30/09/07 Overseas Students
Writing in this month's Innovation Policy Review, Hilary Leevers drew attention to increasing numbers of overseas students in science, mathematics and particularly engineering degree courses. She argues that overseas students benefit UK science and engineering in many ways. The overseas fee income helps to keep some departments afloat and a large number of students continue to contribute to the economy and research base when they stay on in the UK after graduating. Those that do return overseas can foster international collaboration with the UK. As the UK share of the international student market is slipping, she warns: "There will be grave consequences if we do not maintain our international competitiveness."

Read text of article

28/09/07 Hilary Leevers met with James Graham, Public Affairs Director at Pfizer.

26/09/07 Hilary Leevers and Sarah Hyland attended Nature Network London Drinks

26/09/07 The M in STEM
Hilary Leevers met with Peter Cooper and Caroline Davis of the London Mathematical Society and Martin Smith of the Council for the Mathematical Societies for a wide-ranging discussion, including the importance of supporting the study of mathematics, not just as the bedrock of science and engineering but also as a discipline in its own right. Commenting after the meeting, Hilary Leevers, Acting Director of CaSE, said "We can learn a lot from those promoting mathematics as one of the few STEM subjects that can boast an increase in student interest and numbers. In particular, the Further Mathematics Network has made sure that every student studying Further Mathematics A level has access to specialist tuition."

26/09/07 Independent Regulatory Body for Exam Standards
CaSE today welcomed news that the the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority will no longer be responsible for its own regulation. An independent regulatory body will be formed to monitor examination standards. Hilary Leevers commented: "This is an ideal opportunity to improve the comparability across different A level subjects. Currently, it is more difficult to get an A grade in some subjects, including the sciences, than in other options."

24/09/07 Hilary Leevers met with Louise Morgan, Policy Adviser at the CBI.

21/09/07 Taking Science Seriously
CaSE welcomed the report by the Conservative STEM task force that recognises the importance of STEM to our economy and society, "An Innovatice Society: Capturing the Potential of Science and Engineering". It made many interesting suggestions and acknowledged the important work CaSE had done on careers advice in this area.

CaSE Career Opinion Forum

19/09/07 Conservative Policy on Science Education
Hilary Leevers discussed science education with David Willetts, Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and his frontbench colleagues, Adam Afriyie, MP and Rob Wilson, MP.

18/09/07 Liberal Democrat Conference
Acting Director of CaSE, Hilary Leevers, was delighted to join Dr Phil Willis, MP Evan Harris, MP, and Sandra Gidley, MP, and representatives from the research charities and Sense about Science at a dinner hosted by Cancer Research UK. A lively discussion about science policy with particular reference to research charity ensued.

13/09/07 Hilary Leevers met with Peter Cotgreave, new Director of Public Affairs at the Royal Society

12/09/07 Ethical Code for Scientists
CaSE welcomed the Universal Ethical Code for Scientists launched today as a useful tool to communicate to the public the way in which scientists operate and to provide the basis for more specific guidelines within scientific disciplines. It has been suggested that the code could be used to help scientists defend themselves from pressure to deviate from good practice, although this may be hard to implement as some of the guidelines are critical (such as, to be lawful) whereas others are just helpful (such as, listening to others). Hilary Leevers, Acting Director of CaSE, commented "There's an unfortunate implication in advocating the code that scientists would otherwise lack 'rigour, respect and responsibility'. With a very few exceptions, scientists are incredibly ethical and science depends on honesty and integrity, that is why on the very rare occassions when scientists have deviated from good practice, it is so shocking - and so well publicised. Hopefully, the code will demonstrate to the public the good ethics that scientists operate by."

10/09/07 Action to improve science education
Acting Director of CaSE, Dr Hilary Leevers, delivered a keynote speech at the British Ecological Society Annual Meeting to an audience including Professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland, on 'Action to reverse the decline in science education'. Commenting after the session she said: "It was good to understand the issues in ecology education, one of which is that a third of biology A level students do not have any field experience. We could also learn a lot from Scottish science education. It is unsurprising that students are keener to study the sciences in Scotland, given that they are only taught by specialist teachers and practical class sizes are limited to 20."

04/09/07 Hilary Leevers met with Peter Main and colleagues in science, education and policy from the Institute of Physics

03/09/07 New Chief Scientific Adviser
CaSE today welcomed news that John Beddington was likely to be appointed as Government CSA. Hilary Leevers, Acting Director of CaSE, commented: "This is great news. Professor Beddington is an influential and respected scientist." However, she went on to express concerns that the position of CSA retained its importance and direct influence on the Prime Minister and Cabinet in the reorganised Government.