Science and the Parliament looks to the future
Next year’s elections in Scotland and the future of science in Scottish business and education formed the heart of debate at the annual Science and the Parliament event on 11 November. In the setting of the Our Dynamic Earth science and exhibition centre, the event discussed research and higher education, the relationship between science and society, and innovation and the economy, as well as hearing from all the main political parties in Scotland.
Highlighting the fact that Scotland’s chemical sciences industry employs 70,000 people directly or indirectly, our president, Professor Dominic Tildesley, said: "If Scotland is to flourish in the future, it must keep investing in science, and take a long-term approach to doing so."
He said that education, research and development, and good networks would all help science in Scotland to thrive and pointed out how the Royal Society of Chemistry was helping to promote all of these.
The conference heard from two school students from Lossiemouth High School, Rhiannon Cleghorn and Rebecca Brown, who recently completed a visit to Bokomoso School in Botswana to develop a global link between the schools. The link involved senior pupils from Lossiemouth delivering lessons to the pupils in Botswana.
Rhiannon and Rebecca decided to use the resources from the Royal Society of Chemistry, 'Water – a global experiment' to develop their lesson, which involved investigating hydrogels. The presentation by the two students from Lossiemouth was one of the highlights of the day.
The Minister for Learning, Science, and Scotland’s Languages, Dr Alasdair Allan MSP emphasiszed the healthy public appetite for science, technology, engineering, and maths in Scotland.
Kezia Dugdale MSP said inequalities in STEM still needed to be addressed, saying there were “institutional road blocks” that prevented women from reaching the top jobs. “Progress has been made, but it isn’t enough,” she said.
Liz Smith MSP called for evidence-based science policy, and sounded a warning about the insufficient number of primary school teachers with a science background in Scotland’s schools. Willie Rennie MSP also called for evidence-based science policy, emphasising Scotland’s particular debate about genetically modified crops, and spoke about investment in research. Patrick Harvie MSP said that there were political and moral dimensions to decisions that involve science and that decision-making should be transparent.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning, Angela Constance MSP, awarded the prizes, including the 2015 RSE/BP Hutton Prize in Energy Innovation won by Dr Cairong Jiang of the School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews.
Dr Jiang’s research into direct carbon fuel cells has led her to develop a practical system of converting the chemical energy of solid carbon into electricity. The system could point the way to clean use of coal, waste, and renewable carbon sources at high efficiency.
The £10,000 prize, funded by the BP Trust, is awarded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh to an early career researcher based in Scotland, who has shown a significant individual contribution to energy innovation through research and knowledge exchange.
Science and the Parliament has run annually since 2000 and attracts an audience across the scientific and engineering disciplines, MSPs and other policy makers.
