news articles which appear to sensationalise, or misrepresent science; some of us may have heard about, or had, negative … Continue reading
The H5N1 influenza controversy: information is power, sharing information is powerful
By Professor Wendy Barclay, Chair in Influenza Virology, Imperial College London. Wendy spoke at last week’s Society of Biology Policy Lates debate on dual-use bioscience. The debate is summarised in a Storify. H5N1 is a worrisome strain of bird flu that currently does not spread between us because of the ‘species barrier’ created by virus-host … Continue reading
The role of codes of conduct in the amateur biology community
By Dr Catherine Jefferson, freelance consultant on bioweapons policy and researcher at the Department of Social Science, Health and Medicine, King’s College London. Catherine will be a member of the panel at next week’s Society of Biology Policy Lates debate about biosecurity. Codes are established to guide acceptable standards of behaviour and their importance as … Continue reading
“Sorry James, this is not my cup of tea”
Guest post by Dr James Revill, Research Fellow with the Harvard Sussex Program, SPRU, University of Sussex. The issues raised in James’ post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday, and on Twitter with the hashtag #PolicyLates. The strategic use of disease in warfare has been subject to a long … Continue reading
Not by good intentions alone
Guest post by Tatyana Novossiolova, a Wellcome Trust doctoral candidate studying the governance of biotechnology in post-communist Russia at the Division of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. The issues raised in Tatyana’s post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday. In May this year, Science reported the creation of … Continue reading
Is crowdfunding a conundrum?
By Zoe Martin, Education Policy Officer at the Society of Biology Everyone has ideas. I have them every day. Sometimes people think really hard about something and come up with an idea to make that something better. Many of these people are scientists. I am sure most readers are aware it normally takes more than … Continue reading
Diverse initiatives to promote diversity in science, engineering and maths: Part 1
By Paul Richards, BBSRC Policy Fellow at the Society of Biology Tomorrow, Parliamentary Links Day will bring together policy makers and representatives from the STEM community for talks and discussions about ‘science and diversity’. The run-up to Links Day presents a timely opportunity to highlight some of the excellent initiatives aimed at promoting greater equality … Continue reading
The misuse of research – join the debate
Malcolm Dando (right), Professor of International Security at the University of Bradford, is Chair of our upcoming Policy Lates debate on research which has the potential to be misuse. People can come to a discussion on the problem of dual-use scientific work with very different perspectives. So there is good reason to expect a lively … Continue reading
Flying Ant Survey – spread the word!
The weekend’s sunshine made it almost possible to imagine the summer flying ant season, so we’re gearing up for a second flying ant survey and are hoping to enlist even more support. We need data from multiple years to help us understand whether the pattern we saw in 2012 (two peaks in flying ant activity) … Continue reading
MPs’ thoughts on academic career paths
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology From a potential ban on neonicotinoids to the importance of the EU, there were some provocative questions at last week’s Voice of the Future. There were many times when I had my preconceptions challenged by the MPs’ answers, and many issues I hadn’t stopped to consider. This Storify (below) … Continue reading