Personal Reflection on our Universities and Science Ministerial Visit to Ottawa

Working long and hard, the SIN team was able to put together an intense and thorough program for MP David Willetts, UK Minister for Universities and Science, along with his accompanying delegation of renowned Nottingham professor and scientist, Royal Society Foreign Secretary and Vice-President, and YouTube sensation Professor Martyn Poliakoff, and Vice Principal of the University of Edinburgh and public engagement advocate Professor Mary Bownes. As soon as they got off that plane arriving from Heathrow, we had them going. We enjoyed a nice briefing dinner covering the day ahead, and while that day was going to be a long one, we would make it well worth their trip.

The day started with each taking on separate meetings, Minister Willetts talking to pharmaceutical companies about patent issues, Prof. Poliakoff meeting with his counter-part from the Royal Society of Canada, and Prof. Mary Bownes and myself discussing academic partnerships with the University of Edinburgh.

We all reconvened for a roundtable on “smart cities,” in which after that conversation I feel like I should refer to it as “intelligent communities.” As Canadian cities have frequently ranked highly on the Intelligent Communities Forum, we all gathered with members of i-Canada to discuss how Canadian cities do this so well (it’s amazing how cities can harness their capacity). From this, Minister Willetts was able to extract potential Canada-UK opportunities to share best practices and strategic connections.

After the roundtable, we made our way to the University of Ottawa for a panel discussion organized with the Institute for Science, Society and Policy. Minister Willetts, Prof. Poliakoff, and Prof. Bownes took this opportunity to discuss the numerous ways the UK government harnesses scientific knowledge, as well as the public engagement of scientific research.

Afterwards, the Minister and guests relished in the opportunity to stretch his legs and walk downtown for our next engagement, a lunch organized with the Royal Society of Canada, wherein the Minister showed appreciation and continued interest for Canada’s engagement since the G8 Science Ministers meeting. After lunch, the Minister was able to briefly meet with the signatories of the latest Memorandum of Understanding between the UK Hydrographic Office & Canadian Hydrographic Service.

Following the morning of constant movement, the afternoon allowed for Minister Willetts to meet his newly appointed Canadian counterpart, Minister of State of Science and Technology, Greg Rickford. This introductory meeting was a great venue to discuss opportunities where Canada and the UK align in the S&T space. Minister Rickford was very engaging, ensuring to give much of his time to Minister Willetts, including giving the Minister a tour of parliament and attending the evening reception.

The evening reception allowed the Minister and his delegation to meet with the presidents of the Canadian research councils, and several Presidents/VPs within Canada’s research intensive University community to discuss the structure for Canada-UK collaboration under the auspices of the Canada-UK Joint Innovation Statement.

On a personal note, it was a great opportunity to be a part of organizing and implementing the visit. While I’m getting use to the running around to meetings all day, the people I get to meet at each session continues to be my Gatorade. Still a few months into the job, I always enjoy meeting experts in their field to not only hear about the great successes, but discuss the challenges and how people and institutions can collaborate to achieve our goals together. I would like to end this with a video from an amazing and inspiring scientist, who I had the pleasure to accompany during his visit, talking about the bredth and diversity of people’s passion for science.