Science Council 2021 Highlights
Women in STEM
Following the success of our podcast series in 2020, the Science Council is celebrating the achievements of women in STEM for the International Day and Women and Girls in Science on 11th February 2021.
For 2021, we’re featuring a blog series of women working across science focusing on the theme: How has COVID-19 has affected your workplace and career in science?
Development Licence
The Science Council launched a new licensing option for professional bodies in science and engineering in March 2021.
The Development Licence is an introductory licence available to new member organisations for the first 2 years of their professional registration journey, and was created to make licensing more accessible and to support organisations to administer professional registration applications and CPD.
Organisations will be able to support their members through professional registration and continued professional development, while gaining experience of the process with the support of the Science Council.
Find out more about the licence here.
Connected for COP26
In July, we launched our #Connected4COP26 campaign. The Science Council is celebrating and recognising the collaborative effort of our members to combat climate change.
Securing global net zero by mid-century and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees requires huge collaboration and connected thinking.
In the lead up to COP26, held for the first time in the UK this November, we’re showcasing the outstanding contribution of scientists and science technicians working on the latest research for a greener future.
From air quality and climate modelling to renewable technologies and sustainable inventions, we can only rise to the challenges of climate change by working together.
Read the stories behind COP26 here.
New President and Board of Trustees
The Science Council was pleased to welcome several new colleagues to the Science Council community. In May, we announced the election of Professor Carole Mundell as the Science Council President, and Adam Donnan as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees.
In July, we welcomed five new Trustees to the Board. Dr Samantha Cheung, Jane Pritchard, Dariel Burdass, Alison Hemsworth and Lorraine Turner join the Board for a three year term from 2021-2024. Meet them here.
Progression Framework 2.0 and Benchmarking
The Diversity and Inclusion Progression Framework 2.0 was updated for 2021, providing a tool for professional bodies to assess and monitor their progress on diversity and inclusion. Developed in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering, this is a key element of the support available for Science Council member organisations, as they seek to embed diversity in their strategies and planning.
In addition, the Science Council produces benchmarking reports in association with our members to give an overview of how the science professional body sector is performing.
Click here for the 2021 Scientific Bodies Benchmarking report.
Policy and influence
In September, the Science Council connected with the UK Government and Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance to discuss the recent publication of the Government Science and Engineering Profession (GSEP) strategy.
The Science Council shared its support and collaboration with the UK Government regarding the new strategy.
Read the letter to Sir Patrick Vallance here.
In October, the Science Council, alongside 26 of its member organisations have written a joint letter to Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, regarding the 2021 Spending Review, which set departmental Resource and Capital DEL budgets from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
Read the letter and our response to the spending review here.
CPD Awards
November was a busy month for the Science Council. On the 9th November, we celebrated our annual CPD Awards, now in its 7th year. The Science Council and our hard-working registrants spent the week highlighting the outstanding CPD that our winners and commendations have undertaken this year. Meet our winners here.
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