The Geek Manifesto: should science play a bigger role in politics & policy?
Come and join a public debate, hosted by SPRU, on Tuesday 29 May, 6.00pm-7.30pm (doors and drinks from 5.30pm).
Venue: The Freeman Centre, University of Sussex
The Panel
Mark Henderson
Author of The Geek Manifesto & Director of Communications at The Wellcome Trust
Laurence Pearl
Professor of Structural Biology & Head of School of Life Sciences
Melissa Leach
Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies & Director, ESRC STEPS Centre
Steven Hill
Head of Strategy Unit, Research Councils UK
Richard Tol
Professor of Economics
James Wilsdon
Professor of Science & Democracy, SPRU (Chair)
Whether we want to improve education or cut crime, to enhance public health or to generate clean energy, science is critical. Yet politics and public life too often occupy an evidence-free zone. Just one of our 650 MPs is a scientist. Ministers ignore, and even sack, scientific advisers who offer inconvenient evidence. The NHS spends taxpayers’ money on sugar pills it knows won’t work, while public funding for research that would boost the economy is cut.
In his agenda-setting new book, Mark Henderson builds a powerful case for science to become more central to government and the national conversation. Join us on 29 May to hear Mark Henderson present The Geek Manifesto, followed by a panel debate. In Henderson’s words: ‘It’s time to mobilise the geeks!’
This event forms part of the 2012 SPRU DPhil Day. For more details, see: www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/newsandevents/dphildays/dphilday2012
For more information on the book, visit the Geek Manifesto website
