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Transatlantic conversations between our scholars addressÌýglobal challenges of all natures,Ìýand are a celebration of the civic engagement at the heart of the Commission's work.

Scary Science: Responsible Public Engagement within Scientific Research

'Scary Science' explores the communication and ethical responsibilities of researchers working on the cutting edges of their fields. Our event speakers, Thomas Baker and Tony Sorial, both work in fields that generate "scary" headlines: from the ever-increasing power sophistication of computers, to the editing of the human genome.

Disease Detectives: Tracking the Covid-19 pandemic

'Disease Detectives' examines some of the different ways in which we can track and model infectious diseases such as Covid-19. While the contributions of medical sciences to the pandemic are widely reported, the involvement of researchers from other disciplines are less commonly discussed. Over the last 18 months, Mathematical Biologist, Alex Best, and Engineer, Caitlyn Butler, both worked on efforts to model and track the spread of Covid-19 infection.

Tackling Trauma

Tackling Trauma explores the consequences of physical and psychological trauma in modern society. Neurologist Lucia Li, and clinical child psychologist, Heather Taussig, see trauma regularly in their work as practitioners in the field. In this event they discuss their observations and learnings.

Held at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow on 25 June 2019, the talks were given in front of a live audience, you can catch up below.

Dignity at the end of life: caring for our caregivers | Christian Goodwin

Most of us will spend time in a nursing home during our life, as a caregiver, a visitor, or as a resident ourselves. Yet many people fear nursing homes more than death. Christian Goodwin explores how we can improve nursing home experience and outcome by improving conditions for nursing home staff. Taking lessons from Walt Disney World, Goodwin demonstrates how job crafting adds value and dignity to our caregivers, which in turn gives value and dignity to the end of life.

How to turn competitors into collaborators | Erica Ollmann Saphire

How do you convince 44 competing labs to share research, data and lab samples? Erica Ollmann Saphire did just that in 2012 when she founded an international, multidisciplinary research consortium against the Ebola virus. Flash forward to the Ebola epidemic of 2014 and their research was put to the test in real time. Ollmann Saphire recounts how the consortium set a precedent for international scientific collaboration, while preserving personal interests and intellectual property.

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I am sorry Dave, I can’t do that | Mark Hickey

In the worlds of academia and tech, many believe that computers may one day be able to replace the human mind, with technology becoming so advanced a computer would be indistinguishable from a human mind. But will computers replace us all? Mark Hickey argues that computers aren't as smart as we think, and explores recent research and experiments which suggest AI won't kill us all.

The dam dilemma: how to balance hydropower, rivers & people | Jessie Moravek

Hydropower is a renewable resource, but that does not make it sustainable. Jessie Moravek examines the downsides to river hydropower, including declining fish populations, poor water quality and damaged ecosystems. But hydropower can be made sustainable, and Moravek explains how. Advocating for conservation and rivers can ensure that our hydropower is not just renewable, but sustainable for generations to come.

Schools without classrooms | George Greenbury

Cavemen didn't teach their children how to hunt mammoths in a classroom, so why are classrooms necessary to education today? George Greenbury explores the future of education and ways we can use online education to address global educational inequalities. Adapting online education to be more engaging and social ensures a future where online learning can provide high quality education for all.

Stroke: the loss and recovery of familiarity | Mark Ware

Familiarity may sometimes breed contempt, but it can also lead to empathy and greater understanding. In this talk, Mark Ware argues that we are hard-wired to seek familiarity.Ìý

Since 2015 Mark has developed a series of art/science collaborations that have investigated how the natural environment can have a positive impact on wellbeing and health. Mark is the founder and CEO of The Wavelength Project, a charity that further investigates how exposure to the natural environment can be of health benefit to the public, including for those who find access to nature difficult due to disability, or because of socio-economic circumstances.