{"id":7022,"date":"2026-05-24T11:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/?p=7022"},"modified":"2026-05-24T11:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:00:10","slug":"science-society-and-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/2026\/05\/24\/science-society-and-responsibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Science, Society and Responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Royal Society\u2019s recent report Science for Society<\/a> spells out the importance of Public Engagement around science for wider society. It is the successor to the so-called Bodmer Report of 1985<\/a>, which had a profound impact across the sector, indeed it \u2018had an overall impact beyond all expectations<\/em>\u2019, according to Sir Walter Bodmer\u2019s own Preface to this year\u2019s report. That all parts of UKRI now place expectations on researchers to do their bit around public engagement is something that that first report prompted, alongside prizes awarded by the Royal Society itself and the creation of National Science Week.<\/p>\n

However, over the past 40 years much has changed in our world, from the Worldwide Web to AI, but also the place of science in society. Trust in science has changed its colour, particularly in recent years, with topics like climate change denial and vaccine hesitancy both highlighting these changes. The onus on scientists \u2013 wherever they work \u2013 to talk about their work and why it matters has never been greater, but it can come at a cost, as the authors of Science Under Siege<\/a> make clear (two academics working in those two spaces I mention above, where vitriol stretching out to death threats is most virulent). For most of us, turning up at a Science Festival or going into a school to talk about the fascination of science and\/or the specifics of one\u2019s own field is harmless enough, but for some people who are prepared to stand up and challenge the anti-science lobby the price can be much higher. Advocacy always comes at a cost, in time, energy and potentially mental health.<\/p>\n

However, let me step back from those extreme examples to discuss the more innocuous kinds of public engagement. As Richard Jones has recently pointed out<\/a>, we cannot assume the remarkable cross-party political consensus in the UK in support of funding scientific research will continue. It has been predicated on the assumption that research and innovation promote economic growth \u2013 which they do \u2013 but not in a simple, linear and highly visible way. Few scientists can directly point to some fundamental research of theirs which has led to an improvement in their local economy or the creation of a unicorn company employing substantial numbers of the local population. It is never that simple. At a time when wages have stagnated, jobs are under threat (not least from AI), particularly at entry level, and when we\u2019re facing a new energy crisis due to the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz, people will want to see Government spending directed at areas where immediate relief from the cost of living pressures, or improvements to access in healthcare or SEND provision will more visibly and swiftly improve their lot in life.<\/p>\n

That being so, it is even more important that every scientist takes some responsibility for talking about their work in ways that are widely accessible, but which also don\u2019t overpromise. There is no doubt that some topics better lend themselves to this, and also that some people are better at engaging with the layperson than others. But we have a duty to get out into the wider world to talk about both why science is important and why it\u2019s fun, far more enjoyable than most school lessons. The data <\/a>shows how the majority of teenagers lose their early enthusiasm for science as they move up in secondary school through KS3 and KS4 (and, in particular, they miss the opportunity to do hands on practical work). The curriculum can seem dry and narrow and a visiting scientist (if they\u2019re any good at it) can bring the abstraction of the curriculum to life. That is equally true at Science Festivals.<\/p>\n

However, places with Science Festivals are often the more well-heeled areas and somehow one has to reach out to wider audiences who aren\u2019t already clear about why science matters. Likewise, some schools get multiple speakers turning up, others hardly ever have a visitor. In my dealings with Speakers for Schools<\/a> I have always insisted, both that I don\u2019t have to travel too far, but also that I am sent to less advantaged schools away from Cambridge city itself. Going out into the Fens is a good wake-up call for me, and I hope of interest to the schools I visit. We shouldn\u2019t be lazy about who we talk to, because I suspect the localities of where most researchers work is likely to be in the more affluent areas and we need to get further afield.<\/p>\n

\"soapbox<\/a>Standing on the South Bank in the rain for Soapbox Science 2012<\/em><\/p>\n

I like the model of Soapbox Science<\/a>, which just sets up a \u2018platform\u2019 in the centre of cities (now extending all round the world, although having started in London), where anyone walking past can stop and listen for as long or as little as they like. Although set up as a means of showcasing women and non-binary scientists (which it has certainly done, to the tune of nearly 3000 individuals; I participated in 2012<\/a>, standing in the rain at some seemingly random place on the South Bank in London), its impact can also be measured by the audience reaction. These aren\u2019t people who have paid to get a ticket, they are simply people passing by, caught unawares by the woman on the soapbox. The organisation\u2019s own data <\/a>states that 96% of attendees rated Soapbox Science as enjoyable or extremely enjoyable and, even more impressively, 43% of those casual passers by who stop to listen, report they rarely or never attend science events. These are the hard-to-reach audiences we need to keep trying to reach.<\/p>\n

To my mind, this is absolutely in line with the spirit of the Science for Society Report and adjacent to Richard Jones\u2019 commentary, that we cannot assume policy-makers will continue to support science if they can\u2019t see either economic growth or an appetite for it from the electorate. I fear too often the science community just thinks it so self-evident that science is a Good Thing we continue to live in our bubbles, ignoring what is happening in the wider world. We need to do better, and not just preach to the already converted.<\/p>\n

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The Royal Society\u2019s recent report Science for Society spells out the importance of Public Engagement around science for wider society. It is the successor to the so-called Bodmer Report of 1985, which had a profound impact across the sector, indeed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,5],"tags":[290,1760,1761],"class_list":["post-7022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communicating-science","category-science-culture","tag-public-engagement","tag-soapbox-science","tag-walter-bodmer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7022"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7026,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7022\/revisions\/7026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/athenedonald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}