FST BLOG
We welcome blogs on issues across Science, Technology, Research and Innovation, and on the activities of the Foundation. To publish a blog on this site, please email Gavin Costigan (gavin.costigan@foundation.org.uk).
Note: The Foundation for Science and Technology is strictly neutral. Any views expressed in these blogs are those of the authors and not of the Foundation.
An atom’s eye view inside materials: from cells to circuit boards, and meteorites to magnets
- 7 February, 2025
- Technology
- Dr Rosie de Laune
The UK’s ISIS neutron and muon source has welcomed over 60,000 scientists since it began operations in 1984. The variety of ISIS research is demonstrated in this blog through the perspective of three ISIS scientists who have been fellows of the Foundation Future Leaders (FFL) programme.
Read MoreThe Rise of AI: Opportunities and risks
- 24 January, 2025
- Annabelle, a year 10 student at Invicta Grammar School
AI is revolutionising our world offering incredible opportunities while posing significant risks. This blog investigates the opportunities of an AI driven society and how to mitigate the risks associated.
Read MoreThe Silman Fund - Supporting diversity at our events
- 13 January, 2025
- General
- Gavin Costigan
In the spirit of widening participation to our events, The Foundation is launching 'The Silman Fund'. Our CEO, Gavin Costigan explores how it works and why it is important.
Read MoreSelling Less of the Family Silver: the Key Challenge for Industrial Policy
- 26 November, 2024
- Business, Technology
- David Connell, Senior Research Associate, Centre for Business Research, Cambridge Judge Business School
The Industrial Strategy Green Paper, with its strong sectoral approach, represents a vital opportunity to revitalise the UK economy. But it has nothing to say about the key barrier to achieving this, the early trade sale of many of our most promising science and technology based companies to foreign corporations, and the truncation of further entrepreneurial growth in the UK.
Read MoreChanging how we think about ageing: Joining up medical sciences, social sciences and the humanities
- 23 October, 2024
- General
- Martina Zimmermann
Achieving attitudinal change to ageing would have far-reaching implications for how we retire, treat and care for older people, fund research and care, and understand intergenerational relations.
Read MoreBuilding bridges between schools and employers
- 24 September, 2024
- Education
- Christina Astin
This is the story of a smart 15-year-old girl who used to want to be a scientist. Let’s call her Amra. Her science lessons tend to be full of facts to memorise without time to understand and few opportunities to do hands-on experiments. She has never visited a workplace and the engineer who visited the school two years ago switched her off because he pitched his talk too high. What can be done to build bridges between the school and employers to help unlock the potential of students like Amra and plug the skills gap?
Read MoreA voice from the Government
- 11 September, 2024
- General
- Charlotte Raynsford, Communication Officer at The Foundation for Science and Technology
As an organisation whose mission it is to bring science and technology together with policy, in a neutral space, it is key to have a Government spokesperson on board every now and then. In this blog, we have handpicked several evening discussions where a Government Chief Scientific Adviser has joined our panel to help us unpick some topical issues of the time.
Read MoreA call for action and a roadmap for the new UK government to support the digital commons
- 10 July, 2024
- Prof Angela Daly, Law & Technology, University of Dundee, UK, Mr Gary Leeming, Director, Liverpool City Region Civic Data Cooperative, UK, Dr Riccardo Nanni, Fondazione Bruno Kessler - Digital Commons Lab, Trento, Italy, & Prof Mathieu O’Neil, Communication, University of Canberra, Australia
The new Labour UK government can strengthen the country’s digital sovereignty and deliver cost-effective and ethical solutions to the public sector by supporting open source software and digital commons. In this blog, the authors (on behalf of the Digital Commons Policy Council) set out a possible roadmap to supporting digital commons.
Read MoreResearch Integrity: a current view from Wellcome
- 8 July, 2024
- Anne Taylor, Associate Director, Funding Operations and Governance, The Wellcome Trust
What is research integrity, why should we care about it, and what is the UK doing in this area - just a few of the issues explored by Anne Taylor in this blog.
Read MoreDefining and teaching AI literacy in education
- 17 June, 2024
- Education, Technology
- Jonathan Lloyd
Exploring definitions, soft power, and the importance of AI literacy for teachers.
Read More