A new challenge for scientists
09/05/2004
"We have for some time researched ways of offering a package of support for scientists that fits with their career structure."
Scientists and engineers - from astrophysicists to zoologists - will take part in a series of three thematic laboratories during 2004, where they will be inspired by the themes of ethics, politics and creativity, led by world-renowned speakers.
Taking place over residential weekends, the labs are designed to offer scientists a unique programme of career and personal development. The labs will take place at the following locations and dates:
Ethics, Royal College of Surgeons, London - 14-16 May
Politics, Devonport House, Greenwich 16-18 July
Creativity, Dartington Hall in Totnes, Devon, 22-24 October
Participants will attend seminars that aim to expand their thinking about science in relation to the key themes. Those attending will also be encouraged to develop their networking, management and communication skills.
Venu Dhupa, NESTA Fellowship Director, said: "We have for some time researched ways of offering a package of support for scientists that fits with their career structure. Crucible has been designed to make a quick intervention with their personal development with the aim of moving them on in their field of interest. It may also bring about new thinking as different disciplines collide and intertwine over the course of the laboratories."
The Crucible pilot has been designed as a new element of NESTA's existing Fellowship programme, which gives tailored support to creative and innovative individuals who need the time and resources to fulfil their potential. The scientists participating in the Crucible laboratories have been selected through an open-access application process.
The speakers for the Ethics lab will include: Sheila Bloom, Chief Executive, Institute for Global Ethics; David Snowden, Director, Cynefin Institute; Dr Colin Blakemore, Director, Medical Research Council; Joe Divanna, Director, Maris Strategies.
Notes on participants
Paul Adderley is a soil scientist based at the University of Stirling. His work considers the long-term sustainability of past and present-day agrarian societies through their interactions with the natural environment.
Charlotte Allender is a biologist working on a project to assess the ecological consequences of the release of transgenic crops. She is based at Warwick HRI (formerly Horticulture Research International), part of the University of Warwick.
Perdita Barran is a chemist using physics to solve biological problems. Her inter-disciplinary work at the University of Edinburgh investigates the structure of biologically relevant molecules using mass spectrometry techniques. These range in size from small model peptide systems to protein complexes.
Alan Bloodworth lectures in the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. His research interests include bridges, tunnels and recycling of waste materials.
Matt Cottingham researches avian virology and its application to human vaccines at the Institute for Animal Health near Newbury.
Amer Diab is a biochemist working on developing genomic tools for bio-monitoring of pollutants and their effects on fish health. He is based at the Institute of Aquaculture, Stirling University.
Sam Elliot's work at Oxford concerns the use of fungal and bacterium pathogens as replacements for pesticides. His past work has been based on pathogens used to combat locusts and mites in Africa.
Nicola Englyst's research aims to better understand the mechanisms involved in controlling blood clotting. She is based at the University of Southampton's Endocrinology and Metabolism Unit at Southampton General Hospital.
Hayley Fowler is a researcher at the University of Newcastle specialising in extreme rainfall, climate variability and change, and flood and drought risk. She is participating in a European Framework 6 project on hydrology.
Barry Gibb is a researcher at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, studying how brain cells communicate. He is also a digital filmmaker and is interested in finding new approaches to science communication.
Kheng-Lim Goh has a background in medical physics and is currently working in a biological context. His work at Cardiff University uses X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and mechanical testing to investigate the changes in tendons in the body caused by ageing.
Jasper Graham-Jones is Senior Lecturer in Manufacturing Engineering at Portsmouth University.
Jen Gristock is a writer, scientist and policy specialist based at City University in London. Her work explores the ways in which communications across space, time and between communities encourage economic growth and social change. She is interested in creativity and the nature of technology, lay expertise and user-driven innovation.
Ramesh Marasini works as a Construction Specialist at the B2B Manufacturing Centre; a collaboration between University of Teesside and Warwick University. He is an engineer specialising in construction and project management.
Michael Murray is a Civil Engineering currently working at Newcastle University and has industrial experience. He has worked on a wide range of numerical models and is currently researching methods of modelling the effect of human activity on robust engineering models.
Mark New is a lecturer in Physical Geography at Oxford University, with research interests in climate change and climate variability.
Daniel Ozanne researches the role of genes in obesity at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen.
Gail Preston is a Royal Society University Research Fellow working on plant diseases and plant growth-promoting microorganisms at the Department of Plant Sciences, Oxford University.
Stephen Rae is a geneticist at the Scottish Crop Research Institute. He is part of the Genome Dynamics Programme investigating commercially grown cereals.
Daniel Raymer is a geophysicist working in Cornwall for the Reservoir Geoscience Group of ABB Offshore Systems.
Jason Reese is the Weir Professor of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics at Strathclyde University. He is a co-founder of the spin out company Brinker Technology Ltd, which is commercialising a leak detection system for pipelines.
Mark Reeves develops measurement hardware and software in the Edinburgh University Orthopaedic Engineering Centre. He is also a director and consultant of Lothian Imaging Science Ltd.
Autumn Rowan-Hull holds a Daphne Jackson Fellowship in the Department of Human Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford University. Her research focuses on how cells are specified in organogenesis during development of the vertebrate embryo.
Duncan Simpson has recently become Interdisciplinary Research Network Manager at Cambridge University. Based in the Biological Physics Group of the Cavendish laboratory, his role is to encourage and support research collaborations and communications between Physicists and Biological Scientists in Cambridge.
David Skirvin is a biologist using computer simulation models to investigate the relationship between plants and predators. He is based at Warwick HRI, a department of the University of Warwick.
Katherine Smart is the Scottish Courage Reader in Brewing Science and an Enterprise Fellow at Oxford Brookes University. She is also the founder of Smart Brewing Services.
Jill Stocks holds a Daphne Jackson Fellowship at the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at Manchester University. She is investigating the effect of environmental and genetic factors on fertility.
Neil Stokes is a microbiologist working at Prolysis Ltd, a biotechnology company in Oxfordshire.
Shelley Wilkins is a chemist researching the control of ink-media interactions at the Department of Materials, Oxford University.
Rebecca Wright works at the UCL Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX). Her research project is combining experimental and theoretical approaches to produce a mathematical in-silico model of the liver.