Thursday 12 April 2018 (17:00-18:15)
Chemical Engineering G35 (Y11 on campus map [PDF])
The University of Birmingham is launching a new series of events called Leading Thinkers with speakers from policy, industry and science. We welcome you to the first event with guest speaker Robin Grimes, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Governments fund science for a variety of reasons and different parts of government have their own priorities. The UK Diplomatic Service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is concerned with developing ideas around science diplomacy; where science can inform diplomatic effort, diplomats can aid scientists and sometimes scientists can directly help to build diplomatic relations. Their aim is to enhance the capacity and capability of research applications to act in ways that advance our national needs and address cross-border interests, as well as meeting global needs and challenges. Scientists on the other hand are driven by curiosity and the motivation to drive change, improving technologies along the way.
Communications between scientists and diplomats can be overlooked and this is an area that requires attention. This lecture will discuss the UK’s progress, and highlight the importance of preserving science excellence and why this matters to policy makers.
About Professor Grimes
Professor Robin Grimes has been Chief Scientific Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since February 2013. He is responsible for providing advice to the Foreign Secretary, Ministers and officials on science, technology and innovation. He is supported in his work by the UK Science and Innovation Network representatives based in overseas posts. He is also Professor of Materials Physics at Imperial College. In his research, he uses atomic scale computer simulation techniques to understand the behaviour of materials for energy applications including nuclear fission and fusion, fuel cells, batteries and solar cells to improve knowledge and efficiency. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Registration
Please register to attend this event using the form below.