This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Chief Science Adviser appointed
17/12/2001
Professor Wilson Sibbett, Wardlaw Professor of Physics
at the University of St Andrews, is to chair Scotland's
first Science Advisory Committee.
He will head the panel of experts formed to provide
independent advice across the range of policy areas where
science and government overlap.
Born in County Antrim, Professor Sibbett has established
an international reputation in optical physics. He is a
fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, The Royal Society
and the Optical Society of America.
The new committee, established under the auspices of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), will help to make
Government smarter in its work with Scotland's science
community by providing information on the scope of current
work, its implications and scientific priorities.
Welcoming Professor Sibbett's appointment by the RSE,
Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Minister Wendy
Alexander said:
"Professor's Sibbett's unimpeachable scientific
credentials gives the Scottish Science Advisory Committee
the stature needed to carry out its vital task.
"The Executive's recently launched Science Strategy will
help Scotland's educators, researchers, entrepreneurs and
policy makers to make more effective use of scientific
expertise and knowledge in order to stimulate innovation,
solve problems, raise productivity and improve quality of
life in areas such as health, the environment and food.
"The Scottish Science Advisory Committee will play a
crucial role in our key aims of promoting Scotland as an
international centre of scientific expertise; joining up
science policy and investment decisions and making
Government smarter in its work with the science community.
Advertisements inviting applications for membership of the
Committee will appear in the national press shortly.
"The involvement of the RSE ensures that this new
Committee will be a confident and independent voice - and
offers a form of partnership between government and the
scientific community which I believe is unprecedented.
"I look forward to working with Professor Sibbett and
the Committee to ensure that science plays its full role in
delivering Scotland's economic and social ambitions."