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STEM Education and Skills at Westminster
August 14, 2019
On 8 July, Rachel Exley attended her first Parliamentary and Scientific Committee discussion meeting, at Portcullis House in Westminster. The title of the meeting was 'STEM education and skills' and provided a forum for discussion between Members of Parliament and representatives of scientific bodies, industry and academia on how to inspire and engage young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects in order to address the skills shortage in the future UK workforce. The focus was particularly on engineering, and members of a diverse panel of speakers were invited to share their perspectives. I attended the meeting to gather information and identify ways the Microbiology Society might contribute to this agenda.
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Parliamentary Links Day 2019
July 25, 2019
This year, after several years of attempting to get an invite, I was absolutely delighted to be able to attend Parliamentary Links Day as a member of the Microbiology Society Policy Committee. I attended alongside Dr James Kelly, Dr Justine Rudkin, Dr Yinka Somorin and Microbiology Society Policy Manager Jack Doughty. Organised by the Royal Society of Biology, Parliamentary Links Day is one of the biggest science events in the Parliamentary calendar, linking members of Parliament to scientific researchers. The theme of 2019 was ‘Science and New Frontiers’.
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Bioeconomy: Moving Towards a Sustainable Future
July 11, 2019
In recent years, the bioeconomy has gained increasing prominence as a tool which presents solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Bioeconomy, the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into valuable products, holds particular promises for achieving several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 6 on energy, SDG 8 on economic growth, SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production, SDG 13 on climate change, SDG 14 on oceans, and SDG 15 on life on land.
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Highlights from the UK AMR Strategy
February 22, 2019
Last year the Microbiology Society submitted a joint response with the Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM) to the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s inquiry into antimicrobial resistance. On the 24th January 2019, the UK government launched its strategy to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In this blog we highlight key points in the UK AMR Strategy and research priorities.
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Scottish Open Government Action Plan: Launch Event
February 18, 2019
On the 31 January, Scotland launched its Second Open Government Action Plan. Eva Scholtus from the Microbiology Society’s Policy team was in Edinburgh to celebrate the event and to participate in a workshop discussing how the plan is delivered in partnership. Here she shares Scotland’s openness commitment and the implications for science policy.
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Policy Lunchbox: How to increase your policy impact as a research scientist
December 17, 2018
Dr. Steve Ormerod, Professor of Biosciences at Cardiff University, Co-Director of the Cardiff Water Research Institute, and Vice President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), spoke at this month's Policy Lunchbox. In his talk on the importance of academic engagement with policy, Steve shared his personal experiences in engaging with the policy process and how other scientists can maximise their policy impact. Here, Eva Scholtus from the Microbiology Society’s Policy Team, summarises Steve’s key take-home messages for academics wanting to engage with policy-makers.
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Science and the Parliament
November 22, 2018
As the Microbiology Society’s Policy and Member Engagement Intern, I joined the policy team at this year’s Science and the Parliament Conference, which took place in Edinburgh on 14th November. The event was organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, with the intention of bringing together scientists, parliamentarians and policy makers, though a programme of speeches and panel discussions.
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Science and Stormont 2018: Impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland
October 26, 2018
Considering the Assembly has not sat since January 2017, it was not a quiet day at Stormont on the 8 of October 2018. Compared with my last trip here in September to attend my first meeting as the Northern Ireland (NI) Representative of the Microbiology Society at the All-Party Group on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), it was a beehive of activity, as professionals and leaders from the academia, industry and government met at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s sixth annual Science and Stormont event in the Parliament Buildings at Stormont.