In which we look to the horizon: science is more vital than ever

When Science Is Vital joined with hundreds of other organizations to successfully fend off threatened cuts to the science budget in 2010, the next Spending Review seemed aeons away. By now, of course, most scientists in Britain have heard the persistent rumor that the next Review will be brought forth to some unspecified date in 2013 – in other words, it could be right around the corner. Meanwhile, our economy continues to flounder, punctuated by gloomy headlines predicting that full recovery could be years away. Not, in other words, the climate you really want to be in when the Government starts casting about for further ways to tighten its belt.

This time around, fortunately, we have a lot more than six weeks to make some noise. Science is Vital plans to step into the fray, and we need your help and ideas to put together a new campaign to remind politicians that science is vital for the UK economy.

What can you do?

Come to our first Annual General Meeting, which will be held in Central London on 13 September (7-10 PM, fine details TBA). In addition to the formal AGM, we will have a line-up of interesting speakers and entertainers, plus food and a cash bar, so it should be a fun evening.

To be able to vote, you will need to have become a member within the last calendar year, which you can do by contributing the paltry sum of £3.14 per year (or a multiple of π if you’re feeling generous). Every penny goes towards the business of SIV: we have no salaries or overheads to cover.

Space will be limited, so RSVP as soon as you can.

Our humongous Facebook presence got badly mangled in the platform’s bizarre Group Archiving exercise a few months back, so please go along to our new page and help restore its former glory. And you can support us on twitter by following @scienceisvital.

To convince the Government that science is vital for the UK economy, we’ll need to support the gathering of evidence and behind-the-scenes conversations with politicians. A great way to do this is to join the Campaign for Science and Engineering to enable their superlative work on our behalf. Closer to the time, we should all drop a letter to our MPs and make our convictions known.

Working together, let’s gear up to keep science safe on the other side of the horizon.