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HMG/FCO role
HMG/FCO role
I want to end with a few wrords about British efforts to support science diplomacy and international collaboration. Because after more than a decade of unprecedented investment, I am proud to say that UK is rated first or second in the world at research in many disciplines. Our universities attract many of the best and brightest from overseas. Our world class science base has brought companies from Fujitsu Telecoms to Boeing or IBM to our shores. In a wide range of fields - from medicine to engineering or biotechnology - our scientific research is amongst the best in the wrorld.
But to make the most of Britain's strength and to exploit the benefits of global science we need a strong programme of action abroad.
That is the significance of the Science and Innovation Network, initiated by the FCO nine years ago. With around ninety staff in forty Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates around the world, the network promotes collaboration between UK scientists and those from other countries, helps policy makers in the UK and overseas develop best practice and establish international frameworks in breakthrough technologies such as stem cell research. The Network has helped to establish many new UK international collaborations on space science with China, fuel cells with Japan and stem cells with the USA. It also provides an in-depth understanding of the scientific policies, people and priorities of the host countries. Last year I appointed a Chief Scientific Adviser to the FCO, Professor David Clary - and scientific diplomacy will be a significant component of his work.
The British Council - for its part - has many important scientific initiatives including its programme for bringing together young researchers from the UK and other countries to promote the creative exchange of ideas through short conferences.
Last but not least, the Royal Society. I want to pay tribute to Martin Rees and his staff for the enormous contribution they have made to science diplomacy. Whether through the establishment - during the UK's G8 Presidency in 2005 - of regular meetings between the G8+5 Science Academies which helped shift the political debate on climate change; or last June's conference on New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy, this institution has played a critical role in bridging the gap between the two disciplines in recent years. And I am sure that the establishment of the Science Policy Centre - as part of the 350th Anniversary celebrations - will further strengthen the voice of science in UK, European and international politics.
© National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 2011
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