Nov 13 2009
Science and the Parliament 09
I was in Edinburgh on Wednesday for an event called Science and the Parliament at Dynamic Earth. This is an annual meeting of Scottish scientists and politicians, designed to bring policy makers and innovators together for a day of seminars and networking.
The theme of this years gathering was the science of health and so it was quite appropriate that the day began with a keynote by Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health & Well-being. In what was a more interesting speech that I had expected, Ms Sturgeon spoke of the historic and current high regard in which the work of Scottish scientists is held and looked at the opportunities for Scotland to shape our future Health and Well-being, juxtaposing our internationally recognised scientific success with our reputation as the “sick man of Europe”.
Following her address, Ms Sturgeon presented awards for the highest placed candidates in the 2009 SQA Higher & Advanced Higher exams fro Biology, Chemistry and Physics. This was the reason I attended the event. One of my pupils scored 100% in the 2009 Higher Physics exam and was invited to attend to receive an award to mark his success.
After the awards ceremony, a more in-depth insight into the current work of Scottish scientists was presented by Prof. Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Scottish Government. I was delighted that she named several life sciences companies from Dundee that I had bumped into during my previous career in a biotechnology spin-out company.
I was unable to stay for the full programme but there was time for one fun photo before we left.
On my way down to Dynamic Earth, I recorded my thoughts using the sound recorder on my phone and posted them to EDUtalk. I’ve included the audio at the end of this post.
