Scottish Science Advisory Committee

According to its own website:

The Scottish Science Advisory Committee was established in May 2002, under the auspices of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, to provide independent advice to Scottish Executive Ministers on strategic scientific issues, including science strategy, science policy and science priorities.

Elsewhere the SSAC states that it was established 'with funding from the Scottish Executive'.

People

The following list is from the SSAC website:

• Professor Wilson Sibbett CBE, FRS, FRSE Chair of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee and Wardlaw Professor of Physics, University of St Andrews. Professor Sibbett is recognised as a pioneer and world authority in ultrafast lasers, nonlinear optics and optoelectronics/photonics and he has published over 300 scientific journal papers in these areas. His work has wide-ranging applications in the field of ultrafast science and technology, including optical communications and photobiology. He is presently the Co-Technical Director of the St Andrews Photonics Innovation Centre which promotes the linkage of academic research to applications in industry, Director of an EPSRC-funded Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (Ultrafast Photonics Collaboration) on ultrahigh speed data-communications and Co-Director of a SHEFC-funded Strategic Research Development Grant on the application of photonics to biology and medicine. He received the Rank Prize for Optoelectronics in 1997 and the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society for "Research into Ultrashort-pulse Laser Science and Technology" in 2000. In 2002 he was awarded the Quantum Electronics Prize by the European Physical Society in recognition of the 'excellence and enduring impact' of his major research contributions. Email: wsibbett@scottishscience.org.uk

• Professor Steven Beaumont OBE, CEng, MIEE, FRSE Vice Principal, Research and Enterprise, and Professor of Nanoelectronics, University of Glasgow. Professor Beaumont was previously Director of the Institute for System Level Integration (ISLI) where he was concerned with improving the links between industry and academic education and research. His research interests focus on nanotechnology and its application in physical and biological sciences. Professor Beaumont is a Director of Electronics Scotland, a member of the Technology Talent Strategy Board, a member of ITI Techmedia Advisory Board and a member of the Electronics Advisory Group, SEM Sector Skills Council.

• Professor Geoffrey Boulton OBE, FGS, FRS, FRSE Vice Principal and Regius Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Edinburgh. Professor Boulton is a member of the Committee for Science and Technology and Chairs its Science and Society subgroup. He is also the Chair of SHEFC's Knowledge Transfer Taskforce and of the Institute for Science Education in Scotland. Professor Boulton has wide experience of chairing and serving on a broad range of UK and international scientific bodies. His research, for which he has received a number of international awards, is concerned with global environmental change, with implications for issues such as the disposal of radioactive waste.

• Professor Muffy Calder, FIEE, FRSE Head of the Department of Computing Science and Professor of Computing Science, University of Glasgow. Professor Calder's research interests are in modelling and reasoning about the behaviour of complex software and biochemical systems using mathematics and automated reasoning tools. She has long-standing industrial collaborations with many world-leading IT companies and has been a research fellow at BT Laboratories and DEC in California. She is a member of the IEE (Institution of Electrical Engineers) research policy group. Professor Calder has a particular interest in how science and technology are perceived outside academia and is particularly interested in developing a better public understanding of the science behind computer science.

• Professor Sir Kenneth Calman KCB, FRCS, FRCP, FMedSci FRSE Vice Chancellor, University of Durham. Sir Kenneth has been Chief Medical Officer at the Scottish Office Home and Health Department and Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health in London. He was Professor of Oncology and Dean of Postgraduate Medicine and Medical Education, University of Glasgow. He has recently carried out a Review of Basic Medical Education in Scotland, for the Scottish Executive and currently chairs an expert group to review NHS genetic services and the application of new genetic knowledge in Scotland.

• Professor John Coggins FRSE Director, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Dean, Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences and Professor of Molecular Enzymology, University of Glasgow. Professor Coggins leads one of the largest unified academic biological and biomedical science departments in Europe. His research interests focus on the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of amino acids and nucleotides as potential targets for novel drugs and herbicides. Professor Coggins is Vice President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Chairman of the Heads of University Biological Science Departments and a member of the Biochemical Society's Executive Committee and Council. He is also a Trustee of the Glasgow Science Centre.

• Professor Julie Fitzpatrick MRCVS Chief Executive and Scientific Director of the Moredun Group. Professor Fitzpatrick's research interests focus on farm animal health and disease, animal welfare and food safety and quality. She was previously Professor in Farm Animal Medicine at the University of Glasgow. Professor Fitzpatrick is Senior Vice President to the Association of Veterinary Teachers and Research Workers and is a member of the RCVS Research Committee. She is also a member of the UK Veterinary Residues Committee, the UK Advisory Committee on Animal Feedstuffs and the Veterinary Policy Group of the BVA. In 1993 she was awarded the G Norman Hall Medal for research into animal diseases by the RCVS Trust.

• Professor Peter Grant FREng, FRSE, FIEE, FIEEE Head of the School of Engineering & Electronics, and Professor of Electronic Signal Processing, University of Edinburgh. Professor Grant's primary research interests are applying signal and information processing techniques for application in mobile communication and radar systems. In 2004 the IEE awarded its most prestigious honour, the Faraday Medal to Professor Grant in recognition of his outstanding work on signal processing. Professor Grant was the IEEE Signal Processing Society distinguished lecturer on DSP for Mobile Communications in 1998, which took him on a lecturing tour to 25 countries. He was previously President of EURASIP, the European Association for Signal, Speech and Image Processing. He was the Chair of the Electronics and Electrical Engineering panel in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise serving previously on the 1992 and 1996 panels. He was an IEE Proceedings editor for 18 years. He is a director of the ISLI in Livingston, the Mobile VCE and the Edinburgh Technology Transfer Centre. He also a member of the Supervisory Board for the Defence Technology Centre in 'Electromagnetic and Remote Sensing' with an annual research spend of �5 M.

• Dr Stuart Monro CGeol., FGS, ILTM, FRSSA Scientific Director, Our Dynamic Earth and formerly Principal Geologist, British Geological Survey (BGS) in Edinburgh. Dr Monro has made distinguished contributions to our understanding of the geology of central Scotland and in the application of geology to environmental issues through his work at the BGS. He has significant experience of teaching geology at all levels in the Open University and has been a member of the Council of the Open University (1994-2002). Dr Monro played a key role in establishing Our Dynamic Earth, and has ongoing responsibility for the scientific content of the exhibition. He is co-convenor of the Steering Group of the Scottish Earth Science Education Forum (SESEF) and is a leading practitioner in promoting science to a wide audience.

• Professor Peter Morgan FRSE Scientific Director and Chief Executive of the Rowett Research Institute (RRI), Aberdeen and Honorary Professor of Zoology at the University of Aberdeen. He is also a Director of Rowett Research Services a wholly owned subsidiary of RRI. Professor Morgan Chairs the Committee of the Heads of the Agricultural and Biological Organisations of Scotland and sits on a number of steering groups of the Scottish Executive's Chief Scientist's Office. He is heavily involved in European research initiatives, as a scientific advisor to the DIfE Human Nutrition Institute in Potsdam, Germany, and as a member of the Governing Council of the EU Framework VI Nutrigenomics Centre of Excellence programme. His personal research interests are in the area of molecular endocrinology, focusing on the molecular basis of body weight regulation with the aims of identifying novel genes and unravelling the complex pathways involved in energy homeostasis. He is currently Vice President of the European Pineal and Biological Rhythms Society.

• Professor Richard Morris FMedSci, FRS, FRSE Professor of Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh. Professor Morris's research focuses on neurobiological mechanisms of memory, including studies of neurodegenerative disorders of memory such as Alzheimer's disease. He is the life sciences co-oordinator of the Foresight Cognitive Systems Project, an initiative which has brought physical and life scientists together to provide a vision for the future development of cognitive systems through an exploration of recent advances in neuroscience and computer science. Professor Morris holds an Adjunct Professorship of Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, is President-Elect of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies, a Guarantor of Brain, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Alzheimer's Research Trust.

• Dr John Nicholls Chief Executive, Photonic Materials Ltd., Bellshill. A physicist by discipline, Dr Nicholls has been successful in commercialising his scientific research in both Scotland and the USA. In 1998 he was awarded a Royal Society of Edinburgh/Scottish Enterprise Fellowship, which allowed him to establish the company Photonic Materials. The business develops and manufactures novel optical crystal products for medical scanners and solid-state lasers. Under Dr Nicholls' direction the company has successfully transitioned from a telecommunications focus to target the medical imaging market. Working with leading customers in the industry, Photonic Materials has introduced new detector crystals for next generation Positron Emission Tomography (PET) body scanners, used in cancer detection and treatment. The company has established strong links with leading international institutions including a number of Scottish universities.

• Professor Stuart Reid MRCVS, FRSE Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, and Professor of Veterinary Informatics and Epidemiology, Departments of Clinical Studies and Statistics and Modelling Science, Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. Professor Reid is a statistical epidemiologist in the fields of both human and veterinary medicine. Based upon experience in clinical medicine, molecular biology, information science and quantitative epidemiology, his research interests are focused on the combined application of these disciplines in the development of inferential and predictive disease models to assist in approaches to the diagnosis, investigation and management of animal disease. A vet with experience of the private and public sector, Professor Reid has worked in Africa, the USA, is a Visiting Professor at the University of Sydney, is President of the European College of Veterinary Public Health and a member of the UK Veterinary Products Committee.

• Professor Jonathan Seckl FRCPE, FMedSci, FRSE holds the Moncrieff-Arrnott Chair of Molecular Medicine, and is Head of the School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University Of Edinburgh. A practising clinician, he also holds an honorary consultant post with Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust. Professor Seckl leads a large and successful multidisciplinary research group that is focused on steroid hormone action taking an approach that takes the science from 'cloning to clinic'.

• Dr Barbara Spruce MRCP, PhD Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, University of Dundee. Dr Spruce was a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Clinical Science for a period of ten years between 1991 and 2001. Dr Spruce's interests lie in translational cancer research, and in delivering the outputs of her research on cancer to the oncology clinic. In 2003 Dr Spruce was awarded the inaugural Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for her work on innovative technology to fight cancer cells. She has also been a recipient of a Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept award and a Scottish Enterprise Tayside Commercialisation Fellowship, awards that have assisted the practical implementation of her research. She has a particular interest in forging partnerships between academia and industry, to the benefit of both.

• Professor Joyce Tait CBE, Director, ESRC Centre for Social and Economic Research on Innovation in Genomics (Innogen), University of Edinburgh. Innogen is studying the evolution of genomics and life sciences and their far-reaching social and economic implications. Professor Tait has an interdisciplinary background in natural and social sciences including risk assessment and regulation, policy analysis, technology management in the agrochemical and biotechnology industries, strategic and operational decision making in companies and public bodies, public attitudes and communication. She is a member of the Scientific and Technical Council of International Risk Governance Council and is a past President of the Society for Risk Analysis - Europe. Professor Tait was Director of the SHEFC-funded Scottish Universities Policy Research Advice Network (SUPRA) and was Deputy Director of Research and Advisory Services for Scottish Natural Heritage.

• Chris van der Kuyl FRSE: Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIS entertainment Ltd

• Graham Wren BSc, MSc, Director, Scotland AEA Technology. Graham Wren has a background in engineering design and project management but now focuses on managing the interface between basic ideas and commercialisation. He has been responsible for a number of start up companies and he has a key interest in the growth of scientific based companies in Scotland. His responsibilities include the establishment of AEAs new Technology Centre in Scotland. Graham Wren is a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and a Member of the Institute of Directors. He is a Chartered Engineer and one of the UK's first Chartered Directors.

contact

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