Report: Voice of the Future 2018

15 Mar 2018
Each year, the Royal Society of Biology and the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee collaborate to host Voice of the Future – an event where young scientists turn the tables on politicians and ask them questions about the future of UK science and research.
Image: Parliament TV
To represent our growing corporate and industrial membership base, SCI chose six representatives in the early stages of their careers in industry to attend Voice of the Future 2018. They were:
- Chris Baker, Syngenta
- Mike Clegg, GSK
- Louise Connell, Unilever
- Natasha Hall, Croda
- Nathan Richards, Johnson Matthey
- Ali Saad, Synthomer

Chris Baker, Syngenta. Image: Royal Society of Biology/Flickr
At the event, the young scientists faced Sam Gyimah, Universities & Science Minister, Chi Onwurah, Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy, Stephen Metcalfe, Carol Monaghan and Martin Whitfield from the Science & Technology Committee, and Dr Rupert Lewis, Director of the Government Office for Science.
In the first panel of the day, Louise from Unilever asked the Science Minister: ‘The UK has a well invested academic base in universities, but a relatively weak track record of commercialisation. How do we increase economic productivity from our strong science base?’