Global Science and Innovation Network

A blog showcasing the work of the Global UK Science and Innovation Network, approximately 90 officers in over 30 countries and territories around the world

About this blog

25th February 2013 Washington DC, USA

by Bradley Keelor

Senior Science and Innovation Policy Advisor

The Biggest Computer I’ve Ever Seen, and Why Sometimes 0 and 1 Just Ain’t Enough

When you work in international scientific collaboration, you sometimes take inspiration from bizarre sources. Like this 2008 Gonzales song “Working Together”: Last week, I had a UK high-performance computing group with me in DC, Pittsburgh and Chicago, and couldn’t get the song out of my head. The US Science and Innovation Network runs a lot […]

25th February 2013 New Delhi, India

by Leena Arora

PM’s visit heralds new Indo-UK research and innovation initiatives

In the words of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, the ‘sky is the limit’ for UK-India partnership and this was evident throughout his visit to India (18-20 Feb 2013). The PM’s delegation included David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science, and a host of Vice Chancellors (VCs) from some of the UK’s leading […]

20th February 2013 New Delhi, India

by Catherine Brain

Towards an Indo-UK IP framework for research

The cold Delhi fog didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits at the Intellectual Property (IP) workshop on 1 February. The lively discussions focussed on the draft model agreements for managing IP in India-UK R&D collaborations. These will form an invaluable framework for businesses and universities to quickly and cheaply agree on how IP arising from an international […]

15th February 2013 New Delhi, India

by Rita Sharma

Head of Newton Fund in India

The atmosphere’s great in Indo-UK climate science!

Last week was an exceptional week in taking the UK-India relationship in climate science to an even higher level, from an already strong position. The week was jam-packed with three events, two of which ran in parallel. The first was the joint Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) – UK’s Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) scoping […]

12th February 2013 New Delhi, India

by Leena Arora

How smart is your power?

Did you know that the Indian network operators have an average generating shortfall of 7% (peak >10%) and power demand is growing by 7% per annum, resulting in many areas receiving power for only 6-8hrs per day? I got to learn many such interesting facts when I met a group of organisations involved in Smart […]

11th February 2013 Houston, USA

by Lauren George

Science and Innovation Officer

‘Spidey Silk’ – Spider-Man would be jealous!

When I read that scientists had created a real life “Spidey Silk”, I was curious to say the least. The new material was named that because it is both incredibly strong and equally flexible – just like the webs that Spider-Man shoots from his wrists. It sounds revolutionary in itself, but when you really understand […]

8th February 2013 Toronto, Canada

by John Preece

Making the most of scientists and engineers in government

The UK government employs a lot of scientists and engineers, often in positions not directly related to their professional training. In order to take advantage of possibly-underused skills and push evidence-based policy, the Government Science and Engineering (GSE) community was set up in 2008. It is open to any civil servant with a science or […]

8th February 2013 Boston, USA

by Sarah Hokanson

Suggesting New Solutions for "Making Science Work"

I’m a pretty reserved person most of the time, but I can get completely geeked out by celebrities. There is something completely fascinating about the fact that so much of their lives are on display, and yet we really know so little about them. I often wonder what they are REALLY thinking and who they […]

5th February 2013 New Delhi, India

by Tom Wells

Great chemistry between UK and India!

A former SIN Team member, Rajesh Parishwad, left to work for the Royal Society of Chemistry a couple of years ago. But we don’t like to lose touch with old friends and with Rajesh this isn’t difficult to achieve: he still sits in our office in Bangalore! Anyway, we asked Rajesh to bring you some […]

4th February 2013 Toronto, Canada

by John Preece

Up-Goer Five: Land-to-other-lands-thoughts-and-ideas-person

Can you explain a hard idea using only the ten-hundred most used words? One well-known try is “Up-Goer Five“. You can try it yourself here. Here, I try to explain my job (land-to-other-lands-thoughts-and-ideas-person): Very few people have a job that is like mine. It is quite hard to explain, even using words that are not […]

About Global Science and Innovation Network

We use this blog to showcase the work of the UK Science and Innovation Network. We have approximately 90 officers in over 30 countries and territories around the world building…

We use this blog to showcase the work of the UK Science and Innovation Network. We have approximately 90 officers in over 30 countries and territories around the world building partnerships and collaborations on science and innovation. SIN officers work with the local science and innovation community in support of UK policy overseas, leading to mutual benefits to the UK and the host country.

We work to four objectives; prosperity, security, influence and development, across 11 thematic programs; Health and Life Sciences, Clean Energy ,Food and Agriculture, Future Manufacturing, Digital Economy, Quantum Technology, Future Cities, Resources and Resilience, Polar Regions, Space and Oceans.