As defence budgets rise, and governments across the world reappraise their security needs, scientific institutions must step in with the research that will underpin our resilience. In this Friday Forum we examine how security science fits with the traditional academic virtues, such as open discussion, peer review and ethical transparency. Is security science at odds with such norms, or, by contrast, could it in fact be a support to the kind of research life we treasure? How is research planned, in relation to security priorities that always are likely to change? And how can Imperial’s researchers, working within the Schools of Convergence Science, facilitate the ‘epistemic cross-over’ between defence-oriented science, and other academic priorities?
Chaired by Professor Mary Ryan CBE, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), Imperial College London
Panellists:
- Professor Phil Sutton CBE. Visiting Professor of Science, Engineering & Technology Strategy in the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London; UK MOD’s Director General for Research and Technology (2004-2011).
- Professor Hugh Griffiths FRS, THALES/Royal Academy Chair of RF Sensors in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, UCL.
- Professor Małgorzata Zachara-Szymańska, Institute of American Studies and the Polish Diaspora, Jagiellonian University, Poland.
The Session Respondent is Professor Matthew Santer, co-director of Imperial’s School of Convergence Science in Space, Security and Telecoms
The discussion runs from 13:00 – 14:00, Friday January 23rd. Lunch from 12:20.