Science for Policy, Policy for Science: A Sense of Perspective
When
Wednesday, September 28, 2016, 18:00Where
Tickets
Professor Patrick Cunningham, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the Irish government, will review Ireland's recent progress in science and explore possible future paths.
The purpose of the discourse is to review Ireland's recent progress in science, to explore possible future paths, and to set this in the context of national, European and world developments. Since much of the science conducted in Ireland is funded from public sources, these are important aspects of government policy. Major issues involved include overall scale of funding, distribution over different areas, and definition of near and longer term purposes. In parallel, a balance is required between freedom to explore and requirement to deliver. This has particular relevance in areas where scientific knowledge is directly needed to support the implementation of public policy in areas like health, environment and energy
Speaker:
Professor Patrick Cunningham
Professor Cunningham is a geneticist and international public servant who was Chief Scientific Adviser to the Irish government from 2007 - 2012. He has held a personal chair of animal genetics at Trinity College since 1974 and various posts in the Irish National Agricultural Institute, where he was deputy Director (Research) from 1980 - 1988. He has published over 100 scientific papers, which have twice featured on the cover of Nature. He has been elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy (1974) and several international academies of science. In 1996 he received the Royal Dublin Society's prestigious Boyle Medal, and he holds honorary doctorates from TCD, UCD and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. In 2015 he chaired the international review (2007-2013) of the JRC, the Science Service of the EU.
Respondent:
Professor Orla Feely
Orla Feely is Professor Electronic Engineering in UCD and since 2014 the UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact. She has served as Chair of the Irish Research Council and has a world-wide reputation as a leading researcher in nonlinear electrical circuit theory and its applications. In recognition of this, she was elected a Fellow of the IEEE, the first Irish woman to achieve this distinction.