Nobel Laureate Professor Andre Geim joins The Innovation Debate 2012, The Royal Society, 20th November 2012
CHERTSEY, England, November 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
To watch the debate live register FREE today at www.innovationdebate.com
Nobel Laureate PROFESSOR ANDRE GEIM will join the distinguished panel of world-leading experts and chairman Professor Jim Al-Khalili, for The Innovation Debate 2012, taking place on 20th November 2012 at 4pm, at the Royal Society in London, webcast live at www.innovationdebate.com.
Together they will debate "How do you innovate in a time of austerity?" and "Are we doing enough to nurture innovators of the future?"
Presenting his views on the current state of innovation, Professor Geim - who is the Langworthy and Royal Society
Research Professor at the University of Manchester and Director of its Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology - said:
"The underlying reason for the current economic stagnation is a set of macroeconomic problems that choke innovation.
"We have practically exhausted the fundamental knowledge base that is essential for creating new disruptive technologies; academia, which is responsible for delivering new knowledge, has lost its public support and is chronically underfunded; industry completely demolished its earlier infrastructure, which allowed the exploitation of new fundamental knowledge; and we continue to nurture young generations who aspire to no more than becoming bankers, civil servants or professionally unemployed.
"Opportunistic human nature is largely responsible for these societal developments because we aim at low-hanging fruit and neglect social and economic investments that do not promise immediate returns."
Professor Geim - who in 2010 was awarded the Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking work on Graphene, a one-atom-thick material made of carbon - will join fellow panellists who include: Tudor Brown, former President of Cambridge-based semiconductor giant ARM Holdings; PROFESSOR Paul Workman, Deputy Chief Executive of the Institute of Cancer Research; PROFESSOR MARIANA MAZZUCATO, Professor in Economics at the University of Sussex, whose speciality is industrial economics and the economics of growth; PROFESSOR PAUL BOYLE, Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), International Champion of Research Councils UK (RCUK) and President of Brussels-based research organisation Science Europe and DR Beau Lotto, neuroscientist attached to University College, London's Institute of Ophthalmology.
In a tough economic climate, innovation needs to remain the lifeblood of science, technology and the economy. There is an urgent need to focus on how best to promote and nurture innovation - today and in the future.
That is why The Innovation Debate 2012 - organised and funded by Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. - is bringing together influential and respected figures from the worlds of science, technology, medicine, education, engineering, government, industry and the media to discuss how best to encourage and nurture scientific innovation. The aim of The Innovation Debate is to air crucial issues, draw positive conclusions and to move the agenda forward.
Everyone - professionals in science and technology, students and the general public - will have the opportunity to engage with The Innovation Debate through online media, taking discussions far beyond the walls of the Royal Society.
Join the Innovation Debate 2012
The Innovation Debate will encourage wider participation from the public and science community via the website. Everyone will have the opportunity to share their views on the critical challenges facing science and innovation raised by The Innovation Debate and to submit a question to the panel of experts. To watch the live webcast of the Debate from 4pm on 20th November 2012, register today at www.innovationdebate.com
Join the debate now at www.innovationdebate.com and follow us on Twitter @Innovatedebate #innovationdebate
About Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd.
Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., located in the UK, is the European headquarters of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceuticals. The organisation's focus is to deliver outstanding R&D and marketing to continue growing in the world pharmaceutical market. Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. is responsible for 21 affiliate offices located across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, an R&D site and three manufacturing plants. The company employs approximately 4,300 staff across these regions. For more information about Astellas Pharma Europe, please visit www.astellas.eu.
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