Tagged With: science policy
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
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 Supreme Court gene patenting decision – sparking questions for the UK?
Guest post by Dr Eva Sharpe, Science Information and Policy Manager at the The Institute of Cancer Research, London The breast cancer susceptibility (BRCA) genes hit the headlines earlier this year with Angelina Jolie’s public announcement of her decision to have a preventative mastectomy after finding that that she was at high risk of breast … Continue reading
Can we trust climate models?
By Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology On Friday I attended an extremely interesting discussion at the Cheltenham Science Festival on ‘can we trust climate models?’. Our climate is influenced by a vast number of inputs and feedback loops, from ocean currents to changes in albedo. Based on these complex factors, climate models have to make … Continue reading
Shout louder
Karen Patel, communications assistant at the Society of Biology and organiser of the Science Communication Awards, blogs about the Science is Vital campaign For me growing up in London meant school holidays included a day out to museums and galleries. Hands on activities and enthusiastic explainers made the Science Museum a favourite. Taking part in … Continue reading
Are neonicotinoids distracting us from the bigger picture?
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology The much awaited vote by EU member states on the potential neonicotinoid ban takes place on Monday. There has been strong environmental lobbying to encourage Environment Minister Owen Patterson to vote in favour of a ban, but to what extent is the fate of bees really hanging on this … 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
Opening up policy
James Lush, Policy Manager at the Biochemical Society, discusses whether policy making is becoming more open The question “do we know what is desirable in open policy making?” was one of the opening gambits at the Experts, publics and open policy event held at the House of Lords on 15 January. Sir Roland Jackson, Chief … Continue reading