Welcome to UK Science & Innovation in Canada

Have you ever wondered what the UK Science & Innovation network is doing abroad? Particularly in Canada? If so, then you’ve come to the right place.

Welcome to the UK Science & Innovation in Canada blog. I (Nicole Arbour) will be your guide on this adventure into the blogosphere. As such, you can expect me to be a frequent contributor, and the moderator of any questions, comments and/or concerns that you, our readers, may have. So welcome to our new adventure, hopefully it will demystify the work of the Science & Innovation Network here in Canada, give you an idea of some of the cool and exciting scientific research going on in the “Great White North”, as well as familiarize you with our team, and their geographical distributions in this vast country.

A few notes to start:

1. I tend to write as I speak (when writing informally, as one tends to do in a blog), and as locally engaged staff, that may mean a few Canadian colloquialisms. I will try, where possible, to explain myself, but should I forget (or alternately, not realise that they’re colloquialisms) please feel free to ask for definitions.
2.  As mentioned, this is the UK Science & Innovation in Canada blog, what this means is that its goal is to be a communication vehicle for our entire science team.  As such, each of my fellow team members will be contributing, at one point or another, to this blog, as guest bloggers

Let me explain a bit about where we are, and what we are doing here. The UK Science and Innovation team in Canada is distributed across the country in order to better capture what is happening on the ground in various areas of Science, Technology and Innovation. We are located (from West to East) in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and, soon to be, Montreal (September).

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In these and surrounding locations, we liaise with scientists engaged in research across a variety of fields, including, but not restricted to: life sciences, physical sciences, energy and clean technology. We work with researchers within academia, industry as well as federal and provincial governmental organizations. We make sure we’re keeping up to date and are aware of Canadian science policy, and are always on the lookout for cutting edge research, and opportunities to foster collaborations and strengthen scientific ties between Canada and the UK.

What can you expect to see within this blog?  Some discussion around current events in Canadian science and technology, potentially some Canadian science policy, as well as updates on what we’re doing to promote UK science and increase UK/Canada ties.

So that’s a bit about the team and what we do. I look forward to regaling you with tales of adventure in the fascinating world of Science and Innovation in Canada. Is there a particular area of Canadian Science and Technology that you think we should be exploring?  A fascinating opportunity that just can’t be missed?  Let us know.  Join in on the conversation.  I’m always happy to hear from you!

So until next time…