APPENDIX 2
Memorandum submitted by the BA (British
Association for the Advancement of Science)
INTRODUCTION
1. The BA (the British Association for the
Advancement of Science) welcomes the opportunity to provide evidence
to this inquiry, which is of especial importance to its role and
activities. Although not formally a Learned Society, the BA is
in receipt of Government funds and is particularly concerned with
engagement and dialogue between science and the public. For these
reasons, it is eager to supplement this submission with oral evidence
to the committee.
THE BA'S
HISTORY AND
MISSION, AND
THE SCOPE
OF ITS
ACTIVITIES
2. The BA was established in 1831 to advance
science[1]
both in the sense of furthering its development and promoting
it to the public. In its early years, it did both with distinction.
Over time, it has focused its role in response to changing circumstances
so that today its purpose is to communicate with the public about
science and to engage the public in discussion and debate about
the future directions of science and its impact on society. It
is the only organisation in the UK that is truly nation-wide,
with a comprehensive multi-disciplinary base and with an open
membership that is wholly dedicated to this end. The BA is incorporated
by Royal Charter and is a registered charity.
3. The BA is recognised around the world
for the quality of its programmes, its openness, inclusiveness
and innovation. Through its wide range of activities, the BA brings
science, and debate about science, to literally millions of people
all over this country. Tens of thousands of school children, from
five to 18 years of age, benefit from the BA's dynamic and popular
programme of science-based activities for young people (paragraph
12). 10,000 people of all ages participate in the BA's annual
festival, the extensive media coverage of which touches millions
more (paragraph 11). The BA has a strong relationship with the
scientific media, not least through its Media Fellowship programme
(paragraph 14) and AlphaGalileo, its Internet-based press service,
through which more than 2,700 science writers have access to information
about current science from 1,350 researchers/organisations and
to expert opinion from a database of over 3,600 active scientists
(paragraph 13). Media coverage of its major events is outstanding
(paragraphs 10,11). Through its publication, Science &
Public Affairs, and the S&PA Forums, the BA contributes
to serious discussion within the community of science communication,
and between communicators, politicians, science funding agencies,
etc. The BA coordinates National Science Week, in which some 1.4
million people participate (paragraph 10), and it is a partner
in Science Year (paragraph 15). It is constantly seeking to invigorate
the interaction of science and the general public, and to find
new ways of stimulating dialogue and debate (paragraph 14). Its
forthcoming move to the Wellcome Wolfson building at the Science
Museum, and its close involvement in the Dana Centre (paragraph
20), will open up new opportunities for the BA to advance its
mission.
4. The BA is a truly national organisation.
There are currently 23 local BA Branches, with plans to increase
this to 50 over the next few years. Branches run local programmes.
The BA serves as a focus and a partner for a huge number of other
organisations that have an interest in promotion of dialogue between
science and the public: it has more than 120 Institutional Affiliates
and 40 corporate member companies. The BA is an activity-led organisation:
paragraphs 9-15 give an indication of the large numbers of people
and organisations involved in its activities and media coverage.
It also has approximately 3,200 individual members, including
science journalists, active researchers, school-teachers and other
members of the public who support the mission of the BA. Significantly
the individual members of the BA are spread throughout the UK,
as the analysis below demonstrates. This analysis also covers
schools involved young people's schemes (paragraph 12).
REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF BA MEMBERS AND SCHOOLS
| Region | Members %
| Schools % |
| Eastern | 13 | 16
|
| East Midlands | 4 | 3
|
| London | 20 | 8
|
| Merseyside/N Wales | 3 |
4 |
| North East | 4 | 1
|
| Northern Ireland | 1 | 3
|
| North West | 5 | 11
|
| Scotland | 10 | 8
|
| South East | 18 | 18
|
| South West | 7 | 7
|
| Wales | 3 | 9
|
| West Midlands | 5 | 7
|
| Yorks and Humber | 5 | 5
|
| Overseas | 2 | 1
|
| Total | 100 | 100
|
5. In 2001, the BA's expenditure was £2.77 million
and its income was £2.88 million. Extracts from the audited
financial statements for the year 1 January—31 December
2001 are appended. In that year, the BA had an average of 54 staff,
43 of whom were employed directly by the BA, and 11 contracted.
15 staff were part time. The total reserves of the BA amount to
only £700k, the equivalent of three months' expenditure and
a low fraction of annual turnover compared with many not-for-profit
organisations.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
6. The BA receives government funds both directly and
indirectly. Direct grants from government in 2001 comprised:
— £634k from OST project funds to provide core
support and support for National Science Week;
— £41k from OST for ECSITE-UK, for which the
BA acts as fund-holder (paragraph 19).
Indirect grants included:
— £254k from the Royal Society including an
annual grant of £185k to support the BA festival, activities
for young people and core support; £18.5k towards the costs
of publishing Science & Public Affairs; and £50.5k towards
the costs of BA-organised COPUS activities (paragraph 22). These
funds came from the Royal Society's Parliamentary Grant-in-Aid;
— £176k from NESTA towards Science Year (out
of an agreed total grant to the BA of £500k). This grant
came from funding provided to NESTA by DfES;
— the BA also received a number of small grants
from Research Councils to support specific events and activities.
7. The value of the OST and RS support to the BA cannot
be overestimated in terms of its financial importance, its implicit
recognition of the value of what the BA does, and because much
of it is given effectively as core support. While an RS grant
has been made available for many years, OST support for specific
initiatives dates from 1993 and for core purposes from some years
later. This support, together with the fact that it is now given
over a three-year period, has made it possible for the BA to plan
ahead with much greater confidence and to develop new initiatives
and grasp opportunities. It has also enabled the BA to cope with
the inevitable fluctuations in income that face an organisation
heavily dependent on grants. As a result the BA has expanded in
terms of activities and staff and been able to play, once again,
a central role in science communication in the UK. In addition,
because of this revitalisation, the Wellcome Trust is providing
the BA with a five-year development grant and supporting a new
building on the Science Museum site in South Kensington, in part
as a future headquarters for the BA.
8. The BA has occupied rent-free accommodation since
1972 at 23 Savile Row, London W1 on the basis of a memorandum
of terms with the then Department of the Environment. In respect
of all the services it receives, the BA pays a service charge
to English Heritage, the main occupant of the building. The arrangement
dates back to the agreements made with scientific societies for
the occupation of Burlington House, where the BA was based from
1891 to 1958.
COMMUNICATING WITH
THE PUBLIC
ABOUT SCIENCE
9. The BA is an activity-led organisation, which engages
with the public about science and science-based issues. Its activities
fall into five groups:
— The annual BA Festival of Science;
— Activities for Young People;
— Science communication initiatives.
10. National Science Week: With support from the OST,
the BA initiated the first National Science Week in 1994 and has
continued to coordinate it since then. In 2001—the last
year for which detailed records are available—some 1,475
organisations and institutions arranged 6,200 opportunities for
the public to take part in activities right across the UK. It
is estimated that 1.4 million did so. In addition, extensive media
coverage, particularly at local level, meant that the week impinged
upon many millions more. Many countries organise science weeks
but the UK week is the envy of many. We believe that it works
well because of:
— the large number of bodies—educational institutions
at all levels, museums, science centres, libraries, local groups,
Research Councils, Scientific Societies—that are involved
in science communication and which are eager to participate;
— the nature of the co-ordination provide by the
BA, which encourages organisations to get involved by supporting
organisers with materials, ideas, examples of best practice and
PR guidelines; produces printed and online versions of the national
programme; promotes the week; and exercises central control with
a light touch;
— extensive media interest and involvement;
— enthusiastic support from government including
the provision, through Copus, of small grants to support events
and activities.
National Science Week is a good example of a win-win situation.
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts and everyone involved
benefits. It is also an excellent example of an activity-led way
of getting the UK's large and diverse science communication community
working together, and an indicator of the important role that
the BA can play in this process.
11. The BA Festival of Science: The BA's Festival of
Science—originally its Annual Meeting—has been held,
with the exception of breaks in the two world wars, every year
since the BA was founded in 1831. The most distinctive feature
of the event, held in September, is its exceptionally high level
of media coverage. Some 200 journalists register in the press
centre and reports from the event can be found on radio and television,
in newspapers and magazines both locally and nationally in the
UK, and also overseas. This promotes and raises the profile of
science and increases the status of scientists.
The festival demonstrates the BA's commitment to be a nationwide
organisation. In its 170-year history, the event has been held
in London only twice, in 1931 and 2000. Otherwise it has been
held throughout the length and breadth of the UK—and on
a few occasions in former years in Canada, Australia and South
Africa. Today it is usually today held in conjunction with a local
university.
The festival's core programme consists of some 300-400 presentations
on recent scientific advances and their implications by scientists
from a wide range of disciplines, including mathematical, medical
and social sciences and engineering. Increasingly we try to ensure
that these presentations form a basis for discussion and dialogue
rather than being an end in themselves. The BA centrally arranges
additional dialogue-focused events as part of the core programme.
A programme committee is responsible for the overall shape of
the programme, which consists of contributions from the BA's own
scientific sections and from others who submit proposals, including
the host university, Research Councils, companies and scientific
and engineering societies and institutions.
The festival's core audience is scientifically "attentive"
but largely non-specialist and comes from a wide variety of backgrounds
and age groups. It includes a significant number of young people
aged 16-18. In addition to the core programme, there are hands-on,
workshop-based activities for five- to 13-year-olds and events
for the more general public in the locality of the festival. Altogether
some 10,000 people typically attend the festival but it impacts
upon millions when the media coverage is taken into account.
12. Young People's activities: The BA arranges a variety
of events and activities for young people, designed to fulfil
a number of purposes. Science and technology-based activity days
are run in different parts of the country to excite young people
about science. They regularly attract thousands of youngsters,
with teachers and/or parents for science-based workshops, demonstrations,
drama and other activities.
To give recognition to investigations and project work and
in order to give young people some real experience of science,
the BA runs three award schemes. First Investigators, Young Investigators
and CREST cater for 5s-7s, 8s-13s and 12s-18s respectively. Each
offers graded awards (eg bronze, silver gold) depending on the
complexity of the work undertaken and the length of time involved.
Currently nearly 3,000 groups, mainly based in schools, work towards
the First and Young Investigator Awards and, in 2001, 26,000 young
people from nearly 900 schools gained CREST Awards. SETPOINTS,
with which the BA works closely in the delivery of these schemes,
report that Young Investigators and CREST are the most widely
used of their type in the country. The BA is committed to work
towards rationalisation of such schemes.
At the annual BA Science Fair young people with outstanding
projects are selected to represent the UK at international science
events and competitions, including an opportunity for one young
person to attend the Nobel Prize presentations during the Stockholm
International Youth Science Seminar.
We are also committed to encourage the development of communication
and critical thinking skills in young people. Visions for the
Future gives 16s-18s the chance through online debates and live
events to have informed discussions of critical issues such as
global warming, future energy supplies, transport, food supply
and cloning. Science Communicators encourages achievements in
communication in much the same way as the project award schemes
do.
13. AlphaGalileo: AlphaGalileo is an internet-based press
service for European science, engineering and technology—to
which arts and humanities are shortly to be added. AlphaGalileo
essentially provides a single site through which European research
and other scientific news from universities, research institutions,
journals etc can be made available to journalists worldwide on
their desktops. The site also incorporates the former Novartis
Media Resource Service in the form of a database of experts prepared
to provide background and comment on scientific developments and
issues. AlphaGalileo is currently funded by an EC grant, which
runs until the end of March 2003. Partner organisations provide
national offices in five other European countries—France,
Greece, Germany, Portugal and Sweden—and other partners
are being sought. Currently some 1,350 individuals are registered
to provide information; there are over 2,700 registered users
(journalists); and more than 3,600 on the experts' database. AlphaGalileo
originated in PPARC, which passed its management to the BA in
1987 when it was felt that a more broadly based and communication-focused
body would be more appropriate. The BA is actively addressing
the challenge of how to sustain AlpahGalileo when the current
EC grant comes to an end in 2003.
14. Science Communication initiatives: The BA is responsible
for a number of other science communication initiatives. Science
& Public Affairs is a bi-monthly magazine that focuses on
science-related public issues. It started life as a Royal Society
journal, became a joint RS/BA magazine in 1991 and a BA publication
produced with tapering RS support in 1999. It is currently sent
to BA members and circulated, gratis, to a number of key people
in government, parliament, the civil service and industry.
S&PA Forums were started in 1999 to provide opportunities
for more extended discussion of some of the issues covered in
the magazine. Since their inception, the major part of the time
at each forum has been dedicated to discussion of varying points
of view presented briefly by a panel of experts and interested
parties. Forums have been held at a variety of venues in London,
including bookshops as well as more traditional venues, and are
increasingly being held in other parts of the country.
SciBArs, which also take place in different parts of the
country, are discussions based in wine bars or pubs, initiated
by one or two brief contributions from experts. They noticeable
attract a much younger audience than S&PA Forums and are in
line with the BA's efforts to reach new audiences, use public-friendly
venues and explore new forms of engagement with the public.
A series of lunchtime conversations between scientists ad
the minister of Wesley's Chapel in central London also contributed
to this exploration.
Media Fellowships were first established by the BA, as part
of its contribution to Copus, in 1987 and have continued since
then, now as a BA activity. Each year they provide up to ten,
younger working scientists with an opportunity to spend six to
eight weeks working in TV, radio, newspaper or magazine, under
the guidance of a science journalist mentor. Their aim is to improve
scientists' appreciation of the media and improve their communication
skills—not to encourage them to become journalists, although
some have done so. We have received consistently enthusiastic
and positive feedback from fellows and media hosts alike every
year.
15. The BA's key role in science communication led to
it being chosen by the DfES, together with the ASE, to be a strategic
partner of NESTA for Science Year. This has provided us with the
opportunity to undertake a number of Science Year activities.
We have divided these between the development of new and one-off
initiatives on the one hand and the development and extension
of existing activities to ensure their continuation beyond Science
Year on the other. Among our one-off activities has been LaughLab,
a web-based experiment run in conjunction with the University
of Hertfordshire, to find the world's funniest joke and to try
to reach a better understanding of why people of different backgrounds,
eg gender or nationality, respond to jokes differently. LaughLab
was launched at the BA festival last September and interim results
were announced just before Christmas. Both occasions led to huge
media exposure and to massive use of the website. To date 27,000
jokes have been submitted and 300,000 people have rated jokes.
Other one-off activities have included the development of Footprints,
a play for key stage 3 about genetics, and Discovery Day when
over 3,000 10-14 year olds enjoyed a day of hands-on activities
and workshops at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
THE ROLE
OF THE
ROYAL SOCIETY
AND THE
ROYAL ACADEMY
OF ENGINEERING
16. The BA believes that both Academies play an important
role in the life of British science and engineering. The BA has
enjoyed long-standing support from the Royal Society and a constructive
working relationship (paragraph 20) from which it believes both
organisations have benefited. The BA also enjoys positive links
with the Royal Academy of Engineering through its support for
the BA's Engineering Section and through links between the Engineering
Education Scheme and CREST Awards.
17. As the Academy of Science the RS has direct access
to the sources of the UK's scientific excellence and is, in consequence,
well placed to represent the views of the UK scientific community
to the government and others and to provide to them the best scientific
advice that is available. The Society also mounts an excellent
programme of public events tailored to its situation, role and
location. In addition to its public lectures, summer exhibition
and support for research in schools, we believe that recent developments
such as that to link its University Research Fellows with Members
of Parliament are excellent and exactly the sort of initiative
that the Society's position makes it best suited to play.
18. With different purposes, different memberships, different
audiences and different geographical bases, the BA and the RS
complement each other in terms of science communication. It is
important for UK science and for the UK as a whole that the Royal
Society should focus on and utilise its pre-eminent strengths
in promoting scientific excellence and providing advice of the
highest quality. We believe that it should see its "public
audiences" predominantly as those groups to which it has
unrivalled access—the upper echelons of government, Parliament,
the Civil Service and industry, who constitute the key decision
makers and opinion formers in our society. The Royal Society's
summer exhibitions and its public programme of events, usually
jointly with other academies and societies, are making an important
contribution to the intellectual life of the capital. But we think
that it would be inappropriate to expect the Royal Society to
change its role from one of leadership within the scientific community
to one of public engagement of the type that is already being
done so well by the BA. Consequently, we believe that it is crucial
for the Royal Society to be able to continue to support bodies,
such as the BA, that can more readily access other "publics"
across the UK.
CO -OPERATION
AND CO-ORDINATION
IN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
19. In addition to its own initiatives, the BA works
closely with other bodies in a variety of ways. Significantly,
it provides an office base for the Association of British Science
Writers (ABSW), with which it has a long-standing relationship,
and for the recently established network of Science and Discovery
Centres, ECSITE-UK. The BA believes that the co-location of such
bodies is an excellent way to stimulate cooperation and coordination,
and avoid duplication of effort.
20. Over the years the BA has enjoyed and benefited from
excellent working relationships with other bodies. These include
the Royal Society, with which we have worked together in Copus
(paragraph 22), on Science & Public Affairs and in the Royal
Society/British Association Millennium Award Scheme, which attracted
a grant of £1.5 million from the Millennium Commission. We
also work with the ASE, SETNET and SETPOINTS. In preparation for
the opening of the new Wellcome Wolfson Building in South Kensington
next year, we are working closely with the Science Museum, particularly
on the development of activities for the Dana Centre within the
building, which will be focused on developing new forms of activity
to promote dialogue between scientists and the public, and promulgating
them nationally.
21. The BA believes that new opportunities are emerging
for increased cooperation across science and engineering. In particular,
the development of the Engineering and Technology Board (ETB),
with a commitment to public communication, suggests that a synergy
could be developed between the Royal Academy of Engineering, the
ETB, the Royal Society and the BA. The forthcoming BA Presidency
of Sir Peter Williams, the founding Chairman of the ETB, in 2002-03
could be an ideal opportunity to explore this.
22. The BA has been an active partner in, and supporter
of, Copus since it was set up in 1986 as a joint committee of
the Royal Society, the Royal Institution and the BA. The BA has
generally taken the lead in delivering those parts of any proposed
Copus programme that were akin to or overlapped significantly
with the BA's existing role. In that spirit the BA has supported
the vision for the new Copus which sees it not as an activity-led
grouping but one undertaking tasks, for example research and the
development and dissemination of best practice, that support the
science communication community overall. In line with previous
comments on the value of co-location (paragraph 19), the BA believes
that the co-location of Copus with the BA in the Wellcome Wolfson
Building would be a creative and positive step in the right direction.
23. The UK's science communication community has expanded
explosively since the mid-1980s and continues to do so. The BA
has been a significant part of that expansion and is continuing
to grow and to develop the essential two-way dialogue and informed
debate that 21st Century science communication should be all about.
In all this, some greater cohesion and co-operation would be desirable.
The BA's track record in that respect is well evidenced by its
co-ordination of National Science Week; by the role of our Festival
in creating the largest annual gathering of science journalists
and of science communicators, and in the 120 affiliated institutions
in membership of the BA.
April 2002
Annex
BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE STATEMENT
OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2001
| Notes | Unrestricted
funds
| Restricted
funds | Total 2001
| 2000 |
| | £
| £ | £
| £ |
| INCOMING RESOURCES | 1 |
| | | |
| Grants | | 801,750
| 1,300,193 | 2,101,943 | 1,850,133
|
| Sponsorship | | —
| 277,332 | 277,332 | 376,809
|
| Subscriptions | | 264,432
| — | 264,432 | 195,521
|
| Events income | | 163,863
| 2,710 | 166,573 | 142,063
|
| Donations | | 717
| 50 | 767 | 25,073
|
| Investment income | | 23,066
| — | 23,066 | 20,494
|
| Bank interest | | 8,587
| — | 8,587 | 10,178
|
| Other income | | 37,053
| — | 37,053 | 23,770
|
creating SPARKS (recovery of
BA overheads)
| | — | —
| — | 25,000 |
Total Incoming Resources |
| 1,299,468 | 1,580,285 | 2,879,753
| 2,669,041 |
RESOURCES EXPENDED |
| | | |
|
| Direct Charitable Expenditure |
| | | |
|
| Festival of Science | | —
| 318,439 | 318,439 | 357,7711
|
| National Science Week | |
— | 184,791 | 184,791
| 173,362 |
| CREST | | —
| 337,918 | 337,918 | 225,049
|
| Young people's programme | |
— | 333,963 | 333,963
| 294,457 |
| Science Communication Initiatives |
| — | 119,116 | 119,116
| 86,400 |
Branches, Membership and Regional
Support
| | 481,874 | —
| 481,874 | 489,701 |
| AlphaGalileo | | —
| 174,559 | 174,559 | 362,935
|
| Science Year | | —
| 186,103 | 186,103 | -
|
| creating SPARKS | |
- | (4,100) | (4,100)
| 114,000 |
| ECSITE—UK | | -
| 22,728 | 22,728 | -
|
| Activity support costs | |
- | 295,115 | 295,115
| 327,309 |
Total Direct Charitable Expenditure
| | 481,874 | 1,968,632
| 2,450,506 | 2,430,984 |
| Other expenditure: | |
| | | |
Fundraising, marketing and public
relations
| | 121,920 | —
| 121,920 | 120,553 |
| Planning and control | | 201,553
| — | 201,553 | 199,302
|
| Restructuring | | —
| — | — | 36,881
|
Total resources expended | 2
| 805,347 | 1,968,632 | 2,773,979
| 2,787,720 |
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources
before transfers
| | 494,121 | (388,347)
| 105,774 | (118,679) |
| Transfer between funds | 3 |
(388,349) | 388,349 | —
| — |
| Net incoming/(outgoing) resources |
| 105,772 | 2 | 105,774
| (118,679) |
| (Losses)/Gains on investment assets | 5
| (55,045) | — | (55,045)
| (39,727) |
Net movement in funds |
| 50,727 | 2 | 50,729
| (158,406) |
| Balances brought forward at 1.1.01 |
| 646,582 | 17,605 | 664,187
| 822,593 |
Balances carried forward at 31.12.01
| | 697,309 | 17,607
| 714,916 | 664,187 |
1
The BA embraces the natural and social sciences, engineering,
mathematics and medicine. Back
|
