Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) Research Agendas Workstream
Meeting 1 September
2004
Paper RA3.1: discussion
on draft information gathering paper
The draft paper
1.The draft information paper for discussion today is split into three
parts:
A historical overview
of UK research policy in general and agricultural biotechnology research
policy specifically, including changes in funding and goals of research.
A summary of the key
over-arching drivers that influence research agendas in general and in
agricultural biotechnology specifically.
Detailed descriptions
of organisations funding agricultural biotechnology research in the UK,
breaking down their expenditure and describing how they set research agendas,
the aims and specific drivers that influence them and how stakeholders and the
public are engaged in their operations.
2.The information in the paper comes from four main sources:
Desk research by the
secretariat
References provided by
AEBC members and academics with an interest in science policy
Information provided by
the funding bodies themselves at the secretariat’s request
Evidence gathered from
guests at the May and July Commission meetings
3.Due to lack of time, there are some omissions from this first draft.
These are highlighted in the text but most notably include:
Breakdown of
expenditure specifically on biotechnology, where information has been
requested but not yet provided by some bodies.
Sections on EU research
programmes and co-operative research.
Collation and analysis
of information on the different funders.
Case study scoping.
Feedback
4.Any comments from members on the draft would be appreciated, but input on
the following in particular would be helpful:
Issues for the analysis
to concentrate on (including comparative tables/ graphs/ figures and
summary diagrams that would be of interest)
How to deal with the
length of the paper (for example by briefly summarising information on
each research funder in the paper and removing the detail to a separate
annex).
Early/emerging
conclusions and how to present them.
Next steps
5.The draft information paper is to be discussed at the Commission’s
meeting in York on the afternoon of 22 September. This gives two weeks until the
paper needs to be finalised for the meeting (15 September).
6.In this short time, what
aspects of the paper do members feel that the secretariat should concentrate on?
7.At the last core-group meeting on 20 July, members agreed that the
information paper would be:
circulated to the
relevant funding bodies and those who provided information for comment and
correction;
refereed by one or two
external reviewers;
placed on the AEBC
website as a final version
(N.B paper will go on the website as a draft for the September meeting, but
will be marked with appropriate caveats);
used to inform the
stakeholder and public consultation exercise;
used as the basis for a
wider stakeholder consultation exercise on the key questions of the workstream
in autumn 2004.
8.In the more medium term:
how do members
envisage the timetabling and organisation of these steps; and
what changes and
additions to the paper are required?
