FST JOURNAL

In Conversation with Professor Dame Angela McLean

On Wednesday 9^th October we hosted a special ‘In Conversation’ event with Government Chief Scientific Advisor, Dame Angela McLean at The Royal Society. 

FST Chair, Lord David Willetts joined Professor McLean to discuss the role of science and engineering in society, the challenges of her Government role and what it is like to work with Ministers and civil servants. With a full house, questions from the floor came in thick and fast and the after dinner discussion provided much food for thought. You can watch the public event on our events page.

Foundation Future Leaders take to the road

This Autumn has been very busy for our Future Leaders, starting off with a two-day trip to Edinburgh. This included a visit to the Scottish Parliament to meet the likes of MSP Claire Adamson  - and with a surprise drop in from Richard Loughead, Minister for Business in the Scottish Government). The group also met Julie Fitzpatrick (Chief Scientist for Scotland) and colleagues at the Scottish Parliament, with visits to the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Dynamic Earth exhibition. The second day of the trip involved visits to several research areas of the University of Edinburgh. In October a group also visited the Harwell Science Campus in Oxfordshire, and they are set to visit the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, this December.

Quantum Technologies – from research to reality

In September, we travelled to the University of Strathclyde in Scotland to host an afternoon discussion on Quantum Technologies. Chaired by President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, the event explored where the UK sits in quantum technology, and what is needed to transition from research into real world applications. Our expert speakers included Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2024 Quantum Infrastructure Review, Dr Dame Frances Saunders and Professor of Quantum Sensing and Engineering at the University of Nottingham,  Melissa Mather. You can rewatch the presentations and following debate on our events page.

Critical Technologies- What will be made a priority?

In a joint event with the Royal Academy of Engineering, we set up a roundtable discussion over the summer (July 8^th) to explore the critical technologies such as Quantum, which could be prioritised by a new government. Questions such as how these critical technologies will be identified, what the criteria for selection might be, and whether there would be an industrial strategy, were all on the table. A report on the conversation and a paper which reflects on previous discussions, is now available online. We hope they will be a useful contribution to government thinking in that area. 

Building skills for future challenges

Alongside their field trips, our 2024 Future Leaders will be leading their own one day conference at The Exchange in Birmingham on Friday 8^th November. The theme for this event will be ‘Building Careers and Skills in Science and Technology for National and Global Challenges’. A panel of expert speakers will include Sharah Sharples, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Transport, and Christopher Smith, International Champion for UKRI. 

Details of the Conference – open and free to all and targeted at early to mid-career professionals across government, industry and academia is available on our website.

We are hugely grateful to the University of Birmingham for supporting this event.

The FST podcast returns

After a short summer break, our podcast has returned with a selection of new episodes for the Autumn season. From what the future might look like for ‘personalised healthcare’, to Quantum Technology and what the future holds, to social justice and science and diversity and inclusion in STEM, there’s lots of new content to choose from. Our podcasts are a bitesize length of 25-30 minutes and available on most regular podcast platforms (just search for “Foundation for Science and Technology”). All episodes are also uploaded to our website here.