'Trust me, I'm a Scientist':  A Panel Discussion on Scientists and Public Policy

Monday 3 December 6pm, Great Hall, Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol

Culling badgers, building nuclear power stations or a Severn barrage, planting GM crops: we face these difficult decisions. As we try to find a way forward we call in the experts – scientists whose views we think of as impartial and unbiased. How much, though, do we pay attention to the scientists? How far should we trust them? And how much in practice does science inform policy?

This evening's panel discussion will explore these questions by bringing together eminent academics, who advise the government, and a senior civil servant, who sees how decisions are made.

The panel will include:

Herbert Huppert (Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor and Professor in the Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge)

Kathy Sykes (Professor of Sciences and Society, University of Bristol)

Claire Craig (Deputy Head of the Government Office for Science)

Dame Janet Finch (Professor in the School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester)

Helen Lambert (Reader in Medical Anthropology, University of Bristol)

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