In Bruce Alberts‘ keynote tonight kicking off Canada’s first Science Policy Conference, he highlighted two approaches to increasing the role of science on policy decisions. Here they are:
- To spread science, we need to spread scientists. Scientists in government, pre-college education, law, media and business can bridge cultures. Academic programs need to encourage alternate careers. He strongly recommends a National Academies-type science fellowship program for Canada.
- Outreach and aid internationally to build strong scientific organizations/academies in other nations. E.g., Canada’s efforts through the International Development Research Centre.
These actually sound like one strategy to me: dispersal. It just has two axes. One is dispersal of scientists among careers, and the other is dispersal of scientists among nations. Count my vote for multi-dimensional dispersal of scientists. The more empiricists, the merrier.
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Canadian Science Policy Conference Video: Bruce Alberts, Preston Manning and Other Luminaries « The Cross-Border Biotech Blog // December 8, 2009 at 12:45 pm |
[...] involvement of scientists in politics at all levels. I discussed Bruce Alberts’ proposals in a blog post at the time. [...]