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CST meeting summary, 15 and 16 June 2022

Published 21 July 2022

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Prime Minister’s Council for Science And Technology.

Meeting summary: 15 and 16 June 2022.

Attendees

Attended:

  • Patrick Vallance
  • John Browne
  • Christopher Bishop (Day 1)
  • Julia Black
  • Philip Bond
  • Muffy Calder
  • Suranga Chandratillake
  • Jim Hall
  • Anne Johnson (Day 1)
  • Saul Klein
  • Ottoline Leyser
  • Max Lu
  • Andrew McCosh
  • Jim McDonald (Day 2)
  • Fiona Murray
  • Paul Newman
  • Brooke Rogers
  • Jo Shanmugalingam
  • Adrian Smith (Day 2)
  • Paul Stein
  • Nick Stern (Day 1)
  • Susannah Storey (Day 1)
  • Josh Fleming (Day 2)
  • Joanna Key (Day 1)

Apologies:

  • Charles Roxburgh
  • Dervilla Mitchell

Guests:

  • Rt Hon Boris Johnson, Rt Hon Stephen Barclay
  • Dr Jennifer Garden, University of Edinburgh
  • Sophie Harker, BAE Systems
  • Dr Nick Hawker, First Light Fusion
  • Dr Sam Rodrigues, Francis Crick Institute
  • Dr Gita Khalili Moghaddam, TumourVue
  • Professor Stephen Belcher, Met Office Chief Scientific Adviser
  • Indro Mukerjee, Innovate UK

Day 1

1. Members received an update on current activity by the Office for Science and Technology Strategy (OSTS) and consideration of previous CST recommendations. Members discussed actions that government can take to engage and enable business investment in science and technology (S&T).

2. The Prime Minister updated members on government plans to strengthen the science and technology system in the UK, including incentivising a new culture of business investing in research and development (R&D) and encouraging scientists and engineers to set up businesses. Members offered advice for improving access to finance for scale up of innovative companies in the UK. Members highlighted how government can act as a customer through procurement to incentivise business innovation. The Prime Minister invited CST’s continued involvement on the development and implementation of measures to improve the UK science and technology system. He requested CST’s advice on international partnerships.

3. Members agreed to finalise their advice on finance and procurement. They reviewed progress with current projects including new work on Engineering Biology. Julia Black updated members on the British Academy’s project on science, trust and policy, commissioned by CST.

4. Members heard from five emerging leaders in science and technology about their work and their perspectives on the UK’s research and innovation environment. The discussion covered inclusivity and visibility of careers in S&T, the incentives for academic researchers to create businesses, and how regulations and government support shape the direction of innovation.

Day 2

5. Professor Stephen Belcher, Chief Scientific Adviser and Chief of Science and Technology at the Met Office, updated members on current priorities including work to develop weather and climate services, build national capability for observation, simulation and analysis, and approaches to international collaborations for exascale computing.

6. Members received an update from the Government Office for Science on work to improve recognition and impact of government capabilities in public laboratories within the innovation landscape.

7. Indro Mukerjee, Chief Executive Officer of Innovate UK, presented Innovate UK’s Plan for Action to support business innovation. Members discussed how to direct business innovation toward national goals and aligning public sector support with business’ own R&D activity and infrastructure.

CST Secretariat
June 2022

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