Following the Science: How are data and evidence used and communicated?

The Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Post-Covid Futures Commission was established in May 2020 to bring together leading practitioners and thinkers to support Scotland in emerging as positively as possible from the current pandemic.

One of the Commission’s four Working Groups examines the role of Data, Evidence and Science and the lessons that can be learned from Covid-19 in terms of how these assets are used and communicated. As a key part of this work, the RSE is hosting an online discussion that will raise issues such as: how science works; how data, evidence and science are communicated; how the media decide what to cover and what to omit; dealing with complexity and uncertainty; and how ‘following the science’ and the press portrayal of scientific research affects policy decisions.

This is an opportunity to engage with ideas around data, evidence and science, hear from a variety of expert perspectives, ask questions, and build a stronger understanding of how science works and is communicated. We hope you can join us!

This event will be chaired by:

Professor Stephen Reicher FRSE, Wardlaw Professor of Psychology, University of St. Andrews. The panel discussion includes Professor Linda Bauld FRSE, Bruce and John Usher Chair of Public Health in The Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Kenneth Macdonald, writer and broadcaster, Eileen Stuart, Deputy Director for Nature and Climate Change, NatureScot and Professor Rowland R. Kao, Chair of Veterinary Epidemiology and Data Science, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh.

Panel Biographies

Professor Stephen Reicher FRSE, Wardlaw Professor of Psychology at the University of St. Andrews

Stephen Reicher’s work is on group processes including such phenomena as social influence, conformity, leadership and intergroup relations. Stephen is Vice-President (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. During the pandemic he has been part of the advisory groups to the UK and Scottish Governments and also part of Independent SAGE.

Professor Linda Bauld FRSE, Bruce and John Usher Chair of Public Health in The Usher Institute at the University

Linda Bauld holds the Bruce and John Usher Chair in Public Health in the Usher Institute, College of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Linda is a behavioural scientist with a PhD in social policy whose research focuses on two main areas: the evaluation of complex interventions to improve health, and how research can inform public health policy. During the Covid-19 crisis she has been a regular contributor to print and broadcast media on approaches to addressing the pandemic. She is also an adviser to the Covid-19 Committee of the Scottish Parliament and serves as a member of the Covid-19 research funding panel for the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council and the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Post-Covid Futures Commission.

Professor Rowland R. Kao, Chair of Veterinary Epidemiology and Data Science, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh.

Rowland Kao is a mathematical biologist whose research work covers a variety of infectious diseases of humans and animals, exploiting combinations of modelling techniques and large datasets to better understand how infectious diseases emerge, spread and persist, and to inform their control. In the COVID-19 pandemic he has been contributing to the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling that advises SAGE and with his research group, developed predictive models being used to support Public Health Scotland.

Kenneth Macdonald, writer and broadcaster

He worked for the BBC for more years than he is able to remember, covering specialisms such as politics, education and science. He also filled the intriguingly loosely defined role of Special Correspondent. His reports for BBC television, radio and online were filed from locations around Scotland and across the world, including from four US presidential election campaign trails. Among his notable interviewees have been the Dalai Lama, astronaut John Glenn and Dolly the Sheep.

Eileen Stuart, Deputy Director for Nature and Climate Change, NatureScot