Party Conferences 2014

Following on from joint UK research and innovation events in 2013, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society hosted a series of joint roundtable meetings at each of the 2014 party conferences attended by parliamentarians, academy fellows and other stakeholders.

The discussions, titled 'Research and Innovation in the UK: Leaders or followers?' aimed to engage policymakers, researchers and industry on how to create the conditions that will secure the UK as the best place in the world to explore, discover and innovate.

The two handouts developed for these meetings are available to download.

Discussion topics included:

• Strong support for the National Institute of Health Research in DH.
• How best to attract private R&D investment to the UK.
• The importantance of language skills to support international collaboration.
• The Science and Innovation Strategy, including the need for cross-party consensus to ensure long term stability.
• The benefits of multidisciplinary research, especially in ‘big data’.
• Ensuring that policy is well informed by evidence.
• The impact of European legislation on research.
• Facilitating academia-industry collaboration.

Attendees:

• Larry Elliott, Economics Editor, Guardian Newspaper (Chair)
• The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, George Freeman MP, and other parliamentarians.
• Professor David Adams FMedSci, Professor Alan Silman FMedSci, Sir John Skehel FRS FMedSci and other Fellows of the Academies.
• A range of representatives from across the research community.

Discussion topics included:

• Innovation as the primary route out of austerity.
• The need to ensure a pipeline of skills, including retraining opportunities.
• The importance of charities' contributions to UK research and innovation.
• The continuing importance of the Haldane Principle.
• The need to drive job creation as part of a knowledge economy.
• The role of immigration in supporting UK research excellence.
• The need for science advocacy from the research community.
• The need to develop a national culture of experimentation.

Attendees:

• Roger Highfield, Director of External Affairs, Science Museum (Chair)
• Liam Byrne MP, Andrew Miller MP, and other parliamentarians.
• Professor Alan Silman FMedSci, and other Fellows of the Academies.
• A range of representatives from across the research community.

Discussion topics included:

• The need to increase investment to leverage more private funding.
• Academia-industry collaboration.
• The importance of addressing ethical concerns relating to research.
• The need for the creative side of science to be taught in schools.
• The key role of immigration for UK research and innovation.
• Balance in media reporting of research.
• How to build a culture of research which allows policies to be trialled without this being perceived as ‘indecision’.

Attendees:

• Professor Dame Helen Wallace DBE CBE FBA, Foreign Secretary of the British Academy and Emeritus Professor at the LSE (Chair)
• Dr Julian Huppert MP and Lord Stoneham of Droxford.
• Professor John Iredale FMedSci, Professor Doug Turnbull FMedSci, and other Fellows of the Academies.
• A range of representatives from across the research community.