Delivering a UK science and technology strategy
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will hold its first evidence session in its new inquiry: Delivering a UK science and technology strategy.
The Committee will hear from witnesses from across the science and technology landscape. This includes the academics Professor James Wilsdon, Professor of Research Policy at Sheffield, and Professor Graeme Reid, Chair of Science and Research Policy at UCL. The Committee will also hear from the former Minister for Universities and Science (2010-2014), Lord Willets, and representatives from the Wellcome Trust, the Centre for Science and Policy and the Campaign for Science and Engineering.
In both sessions, the Committee will hear from people across the science and technology policy field including academics and a former minister. The Committee will seek their perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of the UK’s research and development landscape, and where current science and technology policy fits in an international and historical context. The Government has announced an ambition for the UK to become a “science superpower” alongside increased funding for research and development – aiming to boost overall spending on R&D to 2.4% of GDP, but with few details about how it will be spent. The Committee will ask the witnesses how they think the increased funding should be allocated and what becoming a “science superpower” should look like.
Traditionally, Government has taken a relatively hands off approach to science and technology funding. This is exemplified by the Haldane principle – the idea that researchers and not politicians should decide which researchers and projects receive funding. The Committee wants to understand whether developing a UK science strategy presents any challenge to this principle. To deliver its strategy to make the UK a “science superpower” the Government has established new bodies – a Cabinet subcommittee, the National Science and Technology Council, and the Office for Science and Technology Strategy. The Committee will ask for its witnesses’ perspective on what these bodies should do and how they can be successful.
Meeting details
Possible question areas
- The strengths and weaknesses of the UK’s research and development landscape.
- Where increased research and development funding should be targeted.
- What it means to be a “science superpower” and how to measure it.
- Whether the Government has a coherent plan to make the UK a “science superpower”.
- How the UK compares internationally, and what it can learn from other countries.