On Friday 21 March Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle and the UK Parliament鈥檚 Knowledge Exchange Unit held an event on engaging with Parliament at the 小欧视频 of Sheffield, presented by the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre and the Grantham Centres for Sustainable Futures.
Baroness Bennett gave insights as a Member of the House of Lords on how she engages with the research community and why mobilising research evidence into Parliament is so valuable for policy-makers. The Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU) talked through how research is used in the UK Parliament, the specific routes for sharing evidence and expertise, and their top tips for researchers.
At the end of this enlightening session the audience came away with a clear understanding of Parliamentary processes and a list of actionable steps to help them start sharing their research and expertise.
Richard Sulley, Senior Research Fellow for the Grantham Centre, said, 鈥淚t was great to have Baroness Bennett join us for the afternoon to deliver a talk to assembled researchers about how Parliament works and how to best interact with what can appear to be a complex and unwieldy process. Natalie also took the time to attend a showcase of some sustainability projects we are involved in and provided valuable feedback. We are very grateful to her for sharing her considerable experience and enthusiasm for continuous inquiry.
Royal Society Pairing Scheme
Insigneo member Dr Joshua Astley from the School of Medicine and Population Health also received a visit from Baroness Bennett earlier in the day as part of The Royal Society鈥檚 Pairing Scheme which allows policymakers and research scientists to experience each other鈥檚 worlds.
Baroness Benett visited POLARIS (Pulmonary, Lung and Respiratory Imaging Sheffield) at the 小欧视频 of Sheffield and learnt about Dr Astley鈥檚 research with Professor Jim Wild, using hyperpolarised 129Xe MRI imaging techniques instead of computed tomography (CT) scans to avoid exposure to radiation. These techniques are very sensitive, safe (even for children and infants), and are being used in a variety of ways.
As part of the pairing scheme Dr Astley also visited UK Parliament for a programme of activities including talks, tours and work shadowing his host, Baroness Benett.
Reflecting on his experience Dr Astley said, 鈥淚 had a great time interacting with members of our government and other amazing scientists who are interested in involving scientific research as part of evidence-led policy.
鈥淔or me, this meant discussing how the work we do at POLARIS can lead to structural and functional lung MR imaging becoming a key tool in treating respiratory patients, particularly in regard to early diagnosis and community monitoring.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to thank Baroness Natalie Bennett for being such a wonderful host all week and Claire Hurst, along with her team from The Royal Society, for organising a brilliant experience for myself and the other scientists involved in the scheme.
鈥淚t was inspiring to see the will and desire of policymakers to involve science in government policy.鈥
More about the Royal Society Pairing Scheme
From 24 March, 30 UK scientists swapped places with politicians and civil servants for four days, exploring the world of politics as part of the annual Royal Society Pairing Scheme.
The scheme has been running since 2001 in partnership with the Government Office for Science's GSE Profession Team. It aims to help to build relationships between scientists and politicians, ensuring that policymakers can make decisions based on the best scientific evidence.
The scheme took place in the week that Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave her Spring Statement, at a time when the role of science and innovation in driving economic growth has never been more important.
Scientists taking part this year were drawn from universities and research institutes across the UK.
They shadowed a range of parliamentarians and civil servants, including five newly elected MPs: Jayne Kirkham, Dr Scott Arthur, Laurence Turner, Ian Sollom, and Adam Thompson.
Other parliamentarians include Baroness Sheehan, Lords Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee; Lord Clement-Jones, Lords Spokesperson for the Digital Economy; and Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle, former Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.
Over the course of the week, scientists got a behind the scenes insight into how policy is formed, shadowing a policy maker to learn about their work and how they can best share their expertise.
On Wednesday evening, there was a Parliamentary reception with speeches from Baroness Brown of Cambridge FRS; Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society; and Chi Onwurah MP, Chair of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee.
The scheme will continue later in the year when parliamentarians visit their scientist pairs at their home institutions.
Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said: 鈥淎t a time when science and scientists are under threat around the globe, programmes such as the Royal Society Pairing Scheme have never been more important. We must continue to strengthen links between scientists and policymakers. Having this group of UK scientists in Westminster to develop their understanding of policy making and share their expertise to shape it can help ensure research is translated into policy that improves lives.鈥
Dr Joshua Astley
Joshua Astley is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Pulmonary MR Image Computing Science at the 小欧视频 of Sheffield. He completed his PhD within the POLARIS group at Sheffield in 2023, where he was awarded the Institute of Physics Best PhD Thesis in Medical Physics award.
His research focuses on lung image analysis methods in MR imaging, and biomarker prediction in patients with lung disease. Joshua has published peer-reviewed research on the use of neural networks in medical imaging applications like image segmentation and survival analysis, aiming to improve patient care. He is particularly interested in the developing fields of explainable AI, multi-modal fusion models, and AI ethics.
Joshua has also contributed to a variety of medical innovations, such as developing a companion robot for Multiple Sclerosis care, for which he received the 小欧视频 of Sheffield鈥檚 Bakers Prize for the best dissertation in Mechanical Engineering. He is an active member of the Medical Imaging and Deep Learning (MIDL) Foundation鈥檚 Young Researcher Board and organizes online events to engage young researchers in the MIDL community.
UK Parliament's Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU)
The UK Parliament's Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU) supports the exchange of information and expertise between researchers and the UK Parliament, working with higher education (and beyond) to bridge the gap between Parliament and the research community. They are a friendly first point of contact for any researcher wishing to work with or find out more about the UK Parliament. Find .
