Voices of the Future 2019

Description

Nursing Studies lecturer quizzes MPs in UK Parliament on the future of science policy

Siobhán O’Connor, a Lecturer in Nursing Studies at the University of Edinburgh, represented the Young Academy of Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh recently at Voices of the Future 2019. This event offers young research leaders the opportunity to discuss the future of science policy in the UK with senior political figures at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

On 12th March 2019, the Voices of the Future event was held in Committee Room 14 at the Place of Westminster and streamed live on Parliament TV. This provided Siobhán and other young leaders in science from across the UK the chance to delve into the complexities of key policy issues.

The group were welcomed by Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons before a panel of MPs including Norman Lamb MP, Chair of the Science & Technology Select Committee, Vicky Ford MP, Stephen Metcalfe MP and Carol Monaghan MP, began the first session. Numerous questions were posed to the panel by the young science leaders such as how to engage young people, particular women, in science and combat fake news and the impact of social media on public opinion and scientific knowledge.

Siobhán quizzed Chris Skidmore MP, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, asking “How can the UK guarantee a strong research climate that attracts talented scientists post-Brexit?”. The minister responded highlighting a commitment to increase public and private investment in R&D and better collaboration with commonwealth and developing nations through a new Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) to bring top scientists to work across all regions of the UK.

Sir Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, and Chi Onwurah MP, Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation, chaired other sessions and fielded policy questions including how to deal with climate change and single use plastics, to regulating emerging drone, artificial intelligence and genomic technologies like CRISPR that are driven by commercial interests and bringing about rapid change in society.

Getting to experience the inner workings of the UK Parliament and speaking to key decision makers will enable Siobhán and other young scientific leaders to gain insights into the policy translation process, so they can positively influence science policy in the future.