Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A N NU A L REV I E W
April 2006 March 2007
The
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The Society has had a busy and productive year, as this Review reects. A Strategic Framework document was completed, charting a path ahead until 2012. This Review is by no means an exhaustive account, rather a avour of our wide-ranging activities between April 2006 and March 2007. Supporting our Parliamentarians is one of my key aims as President. To this end, work began in this period to appoint our rst Parliamentary Liaison Officer, in partnership with The Royal Society of Chemistry. Former MSP Bristow Muldoon, who is a chemistry graduate, will operate in an entirely non-party-political way across all political parties. We hope he will increase MSPs' access to the Societies' expertise. The post will also act as a bridge between Holyrood, Westminster and the European Parliaments on scientic and cultural issues. Last year our major independent Inquiry focused on the Energy needs of Scotland and its report in June was opportune in stimulating debate. We have maintained the momentum in this eld by following up the report with public meetings all over Scotland. This activity culminated in a major conference in Edinburgh and an updated report. In order to Chair the Societys latest Inquiry into the Future of Scotlands Hill and Island Areas, Professor Gavin McCrone stood down as General Secretary on March 1st. We offer him our thanks for the great contribution he continues to make. In this period, The Presiding Officer of The Scottish Parliament, The Rt Hon George Reid MSP reached the end of a successful term in office. The Society enjoyed a positive relationship with George Reid both in his capacity as Chair of Scotland's Futures Forum and when he presided over our Research Awards Reception held in the Parliament's Chamber in September 2005. I welcome
the new Presiding Officer, Alex Fergusson, particularly as it was he whose motion led to tributes being paid in the Scottish parliament on the 175th anniversary of the birth of James Clerk Maxwell. Another of my principal goals as President is for a statue of James Clerk Maxwell to be erected in Edinburgh. This project began taking shape in 2006 and planning permission has now been granted for an entirely in-keeping monument to Maxwell to be located at the east end of Edinburgh's George Street. This is close to the church he attended as a boy and to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, of which he was a Fellow. Generous pledges of funds towards the statue have already been received and I would welcome dialogue with anyone who would like to support the creation of a monument. It is my hope that the statue project will be well-advanced by the time I demit office in October 2008. The widening breadth of our Events programme has been well-illustrated in this timeframe with signicant conferences on the impact of the Vikings, Alternatives to Prison, and Islam and Democracy, which was broadcast across the Arabic-speaking world by British Satellite News and Al Jazeera television. International activity remains very high on our agenda and thanks are due to Sir Neil MacCormick for the excellent job he has done as International Convener. Increasingly, the Society is web-casting its activities. This enables anyone anywhere in the world with a broadband connection to watch, and even participate, online. Just as dissemination of information is important, evaluating the impact of our activities is central to the RSE and to its strategic partners. As ever, your feedback will help us build upon the innovative approaches in areas such as our Young Peoples Programme and Research Awards, that you can read about in this Review, and strengthen our contribution of public benet.
RSE President Sir Michael Atiyah, OM, FRS, PRSE, HonFREng, HonFMedSci, HonFFA
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providing public benet through: attracting and retaining world-class research talent
BP Research Fellowships
The BP Fellowship for 2006 was awarded to Dr Cristina Persano from the University of Glasgow for her research project, Magnitude and tempo of landscape changes: reading the music. During the year, an event was also held to celebrate what has been achieved by the BP Research Fellowships scheme since it was established in 1988. The event served to raise awareness of this excellent initiative, thank BP for its generous support for the scheme and identify what might be done in the future to enhance and improve it. Lord Browne, then Group Chief Executive, BP (pictured), and several other BP representatives attended the event along with RSE Fellows, including some of the subject-experts who sit on the current selection committee and others who have done so throughout the years. Past and present Research Fellows were also in attendance. Several presented posters and Professor Roger Watt FRSE and Professor Miles Padgett FRSE, both of whom held BP Fellowships, made presentations, demonstrating the lasting benet they have gained from holding these Fellowships.
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providing public benet through: awareness of Scotland as a world-class location for research and development
International Agreements Signed and increased number of Exchange Visits
The RSEs International Programme once again went from strength to strength. New agreements were signed with a number of academies, namely an informal agreement with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in June, and bilateral agreements with the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Slovak Academy of Sciences in August and November respectively. Professor Sir Neil MacCormick, RSE International Convener is pictured with Professor Jn Slezk, First Vice-President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Progress was also made in relation to agreements to be signed in the coming year. Visits totalling 69.5 person-weeks took place through the Bilateral Programme run with sister academies and visits totalling 180.5 person-weeks through the Open Programme. This is a signicant increase from last year, when the RSE awarded exchanges on the Bilateral Programme totalling 55 person-weeks and 83 on the Open Programme.
Vikings Conference
Run jointly with The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, this successful conference encompassed a wide and diverse range of disciplines and brought together all the varied aspects of the Viking impact on Scotland: the history, the archaeology, the place-names and the literary and linguistic evidence. Held in September at the Royal Museum, Edinburgh, The Vikings and Scotland: Impact and Inuence included the latest contribution to the eld of early population history in the form of new genetic studies, an aspect which is going to have a very important role in future consideration of the impact of the Scandinavian invaders on Scotland. The Opening Evening Lecture by the late Magnus Magnusson FRSE summed up the dilemma of uncertainty which has racked the world of Viking studies in the past decades: Saints or sinners? Heroes or villains? Settlers or invaders? Raiders or traders? Pillagers or poets? As he remarked, perhaps indeed they were all of these things. Pictured at the conference are Dr Ole Laerum CorrFRSE, President of the Norwegian Academy (right) with Frans-Arne Stylegar, one of the speakers.
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providing public benet through: a culture that fosters knowledge transfer from a science and cultural base
Enterprise Fellowship Awards
The Enterprise Fellowships scheme, run in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, aims to increase the commercialisation of academic research through technology transfer from the academic institution into a spin-out company. This activity helps create sustainable companies with high-value jobs and contributes to the economy in the long term. During the year six Scottish Enterprise Fellowships were awarded, three each in the elds of Electronic Markets and Life Sciences. A review of the scheme was also undertaken during the year by Ernst & Young. This demonstrated its outstanding success and value. The RSE hopes to secure funding to enable the scheme to continue. (Scottish Enterprise Fellow, Frances Flood of Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde pictured).
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providing public benet through: public appreciation and understanding of science and culture
Islam and Democracy
In May 2006 a conference was held to debate the subject Islam and Democracy. The day-long conference was well attended and was broadcast live to much of the Arabic-speaking world by British Satellite News and Al Jazeera television. The conference aimed to bring together prominent, active speakers to debate the subject, and address several fundamental questions. A point that emerged was that understanding the relationship between Islam and democracy requires a deconstruction of both concepts: democracy is no more a single thing than Islam is, and it could be that some forms of Islam can accept some forms of democracy. Promoting democracy is not the same as imposing it, and it is in the interests of Western governments to create space for more voices to be heard while accepting the consequences of democratisation even if this creates space for voices critical of the West. The conference allowed a free and frank exchange of views and many worthwhile points were made. The event was supported by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and The Edinburgh Institute for the Study of the Arab World and Islam.
Alternatives to Prison
Are custodial sentences the most effective way of combating crime? This three-day conference was organised jointly with Encounter, in December 2006. A group of eminent speakers addressed the issues and discussion sessions allowed the 140 delegates to contribute to the debate. Speakers included: The Rt Hon Lord Hope of Craighead, FRSE, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, The House of Lords; The Rt Hon The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, The Lord Chief Justice of England; The Hon Mr Justice John L Murray, Chief Justice, Ireland; Baroness Vivien Stern CBE, Senior Research Fellow, International Centre for Prison Studies, London; and Baroness Linklater of Butterstone, Chair, Rethinking Crime and Punishment. A Conference Report is available on-line at www.royalsoced.org.uk or on request from events@royalsoced.org.uk
Science Events
During the year the RSE delivered a wide range of public lectures, conferences and discussion forums on science-related subjects, including three discussion forums in the Natural Disasters Earth, Wind, Fire, Water series and Professor Sue Blacks FRSE Lecture on Forensic anthropology the journey from Culloden to Iraq, part of the fteenth series of The Edinburgh Lectures, on the theme, Inspiring People. Dr Athna Coustenis, Astronomer, Paris-Meudon Observatory (pictured) took part in the Robert Cormack Bequest workshop held at the RSE, presenting a lecture on The Cassini-Huygens mission at Titan.
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providing public benet through: inspiring young people, primarily in the eld of science, but also other areas covered by the wider school curriculum
E-learning Stem Cells CD
Following the Stem Cell Research Discussion Forum which took place in June 2006, this project was expanded to enable all students from throughout Scotland to access the resources associated with the event. To this end a CD-Rom, including video material of all the presentations that occurred during the Discussion Forum, resources for teachers and a student debate pack were produced and sent to all schools in Scotland. The RSE compiled a report of the day which highlights students opinions on this important topic and this report was also sent to Scotlands key Public Policy-Makers along with the CD-Rom. These resources are now also available through the RSE website at www.royalsoced.org.uk/schools/e-learning/stem_cells/index.html
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providing public benet through: informing decisions taken by Parliaments and policy-makers
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The Fellowship
The Societys Fellowship includes men and women from all parts of Scotland, the UK and overseas, and encompasses the full range of disciplines, including science, engineering, social sciences, arts, humanities, law, business and industry. The discipline balance of the Fellowship can be broadly represented by four cognate sectors. In the Ordinary Fellowship the current balance of these sectors is 36% (Life Sciences), 37% (Physical, Engineering and Informatic Sciences), 19% (Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities) and 8% (Economics, Business and Industry). This represents a slight increase from 2006 in the representation of those from the latter two groups.
composer and Composer/Conductor in Association with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Overseas-based new Corresponding Fellows include The Very Reverend Iain Torrance, President of Princeton Theological Seminary and former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and distinguished mathematician, Professor Nicolai Krylov.
Case Studies
International Exchange Visitors from Overseas
Scottish-based host: Dr Murray Roberts, Higher Scientic Officer, Scottish Association for Marine Science. Visitor: Dr. Steve W. Ross, Research Faculty, University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Funding from the RSE International Exchange Programme supported the visit of Dr Ross to join a research cruise on the R/V Pelagia and to visit the Scottish Association for Marine Science. Dr Ross joined the R/V Pelagia as part of an initiative to begin comparisons and joint studies on deep coral habitats on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to learning new techniques (multibeam mapping, box coring, benthic landers), Dr Ross obtained samples of Lophelia pertusa tissue and Madrepora for genetics studies. These will be valuable for long distance comparisons with the extensive western Atlantic samples. Structurally, there is a lot of similarity between coral banks at the Rockall Bank mounds and those off the southeastern US, and this cruise was invaluable for the insight it provided. Following the visit, a grant of 250,000 has been awarded to Dr Roberts by the European Union. This will allow him to work in North Carolina for 16 months to develop plans for the rst ocean basin scale assessment of cold-water coral ecosystems. After this, Dr Roberts will return to Scotland with funding from the ECs Marie Curie fellowship scheme for a further eight months to complete work on this 'Trans-Atlantic Coral Ecosytem Study. In addition, it is likely that the Dutch cold-water coral researchers will send their benthic landers to the USA to study the deepwater reefs. These expensive systems (akin to lunar landers) allow the monitoring of processes at the seaoor. Drs Ross and Roberts believe the RSE support was pivotal in developing this initiative which is now growing into a larger project. Plateau is overgrazing. The Chinese governments focus in the past 40 years has been to increase animal production in the north-western provinces. Livestock densities have increased and heavy grazing has led to loss of vegetation cover and soil erosion in some areas and invasion by unpalatable species of plants in others. The situation is more complex however, with two species of small mammals the pika and zokor also blamed for overgrazing. Both species are poisoned in government-sponsored rodent control programmes with corresponding impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem function. The rst area of collaboration as a result of this visit is the analysis and publication of existing long-term data from the Sunnan area of Gansu Province. The second is the joint supervision of existing and new Chinese PhD students working in the Headwater of Yellow River area of Qinghai Province. These students will focus on linkages between soil microbial processes and above ground biodiversity. Finally, long-term experiments are to be set-up that are needed to tease apart the complex interactions between livestock, rodents, vegetation and climate change.
LESLEY PICTURED WITH THE FIRST EVER PARKINSONS DISEASE PARTICIPANT, RON FRASER, LOOKING OVER THEIR NEWEST EXPERIMENT.
Case Studies
Dr Lesley Jessiman Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland PhD Student 2000 2003
The principal focus of Dr Jessimans PhD was to understand how normal and pathological ageing (Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers disease) affect non-automatic language functions. Examples of non-automatic language functions are learning a second language, learning new names, learning to read, understanding jokes and gurative language and holding conversations. These types of language functions rely on conscious access to information and therefore place more demands on working memory than more automatic language functions such as visual word recognition. Her research thus focused on how the processes involved in these types of language functions change in normal ageing, Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers disease and how these changes affect peoples ability to communicate effectively with others. Being granted a Lloyds TSB/RSE studentship beneted the research tremendously because its principal aim throughout the three years was to remain true to the remit of the studentship: to improve the quality of life of the ageing population. Another benet of the studentship was the opportunities it provided to speak with other RSE PhD students and post-doctoral fellows interested in ageing research, which at that time was a somewhat neglected area of research. After nishing the PhD Dr Jessiman went on to become a postdoctoral research fellow working with PhD supervisor Professor Trevor Harley and Dr Siobhan MacAndrew on a research project funded by the Parkinsons Disease Society, UK. The ndings obtained from the PhD were of great importance because they informed and guided the research carried out for this grant. Research revealed marked qualitative and quantitative changes in the way people with Parkinsons disease communicate information resulting from disturbances of frontal-lobe function in Parkinsons disease. The intention is to continue the research looking specically at how frontal-lobe disturbances in Parkinsons disease and normal ageing affect language that relies on theory of mind, i.e. understanding what another person knows, believes or feels. Effective communication provides richness to everyones lives irrespective of age, but it is of great importance to the ageing population because it is known that the lives of the elderly can become increasingly more isolated. In this sense a better understanding of how communication abilities change across the lifespan is of utmost importance.
Dr Val Mann Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Personal Research Fellow 2003 2006
It is inevitable as we age that we lose bone strength and the outward manifestation of this age-related decline is frailty, the clinical outcome of which is often fracture as a result of osteoporosis. Physical activity has been shown to be an essential factor in bone health and the skeletal benets of exercise can be demonstrated throughout our life cycle. However, it is remarkable that despite our general belief in the importance of mechanical stimuli and exercise to bone health, we remain unclear as to the cellular and molecular structures/systems which contribute to the mechano-response in bone. In a research project funded by Royal Society of Edinburgh /Lloyds TSB Foundation, Dr Val Mann, at the University of Edinburgh, has identied the importance of mechanical stimulation (exercise) in the maintenance of osteocyte viability within bone (Mann et al. The inuence of mechanical stimulation on osteocyte apoptosis and bone viability in human trabecular bone. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2006 Oct-Dec;6(4):408-17). In follow-up studies employing state-of-the-art molecular techniques, a number of novel mechanoresponsive genes have been identied which will provide the information needed for the design of pharmacological interventions on conditions of reduced bone mass, and the identication of genetic markers of disease risk will be benecial. Dr Mann is currently seeking further funding for the continuation of these studies. Dr Mann is also a participant in the RSE@schools initiative and presents a talk to children of all school years entitled What does your granny have in common with a spaceman? In this talk Dr Mann explains that spacemen and the elderly both suffer loss of bone mass and strength, which results in an increased risk of bone fracture. She goes on to answer questions such as How does our bone sense and translate mechanical signals?, What goes wrong in ageing and disease? and Can we do anything to prevent bone loss?
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Financial Review
The RSEs nancial position continued to strengthen during the year with an operating surplus of 246,000 and an improvement in the RSEs net assets of 604,000. However, the total of incoming resources at 3.638m was marginally lower (2%) than the previous year. The principal cause was an 8.5% reduction in income from Scottish Executive and related public sector bodies due to curtailment or transfer of responsibilities for programmes which the RSE has been managing. It is a feature of the RSEs activities that income is affected by decisions by the public sector on the quantum and timing of their programmes. On the cost side, total expenditure increased by 7% to 3.392m. The operational activities, comprising public benet programmes which the RSE manages with externally generated funds, continue to result in a decit. The shortfall at this level is the difference between the full cost of managing these programmes and the income received. The operating loss is funded by the RSEs own income, which comes from subscriptions from Fellows, investments and property income. This subsidy of current programmes constrains the RSEs ability to develop its planned future activities, which are set out in the Strategic Framework. It is the intention to invest for future development and efficiency gains as the RSEs nancial position strengthens.
In addition, further adjustments are made to meet the SORP accounting requirements regarding recognition of income in earlier periods than those in which expenditure is incurred, which were explained in last years review. The result for the year after these adjustments was an overall surplus of 246,000 in 2006/2007 compared to the exceptional 551,000 in the previous year. Meanwhile, the balance sheet beneted from investment gains of 216,000 and from an actuarial gain on the RSEs pension position of 142,000. These two changes, together with the operating surplus of 246,000, account for the increase in the RSEs net assets from 11.2m to 11.8m. Of this total, those assets which are entirely at the discretion of the RSE amount to 6.5m, of which 4.2m is represented by the RSEs premises. So although the RSEs overall nancial position is improving, our nancial base is still inadequate to enable the RSE to contribute to the community in Scotland as comprehensively as it has the capacity and wish to do.
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The gures above have been extracted from the audited accounts for the period ended 31 March 2007 which carried an unqualied audit report. The full Trustees report and audited accounts are obtainable in hard copy from 22 26 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PQ or on the RSE website www.royalsoced.org.uk.
Basis of opinion We have carried out the procedures we consider necessary to ascertain whether the summarised review is consistent with the annual accounts from which it has been prepared. Opinion In our opinion the nancial review is consistent with the annual accounts for the year ended 31 March 2007. HENDERSON LOGGIE, EDINBURGH, SEPTEMBER 2007
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780
Promotion of research & innovation
528
Investment income
1,432
522
Voluntary income (donations & grants)
12
180
184
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
119
Providing advice
304
Supporting research
1,236
Supporting innovation
586
Communicating knowledge
638
Promoting international awareness
226
Sustaining and utilising Fellowship
121
Governance
162
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
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The Society is registered in Scotland as Scottish Charity No. SC0000470 Inland Revenue Claim Board Reference CR 18102
The Royal Society of Edinburgh was founded in 1783. It is Scotlands national academy. Its Fellowship includes some of the best intellectual talent in academia, the professions and business. It facilitates public debate, research programmes, educational projects and strategy formulation. Its strength is its diversity and impartiality. The Societys unique multi-disciplinary approach enables it to draw from and link with a broad spectrum of expertise to advance the understanding of globally-important issues. In fullling its Royal Charter for the advancement of learning and useful knowledge, the RSE is seeking to contribute to the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of Scotland.
The
The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22 26 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PQ T F E W 0131 240 5000 0131 240 5024 rse@royalsoced.org.uk www.royalsoced.org.uk