Monday 18 June 2012

18:30 - 21:30

Institute of Physics, London

 

At this Science Question Time event, we discussed science, growth, and how the latter could be defined and delivered. Science Question Time is now an established and successful venture between the Biochemical Society, the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) and staff at Imperial College London. This was the seventh Science Question Time in London.

 

---

 

After the event

Searching Twitter for the hashtag #SciQT will provide you with a rich source of commentary from both during the event and the discussion following.

 

A podcast is available to listen to here (with thanks to staff at the Institute of Physics for recording the event) and there is a write-up here. Any other write-ups or blogs (which we hear about!) will also be publicised on this page.

 

Blog posts:

'Grossly Deficient Politics: why we must create heaven' by David Robertson
'What history says on science, innovation and growth' by Rebekah Higgitt

'It's question time' by Richa Malhotra

'The Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato' by Stephen Curry

 

Jon Tennent, Policy Intern at the Geological Society, has put together this Storify of tweets from the event: 'Can Scientific Research Promote Economic Growth'

 

Chair and panelists:

 

Jack Stilgoe is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter Business School, where he works on ideas of responsible innovation. Before this, he was at the Royal Society, where he ran the study that produced the report The Scientific Century. At the think tank Demos, he co-authored The Public Value of Science (2005) and The Received Wisdom (2006), and authored Nanodialogues (2007) and Citizen Scientists (2009). In September 2012, he will join UCL as a lecturer in Science and Technology Studies.

Penny is an Investment Director at SPARK Impact Ltd, who manage the £25m NorthWest Fund for Biomedical. Previously she worked closely with the universities associated with the Lachesis and Sulis Seed Funds, helping to identify and develop IP. Prior to SPARK, Penny worked for Quester and BTG plc, and had an academic career in applied medical microbiology. Penny is a Founder and Director of Id-Tech Ltd., which has successfully exploited her inventions to prevent needlestick injuries.

Rebekah Higgitt completed a PhD in the history of science at Imperial College London in 2004 and did postdoctoral research at the University of Edinburgh. Since 2008 she has been Curator of History of Science and Technology at the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Her research and publications have mainly focused on scientific institutions, scientific biography, history of science and the relationship between science, government and the public in 19th-century Britain.

 

Professor Mazzucato specialises in industrial economics and the economics of growth. This is the focus of her work as R.M. Phillips Professor of Science and Technology at the University of Sussex (SPRU), Visiting Professor in Economics of Innovation at the Open University, as Economics Director of Innogen and as Scientific Coordinator of a the EC FP7 FINNOV project. She recently authored The Entrepreneurial State (interview).

James is senior economist at the new economics foundation. He was previously a policy advisor at HM Treasury and senior policy advisor at the Royal Society, covering innovation policy, and has written widely on economics, including for The Guardian and the New Statesman. He is regular commentator on economic policy on television and radio. His most recent publication is with the Research on Money and Finance group, “Breaking Up? A route out of the euro crisis”.