Abstract

A series of four talks by renowned speakers will address questions such as: How has the steep increase of private funding and commercialisation affected the practice of science? What are the benefits, and what are the possible limitations and drawbacks for the research enterprise? Is there a risk that private interests underlying much of industrial funding of basic research undermine the quality and reliability of research? A demonstrative example would be some reported cases of a failure to disclose research results unfavourable to the funder. What can scientists do to safeguard against such challenges to retain the trust that is invested in them by the public? The four presentations will be followed by a panel discussion.

• (chair) John Sulston, Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation, University of Manchester
• Tim Hubbard, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton
• David Searls, Philadelphia, PA, USA
• Stuart Parkinson, Scientists For Global Resposibility, Folkestone UK
• Gábor Lamm, EMBLEM , Heidelberg, Germany

Further information: http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Information/events/whoownsscience/