The Good Science Project proudly announces its third research culture conference, themed on the issue of ‘failure in science’.
All scientists know that failure is a constant in their work. Yet its creative value, its institutional issues, and its claims on our well-being all remain under-discussed. You are therefore invited to an all-day conference, to hear from experts, share experiences, and come away with new thoughts on the role of failure in the life scientific.
The conference is jointly convened by Imperial’s Office of the Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) and Dr Magdalena Skipper, editor-in-chief of Nature. It is funded by Research England. The event will be opened by Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock, co-presenter of Sky At Night, and lecturer at this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.
10:15 Registration and Coffee
10:45 Opening comments by Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock
11:05 Panel: ‘Alternative perspectives on failure in science’. With Professor Mary Ryan CBE, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), Imperial College; Emeritus Professor Andrew Stirling, Science and Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex; Dr Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief of Nature magazine; and Professor Melanie Stefan, Medical School Berlin.
12:20 ’A view from the laboratory’. Chair: Professor George Constantinides, director of the Early Career Research Institute.
13:10 LUNCH
14:15 Five parallel sessions:
- A. Failure and Education. With Professor Camille Howson, Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship, Imperial College; Professor Nessa Carey, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College and Dr Wayne Mitchell, Associate Provost (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), Imperial College. Chaired by Dr Mark Pope, Senior Teaching Fellow in Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication, Imperial College.
- B. Failure and Innovation. With Emeritus Professor Andrew Stirling, Science Policy Research Unit, Sussex University; Alex Glassbrook, barrister and legal expert on autonomous vehicles, Temple Garden Chambers and Dr Angelo Amorelli, past Senior Vice-President BP and current non-executive director of Gevo. Chaired by Dr Nejra Van Zalk, Associate Professor in Design Psychology, Dyson School of Design Engineering.
- C. Failure and Power. With Professor Patricia Kingori, ETHOX Centre, University of Oxford and Dr Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief Nature magazine.
- D. Failure and Expertise. With Roger Kneebone, professor of surgical education and engagement sciences, Imperial College and author of Expert.
- E. Failure and a Career in Science. With Jack Leeming, Chief Careers Editor, Nature magazine and Professor Tracey Hussell, director of the Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, University of Manchester. Chaired by David Payne, Managing Editor Careers and Supplements, Nature magazine.
Conference participants will be allocated to the parallel sessions a week before the conference.
15:40: TEA
16:15 Plenary Session. With Professor Mary Ryan CBE, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) Imperial College and Dr Felicity Mellor, director of the Science Communication Unit, Imperial College.
17:30 Reception. Blackett Terrace
19:00 END