Future Meetings
Wednesday 6 June 2012 at 7:30 pm
Scientific Progress and the Economic Impact Fallacy
Professor Philip Moriarty, Nanoscience Group, School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Nottingham
In these financially straitened times, shouldn't scientific research in universities be focussed on near-market R&D and potentially economy-boosting applications? Isn't it right that the Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills, the research councils, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) seek to maximise return on government investment in science? And what's wrong with now requiring academics to include a two page 'impact' statement with each grant proposal, describing potential pathways to improving the socioeconomic impact of their research? In this talk, I will discuss how the research councils and HEFCE, by coercing academics to work on near-market and short-term problems perceived to have direct socioeconomic impact, fail to understand the fundamental societal role of universities and will ultimately, and perhaps counter-intuitively, damage the return on taxpayers' investment in publicly-funded research.
Philip Moriarty is a Professor of Physics and an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Fellow in the School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Nottingham having been appointed to a lectureship there in 1997 and promoted to Reader in 2003. Prior to attaining a lectureship at Nottingham, Moriarty was a postdoctoral researcher there (1994-1997) and, from 1990-1993, did his PhD at Dublin City University. He has authored/coauthored over 100 refereed papers including a frequently-cited invited review article on nanostructured materials. His research interests span a number of topical themes in nanometre scale science with a particular recent focus on single atom and molecule manipulation. He is currently Chair of the Institute of Physics Nanoscale Physics and Technology Group committee, and a member of the Science Board of the Institute of Physics. Moriarty has a keen interest in public engagement/outreach activities and science funding policy and has interacted with national and international media on these issues, contributing, for example, to a recent BBC Radio 4 documentary, "Ivory Tower", on the subject of this Café Scientifique talk. He is also a regular contributor to Nottingham's Sixty Symbols project (www.youtube.com/sixtysymbols).
Wednesday 4 July 2012 at 7:30 pm
A Tunnel to the Beginning of Time
Dr Peter Edwards, Department of Physics, University of Durham
In November 2009, following repairs, the start button for the biggest scientific experiment in the history of humankind was pressed. Using the energy required to power Geneva, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is investigating many of the mysteries that the universe has kept hidden since its birth. Using the LHC we hope to travel back to the Big Bang, create mini black holes, and reveal the nature of the dark side of the Universe. Come along to explore the immense scale of the experiment, find out how the LHC works, and ponder some of the big questions it will address.
Peter is an experienced science communicator who co-ordinates the outreach programme of the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics at Durham University. The aim of the programme is to use the science that we do in the North East to engage and enthuse school children and the wider community and stimulate their interest. Peter's previous research interests included gamma ray astronomy and astroparticle physics.
We take a break during August and September and will resume on Wednesday 3 October 2012.