The fourth edition of the Huxley Summit focused on collaboration against the backdrop of an impending election. Chief Executive, Katherine Mathieson offers her insights from the big event. Read more
In her Presidential Address at this year’s British Science Festival, Professor Alice Roberts presented a bold and uncompromising picture of modern science from its origins in the 17th century to the crisis it faces today. Is it still the best way to understand reality? Alan Barker writes. Read more
Our blog covers a wide range of topics in science and how it is communicated. We are interested in many different aspects of science policy, education, public engagement, funding and how science fits in our culture and society.
Learn more about our 'COVID-19 Community Innovation Grants', our recipient cohort and their upcoming series of blogs. Encompassing motivations, learnings and aspirations, we hope they serve as inspiration for prospective BSW 2021 grant applicants in how community science projects can be developed and delivered despite uncertainty. Read more
Dr Euan Allen is the 2020 Rosalind Franklin Award Lecture winner for physical sciences and mathematics. He is working at the Quantum Engineering Technology Labs at the University of Bristol and is investigating how to apply it to the construction of quantum computers. This emergent technology could offer unprecedented computing power. But how easy is it to develop, and who will reap the benefits? Read more
It has been a long, hard road for schools throughout the United Kingdom. But as students start to return, we wanted to say one thing to teachers: thank you. Read more
Those working and studying in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education system have lifted the lid on the reality of teacher shortages, in the wake of a report into the system in England. Read more
Alan Barker speaks to Dr Daniella Rabaiotti the 2020 Charles Lyell Award Lecture winner for environmental sciences. Dr Rabaiotti is using sophisticated tracking technology and big data to quantify the effects of climate change on one of Africa’s most endangered species. It’s tough work and it’s got to be done if African wild dogs have a chance of surviving. Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed how people can interact with each other. Science festival practitioners have had to re-think their approaches, particularly for audiences who do not necessarily see science as for them. We will share learning's from this year’s funded projects starting with this first blog post in the ‘UKSFN learning curves’ series written by Matthew Matthew Allen and Lisa Whittaker from Cardiff Science Festival Read more
Alan Barker speaks to Dr Chris Pak the 2020 Jacob Bronowski Award Lecture for Science and the Arts. Dr Pak is fascinated by terraforming. He thinks that science fiction is a kind of laboratory for thought experiments that might help us rethink our strategies about climate change, the environment and a whole lot more. Read more
Chief Executive, Katherine Mathieson reflects on her experience of ‘Nature up close and personal’, a study investigating the link between different nature-based activities and wellbeing, detailing what she’s learnt from the project so far. Read more
What is the public’s attitude to science in the UK? And how has it changed, if at all, since 2014? Abi Hilditch, Policy Partnerships Manager at the BSA, delves into the recently published Public Attitudes to Science report in this latest blog post. Read more
Alan Barker speaks to Dr Carolyn McNabb the 2020 Margaret Mead Award Lecture winner for Social Sciences. Drawing on her work using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the relationships between friendship, stress and the brain, she is exploring the ways social networking might help develop healthy adolescent brains. Read more
Alan Barker speaks to Dr Richard Tyser, the 2020 Charles Darwin Award Lecture winner for Agriculture, Biological and Medical Sciences. Dr Tyser is investigating how embryonic heartbeats begin. What he’s found is extraordinary, and could have enormous implications for the treatment of heart disease. Read more
Alan Barker speaks to Dr Xinyuan Wang the 2020 Daphne Oram Award Lecture winner for Digital Innovation. Her research focuses on how different communities in China are using social media to craft new identities for themselves and are embracing digital in surprising ways. Read more