3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
12th January 2018 Vienna, Austria
Why we do social media
I recently attended the annual diplomatic reception for ambassadors given by Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen. Result: a minor social media storm. Why? And why was this a good thing? The President’s annual diplomatic reception has taken place for years; someone recently sent me a picture of Kaiser Franz Josef meeting the diplomatic corps […]
11th January 2018 Tripoli, Libya
Dear Libya
We have known each other for two and a half years. But the time has come for me to leave. As Juliet said to Romeo: “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” It is hard to say goodbye, but I have to move on. Getting to know you has always been a pleasure. Though it hasn’t been […]
10th January 2018 Vienna, Austria
How the UK and UNODC are working together to tackle corruption
A corrupt official takes an illegal bribe. Why does matter? And if it does matter, what can we do about it? This isn’t just about morality. Research shows that corruption raises the cost of doing business and reduces economic growth. A 1% reduction in corruption perception scores can raise growth by 0.57% in developed economies […]
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8th January 2018 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
UK-Malaysia project generating bioelectricity from wastewater wins £197,440 Newton Prize
Winner Prof Phang Siew Moi (with flower bouquet) from University of Malaya and her team pictured here with Vicki Treadell (British High Commissioner to Malaysia) and Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid (Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia). 150 Newton-Ungku Omar Fund projects, 43 Newton Prize applications, one Newton Prize winner. After extensive review […]
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8th January 2018 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sustainable Energy from Waste Effluents – a blog by the winner of the Newton Prize Malaysia
This blog is co-authored by Professor Dr. Phang Siew Moi from University of Malaya and Dr. Adrian Fisher from University of Cambridge. Dr. Kamran Yunus and Dr. P. Vengadesh, setting up the Algae Biophotovoltaic Device at the Centre for Research in Electrochemical Science and Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, UK. […]
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5th January 2018 Los Angeles, USA
Royal Society and SIN expore AI for social good in Los Angeles
Last month, the Science and Innovation Network joined the Royal Society to host a series of events around the Neural Information Processing Systems conference in California. This is the first in an ongoing series of activities in the US exploring the challenges and opportunities as AI technology becomes more prevalent in society. You can find […]
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21st December 2017 Vientiane, Laos
Holding Up The Sky
During China’s Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong famously proclaimed that women “hold up half the sky.” It was an unequivocal assertion of women’s equal rights and responsibilities in society. Half a century on, however, achieving gender parity unfortunately remains unfinished business across the world. Still, the dramatic events of 2017 suggest the empowerment agenda is gaining […]
18th December 2017 Science and Innovation Network
Wales and the World: Higher Education and the Learned Society of Wales
In 1870, Frances Hoggan qualified as a doctor of medicine in Zurich University, the second woman to qualify in Europe. She was born in 1843, the daughter of a curate in Brecon, mid Wales. Wanting to study medicine, she had to go to Zurich because women in Britain were prohibited from sitting professional examinations in […]
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15th December 2017 Canberra, Australia
Annual Review – UK in Australia 2017
In the days before social media, 24/7 news and Freedom of Information requests, British Heads of Mission around the world used to pen an “Annual Review” at the tail end of each year. This was an opportunity for reflection on host countries and bilateral relations; and – inevitably – for competitive Ambassadors and High Commissioners […]
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14th December 2017 Port Louis, Mauritius
A new country but we will still always remember them!
I arrived in Maurtius in August after four wonderful years in magnificent St Petersburg, Russia’s cultural capital. Russia to Mauritius? Quite a change people would say. Well, they were absolutely right. The biggest change is of course the weather. By December we would be well into a long, dark and freezing Russian winter, whereas in […]
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