Sir Peter Knight appointed Chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Science Board

College faculty principal takes lead advisory role at funding council - News

By Danielle Reeves
Wednesday 20 June 2007

Professor Sir Peter Knight FRS , Principal of the College's Faculty of Natural Sciences has been appointed Chairman of the Science Board at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) – the UK's newest research council. Chair Sir Peter, and seven other newly appointed board members, will be responsible for providing advice to Council and the executive on all aspects of STFC's science and technology programme.

Commenting on his appointment as Chairman of the Science Board, Sir Peter said: "It is an exciting time to be appointed and I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead in managing and balancing the needs of the science communities to ensure that the UK is well positioned on the global research stage."

The key role of the Board is to work with STFC's science programme office to formulate, prioritise and update a long-term science strategy for the Council.

Another fundamental role of the Board will be to identify and prioritise the scientific opportunities likely to arise within the next fifteen years or so, with a description of the technologies required for their success and an estimate of their cost. The board will also be responsible for prioritising all known short to medium term investment in the science and technology programme in the context of funds available against agreed and publicised criteria.

Professor Keith Mason, Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council said: "As one of Europe's largest multi-disciplinary research organisations STFC is positioned to deliver world class science for the UK on a global scale. The work of the Science Board will be crucial in fulfilling this objective and I look forward to working with them in order to achieve this."

The STFC was formed as a new Research Council on 1 April 2007 through a merger of the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and the transfer of responsibility for nuclear physics from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It is one of seven national research councils in the UK.

The Council has a broad science portfolio including astronomy, particle physics, particle astrophysics, nuclear physics, space science, synchrotron radiation, neutron sources and high power lasers. In addition the Council will manage and operate three internationally renowned laboratories: the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, and the UK Astronomy Technology Centre based in Edinburgh.

The Council gives researchers access to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the Institute Laue Langevin (ILL), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the European organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) and the European Space Agency (ESA). It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.

For further details of the terms of reference of the STFC Science Board see http://www.scitech.ac.uk/About/Strat/AdCom/SciBoard.aspx

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