Review of Session 2000-2001

The Royal Society of Edinburgh Review 2002 (Session 2000-2001)
CONTENTS
Contents Proceedings of the Ordinary Meetings ............................................. 3 Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting ................................. 7 General Secretarys Report. .............................................................. 7 Treasurers Report ......................................................................... 15 Accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2001 ................. 21 Activities Prize Lectures .............................................................................. 41 Lectures ...................................................................................... 49 Conferences, Symposia, Workshops and Exhibitions .................. 79 Publications ............................................................................. 107 Fundraising .............................................................................. 109 Scottish Science Advisory Committee ........................................ 111 Evidence, Advice and Comment ................................................ 113 Inquiries ................................................................................... 115 Public Policy Seminars ............................................................... 117 Links with Industry ................................................................... 119 Events for Young People ........................................................... 121 Research Awards ...................................................................... 123 Medals, Prizes and Prize Lectureships ........................................ 129 Grants Committee .................................................................... 131 International Programme .......................................................... 133 Fellows Social Events ............................................................... 135 Grants, Sponsorship and Donations ........................................... 137 Changes in Fellowship During the Session .................................. 139 Staff ........................................................................................... 141
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ORDINARY MEETINGS

See pp 41-78 for reports on lectures and prize lectures
6 November 2000
Chairman Sir William Stewart FRS PRSE Lecture Heterogeneous catalysis: from black art to atomic understanding. Professor Gerhard Ertl, HonFRSE, of the Fritz-HaberInstitut der Max-PlanckGesellschaft, Berlin. (page 49)
5 February 2001
Chairman Sir William Stewart FRS PRSE Formal Admission to Fellowship Professor Robert Hale. Award The President presented the 30th Award of the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship to Professor Angus Macintyre, FRS, FRSE, Professor of Mathematics at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Edinburgh, for his outstanding contribution to logic, model theory, algebra, analysis and theoretical computer science. Lecture What Does Gdels Theorem Mean After 70 Years? (Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lecture). Professor Angus Macintyre, FRS, FRSE. (page 41)
4 December 2000
Chairman The Rt Hon Lord Ross PC, VPRSE Formal Admission to Fellowship Dr Christopher Browitt Lecture People Flows and Knowledge Flows: international Students and Public Policy. Professor Lalage Bown, OBE, FRSE, Chair of the Council for Education in the Commonwealth Working Group on Student Mobility. (page 57)
8 January 2001
Chairman Sir William Stewart FRS PRSE Formal Admission to Fellowship Professor Kenneth Reid Lecture The Defences of Scapa Flow: protecting the Royal Navys Fleet Anchorage, 19141945. Mr Geoffrey Stell, Head of Architecture at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. (page 59)
5 March 2001
Chairman Sir William Stewart FRS PRSE Election of Fellows (see list on page 139) Scrutineers Bishop Mario Conti and Professor George Holmes Formal Admission to Honorary Fellowship Professor Lawrence Markus Professor Lawrence Markus is a distinguished mathematician who has made significant and lasting contributions, both in research and
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Review of the Session 2000-2001
teaching, to the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis in the United States of America, and to the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. In this respect he is a remarkable example of the special relationship between the two countries; for the last thirty years he has divided his professional life between the two Universities, serving in research and in administrative positions associated with the development of a number of areas of mathematics and control science. For many years he has held the muchcoveted Regent Professorship of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota; at the University of Warwick he has held, at various times, Nuffield and Leverhulme Chairs of Mathematics; he is now Regent Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota and Honorary Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. Professor Markus is a devoted anglophile and American patriot; he was involved with the Manhattan Atomic Energy Project in 1943 and then served in the US Navy from 1943 to 1946. He and his wife Lois have for many years divided their lives between the two countries, with winter and summer in their apartment in Royal Leamington Spa, and autumn and spring in their home in Minneapolis. Formal Admission to Fellowship Professor Andrew Hook
Award 5th Award of the BP Prize Lectureship in the Humanities to Dr Adrienne Scullion, from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at the University of Glasgow, in recognition of her substantial contribution to Scottish dramatic literature and contemporary performance in the professional theatre in Scotland. Lecture Self and Nation: issues of Identity in Modern Scottish Plays by Women (BP Prize Lecture in the Humanities). Professor Adrienne Scullion. (page 45)
9 April 2001
Chairman Sir William Stewart FRS, PRSE Formal Admission to Fellowship Professor C Snape Lecture Cancer Research Delivers - At Last. Professor Gordon McVie, Director General, The Cancer Research Campaign. (page 65)
4 June 2001
Chairman Sir David Carter, FRSE, VPRSE Formal Admission to Fellowship Professor S Blackmore, Professor J L Brockington, Professor D Charlesworth, Dr T P P Clifford, Professor D H Crawford, Professor S C Garrod, Mr B G Ivory, Professor R D Jack, Professor N H Keeble, The Hon Lord MacLean, Professor R Morrison, Professor R E Mulvey, Professor J A Murphy, Professor A F Murray, Lord Patel of Dunkeld,
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Proceedings of the Ordinary Meetings
Professor D J Porteous, Professor I G Priede, Professor G E Rickman, Professor J F Roulston, Professor J E L Simmons, Professor K S Sorbie, Professor J K Stringer, Professor G M Teasdale, Professor A J Walton, Professor A Whiten. Lecture Health in Old Age - Dream or Reality? Professor Marion E T McMurdo, Department of Medicine, Dundee University, Ninewells Hospital. (page 70)
2 July 2001
Chairman Sir William Stewart FRS, PRSE Formal Admission to Fellowship Mr A Cubie, Professor C T H Davies, Professor D Edwards, Professor R H Flin, Professor N A R Gow, Professor C Kuo, Professor C R McInnes, Professor M J Padgett, Professor J A Sherratt and Professor R Thompson. Lecture Knot Theory and Fluid Mechanics A Reflection on the Work of Tait and Kelvin. Professor Keith Moffatt, FRS, FRSE, University of Cambridge. (page 72)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE STATUTORY GENERAL MEETING

The Annual Statutory General Meeting took place in the Societys Wolfson Theatre on Monday 29 October 2001 at 4.45pm. Sir William Stewart, FRS, President, took the Chair. Presidents Welcome The President welcomed the Fellows and then expressed gratitude to all the outgoing members of Council and Committees for their notable contributions to the Society. He mentioned especially Professor Peter Wilson, outgoing General Secretary, and Professor Bob Donovan, Vice-President, who would become Chairman of the RSE Scotland Foundation. He noted that the Scottish Executive had recognised the Society as an independent learned body by asking it to host the Scottish Science Advisory Committee whose Chairman was expected to become chief advisor on science to the Scottish Executive. In addition the Society was being proactive in initiating Inquiries into Foot and Mouth Disease, Infectious Salmon Anaemia and Mediation in the Health Service. The President was also pleased to highlight the award, by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, of Royal Medals to Sir James Black, OM, FRS, Hon FRSE; Professor Ian Scott, FRS, FRSE; and Professor Tom Devine, FBA, FRSE, Hon MRIA. Election of Officers and Council for the 219th Session The Scrutineers appointed for the election of Officers and Council
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for the 219th Session were: Professor J F Cornwell FRSE, and Dr M A D Fluendy FRSE. The Ballot was held and papers counted. The Scrutineers later reported that all those shown on the ballot form had been elected by an overwhelming majority. General Secretarys Report to the ASM. The Annual Report and Accounts for 2001, which were included with the papers for this meeting, describe the main activities during the period April 2000 to March 2001. This oral report is designed to bring the Fellowship up to date with developments since March 2001. Since March there have been a number of activities which are breaking new ground. Our international programme continued apace and we have made excellent progress in developing and enhancing our links and relations in Europe and beyond. In Europe, positive steps have been made regarding the Society obtaining membership of the All European Academies Network. We will learn the outcome of that in Spring next year. We have also strengthened our links with European contacts - notably the European Commission, and have hosted major Scottish / European events, the most recent being the launch of The Future of Europe debate in Scotland. Beyond Europe, continued progress has been made in establishing a research exchange agreement
with the National Science Council, Taiwan, which should be implemented next April. We also set in train the establishment of an agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences which has expressed a willingness for entering into such a relationship with the Society. This summer has also seen the RSE become an integral part of the Scottish Executives Scottish Science Strategy, with the RSE being charged with the setting-up of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee to identify priorities, inform policy in science and technology and advise Scottish Executive Ministers on issues of scientific importance. This Scottish Science Strategy takes forward the key recommendations of the Royal Society of London/Royal Society of Edinburgh Joint Report on Devolution and Science. The RSE has also instigated a number of Working Parties. In June, prompted by a symposium on Medical Practice and the Growth of Litigation in the UK held at the RSE last year, the Society established a group, chaired by Lord Ross, that is exploring mediation as a means of resolving clinical negligence disputes. The Society has also formed a Working Party, chaired by Professor Sir Roderick MacSween, to look into recent changes to the methodology for identifying cases of Infectious Salmon Anaemia, and is also in the process of establishing a
Working Party on Foot and Mouth Disease. This summer has also seen the launch of the RSEs fundraising initiative. We were delighted and honoured that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, who is celebrating his 50th anniversary as an Honorary Fellow, agreed to be Patron of this campaign, which he launched at the RSE on 6 August. The campaign has already benefited from the generous commitment of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland which is providing a further 1.1 million of funding for Personal and Support Fellowships, and PhD Studentships, concerned with the Ageing Population. Another important activity in July this year was the second round of Royal Medals for outstanding achievement, which were awarded by the HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony in the Palace of Holyroodhouse. This years medals were awarded to: Sir James Black, Professor Ian Scott and Professor Tom Devine. On top of all these events, the Societys regular programme of activities continues to expand. For a week in the summer, S1/S2 pupils attended the new RSE Summer Science Camp at Satrosphere in Aberdeen. This was a week-long non-residential camp with a general theme of Space and Time, supported by Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland. A Discussion Forum on Mobile Phone Technology and Safety for S5-6 pupils was held at Glasgow
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Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting
University, held jointly between the RSE and the BA, and supported by the EPSRC and Institute of Physics. The Society also held New Physics Masterclasses for S5-6 students, in conjunction with the University of Glasgow, to build on the success of the Startup Science Masterclasses for S1/2 pupils. In fulfilling our role as a provider of expert evidence and advice to Parliaments and Governments, the Society has responded to 29 further requests for comment since 31 March 2001. These have included a Human Rights Commission for Scotland, possible scenarios for the uptake of GM in agriculture and the draft Land Reform Bill. Scotlands Wellbeing our public policy seminar programme - has also continued, with Urban Congestion being the subject of the fourth event in the series. Through this series the Society has sought to facilitate an inclusive approach to policy debate in Scotland. In keeping with earlier events in the programme, it was attended by a Scottish Executive Minister, and brought together a wide range of interested parties. In strengthening the links between industry and academia, the RSE organised a series of Science Base Research and Commercialisation workshops, with the support of Technology Ventures Scotland and SHEFC. The Workshops were held in Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh and Inverness and were aimed at identifying and encouraging the adoption of best
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practice with regard to commercialisation within the Scottish science base. In supporting outstanding young researchers, the Society awarded six Enterprise Fellowships (including two in the newly-funded category of Microelectronics), one PPARC Enterprise Fellowship, one BP Fellowship, and one Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Fellowship. With the additional funding from the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department now in place, the Society was also able to award a larger number of Personal and Support Fellowships this year, and awarded six Personal Fellowships and two Support Fellowships. We also awarded the Bruce-Preller Prize Lectureship to Professor Adrian Bird and look forward to this lecture in due course. Since 31 March 2001, the Society has also held 20 lectures and events here and at other centres throughout Scotland. Highlights have included Professor Marion McMurdos lecture on Health in Old Age Dream or Reality, which was attended by a record 220 people, and a half-day symposium on Foot and Mouth Disease the Implications for Agriculture at the BA Festival of Science in Glasgow. As this is the last Report I will present to the Fellows before I demit office, perhaps I may be allowed a few personal comments. I have greatly enjoyed my five years of office as your General
Secretary, and I thank you for electing me. During that time many major changes have occurred in the RSE, three of which I would highlight here. Firstly, the acquisition, refurbishing and eventual occupation of No 26 George Street has marked a significant change, allowing our increasing staff numbers more working space and permitting a wider range of Society events. Secondly, the introduction of the new category of Corresponding Fellow, and the revision of the Laws allowing (amongst other things) a more effective method of electing new Fellows, has enhanced the status of the Fellowship and enabled them to become more representative of the numerous disciplines we claim to encompass. Thirdly, the agreement of the Scottish Executive to appoint a Chief Scientist and to entrust the RSE with the task of finding and supporting the incumbent will greatly enhance the standing and prestige of the Society. These and many other initiatives have come about as a result of close teamwork by the Officers and Staff of the Society, and I wish to publicly acknowledge the support and friendship which I have enjoyed. It is invidious to select names, but I would like to pay especial tribute to Sir Lewis Robertson and Sir Lawrence Hunter who, as successive Treasurers, have been my running mates over the period. I would also like
to publicly thank Dr. Marc Rands who has been the back-room boy responsible, with me, for the publication of over two hundred Society Responses to Government Reports and Enquiries and who has carried out this difficult task with unflagging energy and enthusiasm. Lastly, my thanks to all the RSE staff for their support in numerous ways, headed up by our outstanding Executive Secretary, who has kept us all in order and enabled us to take on board our expanding activities during a very taxing and difficult period. Thank you all, and please give as much encouragement and support to my successor Andrew Miller as you have given me. General Secretarys Report for the Financial Year Ending 31 March 2001 This year saw the development of the Societys 5-year Corporate Plan to guide the Societys progress over the coming years. The development of the Plan has been driven forward by a Steering Group, led by the President, and an Editorial Group convened by Professor John Laver, with assistance and input from a wide cross-section of the Fellowship. The development of the Plan has been an essential part of the process of finding the means to sustain and develop the Society over the next five years. There were a number of regular changes to Council membership following the Annual Statutory Meeting. In particular, the Council
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bid farewell to Sir James Armour, who had provided a valuable contribution as Vice-President, and welcomed his worthy successor, Sir David Carter. Links with Young People It has been another busy year for the Societys Young Peoples programme with events taking place across Scotland. Since April 2000 the Society has organised ten Schools Lectures throughout Scotland with titles as varied as International Space Station Alpha and Serpents and Synthesisers. As clear evidence of our Scotland-wide locus, the RSE contributed to the Orkney Science Festival and organised a Discussion Forum, on GM foods, as part of the Moray Science Festival (in conjunction with the BA). With financial support from Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, the Society has also run Startup Science masterclasses at Satrosphere in Aberdeen, New Lanark Education Centre, Stirling University, the Museum of Flight at East Fortune, Glasgow University and St Andrews University. Other successful events have included the RSEs regular Saturday Maths Masterclasses, thanks to Professor Jack Carr and Teresa Carr. The RSE Christmas lecture Nature, Nurture or Neither - What Genetics Tells Us About Ourselves at Perth High School was presented by Professor Steve Jones. This lecture was heard by 300 students from eight schools in Perth and Kinross and Fife.
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Two Darwin Trust Awards were also presented by the RSE this year to schools teams at the Engineering Education Scheme Scotlands Annual Exhibition and Awards and at the British Youth Science Fair. Both winning teams exhibited their research projects at the New Frontiers in Science exhibition, held at the RSE in the summer, which was attended by the public as well as school pupils and teachers from all over Scotland. Unfortunately, the RSE Roadshow on Food for Thought, was to take place in Eyemouth in March 2001, but had to be postponed due to the out-break of Foot and Mouth disease in the area. Links with Industry The Society has continued to strengthen the links between industry and academia. Two highprofile Foresight Seminars were held in June and December on the topics of the Financial Services and Healthcare: Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Medical Devices, in partnership with Scottish Enterprise and SHEFC. An event was also held on Danish (and European) Development within Science, Technology and Innovation with a presentation from Dr Ove Poulsen, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Danish Ministry of Research. In developing its support for commercialisation, the Society has also initiated a series of Science Base Research and Commercialisation (SBRC) Workshops with the support of Technology Ventures
Scotland and SHEFC. These Workshops are to be aimed at identifying, and encouraging the adoption of, best-practice with regard to commercialisation within the Scottish science base, and will be held throughout Scotland. The first event was held at Glasgow University in March, covering topics such as spin-outs, licensing, Intellectual Property Rights, job creation, challenges in engaging the Scottish industrial base and the impact of the Research Assessment Exercise. Research Awards, Medals and Prizes The Society continues to support research across a broad range of disciplines, and to recognise research excellence, through its fellowships, prizes and prize lectureships. The Society was honoured this year by two Royal visits. In July our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, visited the Society and awarded the first Royal Medals to Professor Sir Kenneth Murray, Professor Peter Higgs, and Lord Perry. In October we were again honoured, this time by the presence of Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, when she awarded the MacRobert Trusts/Royal Society of Edinburgh Millennium Prize at a dinner at Edinburgh Castle, to Aberdeen-based Tritech International for its outstanding innovation and commercialisation. The dinner was supported by Technology Ventures Scotland.
Scottish Enterprise also generously agreed to expand the Enterprise Fellowships scheme and fund new Enterprise Fellowships in Communication Technologies and Microelectronics. Following a launch event in January 2001, some high-quality applications were received and Fellowships were awarded in the new areas. The Scottish Executive Education and Lifelong Learning Department has also awarded further funding of 900,000 over three years to the Society, to expand its existing Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department Personal and Support Fellowships schemes and to introduce new Fellowship schemes in 2001/ 2002. Evidence, Advice & Comment The Society has been increasingly fulfilling its role as a provider of expert evidence and advice to Parliaments and Governments, on both sides of the border. This advice has been on topics ranging from Scottish National Parks, Healthcare in 2020 to the Scottish Science Strategy. In addition to responsive evidence, the Society enhanced its role as an important think-tank by developing a series of Public Policy Seminars, entitled Scotlands Wellbeing. The series began in December with a seminar addressing the Active Involvement of Older People and continued in February and March with seminars addressing Education through Inclusive Schooling and Renewa12
ble Energy - 21st Century Challenges and Changes. Mr Malcolm Chisholm, Deputy Minister for Health & Community Care, Mr Nicol Stephen, Deputy Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs, and Mr Stephen Hampson, Head of Enterprise & Industrial Affairs Group at the Scottish Executive attended and spoke at the respective seminars. Meetings The Society has again increased the number of meetings in its programme and has seen a marked upturn in the attendance at meetings, with the overspill rooms being put to use for several lectures. The quality of meetings remains high, with positive feedback from audiences, and the Society is succeeding in raising its public profile. Particular highlights this year included the New Frontiers in Science exhibition which was jointly hosted at the RSE with the Royal Society of London. This was the first time this prestigious event was held outwith London and the exhibition of innovative science in the UK was attended by about 1500 members of the public, as well as 208 students from 11 Schools and 100 Chemistry and Biology teachers, together with over 100 Fellows and their guests at a preview soiree. Another successful event was a memorable lecture by Professor Stephen Hawking on The Universe in a Nutshell, part of the
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Edinburgh Lecture Series. This event filled the 1200 seats at the McEwan Hall, plus 500 more in overflow venues, and the event was web-cast to schools around Scotland. Other highlights of the year have included a week-long international conference on Human Nature, involving five plenary lectures delivered by world-renowned scientists on consecutive evenings; the Caledonian Research Foundation conference on Cloning and Cell Therapy and the joint symposium with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh on the Scientific Basis of Clinical Effectiveness. Publications The Society published five issues of Proceedings A and two issues of Transactions, and a steady rate of submission of papers to both journals has been maintained. Information about other publications of the Society is given in the Appendix. RSE News has now been renamed ReSourcE and will now be published quarterly. Its style has also become more user friendly and suitable for dissemination to a wider audience. Contributions from Fellows for additional material, however, are as welcome as ever. Fellowship Matters The election year 2000 - 2001, culminating in the election of Fellows in March 2001, was the first of an initial three-year exercise following the recommen-
dations of Professor Lavers Working Party on the Balance of the Fellowship. The number of new Ordinary Fellows was set at an upper limit of 55 and included extra allocations in those discipline areas identified as being poorly represented in the Fellowship. In addition, ten Corresponding Fellows were elected and four Honorary Fellows. The average age at election for Ordinary Fellowship was 52. A two-stage selection process was also initiated in this election year resulting in greater competition for places and hopefully greater transparency of the election process. International Activities The Society continued to strengthen and promote its international activities. In May, the Society signed a formal agreement with the Royal Danish Academy, promoting and strengthening cooperation between researchers in Denmark and Scotland and between the two Academies. European links were also enhanced through membership of Scotland Europa - which resulted in the Society hosting an important European seminar, involving EU Vice President Neil Kinnock, First Minister, Mr Henry McLeish and Deputy First Minister, Mr Jim Wallace. Professor Pieter Drenth, President of the All European Academies (ALLEA) network, also visited the Society as part of the process of seeking membership of
this important academic organisation. The Society was also active beyond the European horizon. International Committee Convenor, Principal Andrew Miller, represented the Society at the 220th Anniversary meeting of the American Academy of Arts & Science; Fellowship Secretary, Professor John Laver represented the Society at the United States Council for Learned Societies; he also, supported by Executive Secretary Dr William Duncan, met with the President and other officers of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Alongside these activities the Society also hosted a visit of Cuban scientists, lead by Dr Carlos Borroto, Head of the Cuban Project for Biotechnology for Animals and Plants. Staffing Matters The Societys external image received extra thought and attention this year through the appointment of a Public Relations Officer, Stuart Brown. The Society was grateful to the Scottish Executive for seconding Mr Graeme Herbert to the Society for a year to support the Societys growing international activities and the Societys Public Policy Seminar series. The Society owes a great debt of gratitude to its small, but hardworking staff. To most Fellows, the RSE offices are perhaps not perceived as a hive of activity, but, as with a swimming duck, a very great deal of the action goes
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unseen under the water. In this my final year of office, I would like to make full acknowledgement of the help and support which I have always received from all the staff, but especially from those working directly with me in the conduct of my duties as General Secretary. Peter Wilson Professor Peter Wilson CBE General Secretary Treasurers Report to the ASM (presented by The Rt Hon Lord Ross, Vice-President and Acting Treasurer) In the absence abroad of the Treasurer, Sir Laurence Hunter, I have been asked to present to this meeting the Accounts for the year ended March 2001. When Sir Laurence completed his report to last years ASM, he made the following observation One thing I have learned is that no year is likely to be without its share of change and surprise. Events have shown these remarks to be especially apposite to the year of this report. I draw attention to the Treasurers report that prefaces the accounts. I do not propose to read this report in full to do so would be a work of supererogation, but I will refer to some salient matters. As is mentioned in the Introduction, during the year in question considerable steps were taken to fulfil the Societys longer-term aims, and there was an upsurge of activity on a broad front. Unfortunately, serious difficulties began to emerge before March regard15
ing payment of rent by the commercial tenant of RSE Scotland Foundation in the premises of 26 George Street. I shall return to this topic later. Our Fundraising campaign was commenced and this required some pump-priming. Some expenditure has been incurred in raising the profile of the Society, and that has been a necessary prelude to the Fundraising campaign. All this leaves the Society at the end of the financial year with a modest deficit. Looking to the future, it is a matter for concern that the General Fund is at a low level because this imposes constraints on our ability to engage in programmes and activities on which we would wish to embark from time to time. Turning to the Accounts themselves, at page 15, you will see an increase under Income in respect of Meetings. This is due to the New Frontiers exhibition. There is also an increase under Expenditure in respect of Meetings for the same reason. Still under Expenditure, there is an increase under Promotion of Research which is due to there being a full year of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland funding for fellowships on the Ageing Population. We can take satisfaction from the fact that despite this overall increase in volume of activity with associated increase in expenditure, management & secretariat costs have remained stable.
Fellows will be interested to have an up-date on developments since the end of the financial year in March, because the current year has been running for over six months. I regret to report that things got worse as regards the commercial tenant in 26 George Street. The company (Houseworks) was placed in receivership and has now departed after the RSE Scotland Foundation took steps to irritate the lease and so bring it to an end. This means the Society is facing a continuing income loss due to there being no tenant paying rent to the Foundation for these subjects. Active steps are being taken to find a new tenant. Two potential tenants have withdrawn but there are encouraging signs that we will be able to find a suitable tenant. As negotiations are in hand, I would not wish to say any more about this at the present time. I have already mentioned Fundraising. The launch of our Fundraising campaign is now in process, but in order to bring money in, it is necessary first to expend money, and this will entail a significant increase in expenditure for Fundraising and Publicity in the current financial year. I am pleased, however, to remind you that in the area of Fundraising we have had initial success, with the Scottish Executive giving 900,000 of additional funding for Fellowships, and with Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland generously agreeing to provide money for Fellowships and
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Studentships amounting to 1.1m over the next three years to develop new research into improving the quality of life of the ageing population in Scotland. All that is very good news for the Society. On the subject of Fundraising, I also wish to stress that the aim of the Fundraising is not to meet any deficit in its Accounts, but is to enable the Society to expand its activities and put into effect what is contained in the Societys Corporate and Business Plans. Fellows will also observe from the Balance Sheet that Investments at market value appear in round figures at 2,279,000. That was the situation as at March 2001. As at September 2001, the market value had fallen to 2,096,000. Having regard to the fall in the value of shares generally since the event of 11 September 2001, it is gratifying that there has not been an even greater fall in the value of our investments. We have done better than the FOOTSIE or the charity funds index. The majority of the fall is borne by the special restricted funds and not the General Fund. Finally, I would draw Fellows attention to the Treasurers Conclusion in his written report. There is uncertainty due to the RSE Scotland Foundation having no tenant for the premises at 26 George Street. Under normal circumstances, the rental from these premises would represent a significant part of our annual
income. As I have said, every effort is being made by the Foundation to conclude a lease with a suitable tenant, and we can only hope that current negotiations have a satisfactory outcome. Also of critical importance is to achieve success in our Fundraising campaign. This will require a great deal of effort. However, unless the Fundraising campaign proves fruitful, we will not be able to put into effect all that we have identified in the Corporate and Business Plans. The Treasurer states that next year will be another delicate year, but subject to certain provisos, he expresses guarded confidence for the future. He closes his Conclusion by expressing sincere thanks to Kate Ellis and William Duncan for the support they have given him, and I would wish to endorse what he says in that regard. If any Fellows have any queries on the Accounts, I will endeavour to answer them with assistance from Kate Ellis, but meantime I am happy, on behalf of the Treasurer, to commend the Accounts to the Fellowship. Treasurers Report for the Financial Year ending 31 March 2001 The year ended in March 2001 was an eventful one, in which not all went according to plan, yet considerable steps were taken in the direction of fulfilling the Societys longer term aims. There was a considerable upsurge in activity on a broad front, which
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brought in additional income but also increased our expenditure. Serious difficulties began to emerge in the receipt of rental income from the Foundations commercial tenant in 26 George Street. The development of the Corporate and Business Plans led on to the commencement of a Fund raising campaign, which in itself needed some pumppriming. The net effect of these events has been to leave the Society with yet another modest deficit, which is disappointing, but almost inevitable in the circumstances of the effort to raise the profile and the activity level of the Society. More worrying is the consequence that the General Fund continues at a low level. The health of this Fund is vital to the Societys ability to pursue the objectives and engage in the programmes and activities that it chooses on its own account - quite apart from the objectives that it seeks to achieve in collaboration with others. One of the longer-term aims has to be to reverse the trend of this Fund, as a demonstration of the capacity of the Society to take an innovative and independent course of action, when it sees fit. Overview of result for the year: The result for the year ended 31 March 2001, was a deficit of 76,000 as compared to the deficit of 193,000 last year. However, the result last year was
impacted by the special payment to the Foundation of 208,000, without which there would have been a small overall surplus. Of the total deficit for the year the result on General fund was a deficit of 74,000, after charging 55,000 of building depreciation. This amount has been returned to General fund below the line through a transfer from the Capital Asset reserve. The operating result on the general fund after all funds transfers, but before investment movements, is a surplus of 14,000 as compared to last years equivalent figure which was a deficit of 11,000. The total operating income of 1,771,000 represents an increase of nearly 25% over the previous year but the equivalent operating costs have increased by 30% on a like-for-like basis after adjusting for the special grant to the RSE Scotland Foundation last year. The central overhead costs included in this total have risen by 15%, with the proportion relating to the management and administration of the Society falling from 18% to 16 % of central costs and from 7% to 6% of total expenditure. The expansion in costs therefore arises from the increased level of activity and the investment in publicity and fundraising initiatives. The year 2000/2001 : Income and Expenditure Fellows subscriptions rose in the year to 97,300, reflecting the modest increase in subscriptions,
a rise in the total number of Fellows eligible to pay full subscriptions and, importantly, the tax recoverable, as the subscription is now eligible as a Gift Aid donation. Fellows who opt to continue paying subscriptions at the full or abated rate when their age would entitle them to make a reduction continue to make a valuable contribution to the total. The subvention to the RSE Scotland Foundation in support of the publication of Proceedings A and Transactions has fallen to 7,300 from last years figure of 11,000. The net loss overall on publications is 39,900 including the cost of publication of the Year Book and RSE News. Meetings income at 275,800 increased by over 100% mainly due to the successful New Frontiers in Science exhibition which was held in June 2000. The drive to raise income levels both from registration fees and donations in support of conferences and symposia continues, resulting in an underlying increase in meetings income, excluding the exhibition income, of 16%. The related expenditure, including the allocation of central costs, at 397,300 was increased by 54% overall and by about 7% in relation to the recurring activities. Educational activity has continued at a similar level to last year but timing differences in the programme have resulted in a fall in income of 10,000. The science masterclasses funded by the
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Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland have been operational in four centres with a consequent increase in cost. The seminars in the earlier series in support of Foresight and Commercialisation seminars were completed, following which the need to take stock of the changing environment and the contribution the Society could make in these areas lead to a gap in this programme. The income fell from 74,000 to 16,100 with costs of 35,300, after absorption of central costs. Activity in the area of international links remains at a low level, constrained by the limited pump-priming funding available. This year this area has benefited greatly from the time input by Graeme Herbert, whilst on secondment from the Scottish Executive. The Promotion of Research, covering the award of Research Fellowships and Enterprise Fellowships, has expanded from 634,000 to 825,700. This increase arises from the introduction of new schemes: such as the PPARC Enterprise Fellowships for a two-year pilot; additional Scottish Enterprise Fellowships in Communication technologies; a full year of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland-funded Research Fellowships and Studentships; and the normal increase to cover the annual salary increase of Research Fellows.
Other receipts include 88,500 of interest from RSE Scotland Foundation which was paid out of the rentals received on surplus space in 26 George Street and a grant of 25,000 from the MacRobert Trusts for the Millennium Prize awarded in October 2000. Investment income has remained stable. This may be difficult to sustain in the context of the staged withdrawal of tax relief, which this year amounted to 14,000, and the low level of interest rates. Appeal receipts represent the final receipts from the 1994 Appeal and related tax relief. As explained above, the general management costs have remained stable in absolute terms, but there has been increased expenditure on both publicity, in staff costs, and fundraising. The latter is investment in the new fundraising initiative, with no corresponding increase in income in the year under review. Balance Sheet The Societys net assets of 7.35 million have decreased by 0.2 million in the year to 31 March 2001. Fixed assets, comprising the buildings at 22- 26 George Street, and investments, represent 7.1 million of this total. The overall value of investments of 2.28 million has decreased by 134,000 in a difficult year for investment markets. These investments continue to be the assets of the designated and
19
restricted funds and hence not available to generate income (or capital) to be used for general purposes. Net current assets of 242,000 have improved from last years level but much of this is due to an increase in the money owed by the RSE Scotland Foundation on current account. Restricted and Designated Funds reflect the majority of the 109,000 unrealised fall in the value of investments whilst the low level of the General Fund continues to limit the possibilities for development. Future programmes remain dependent on the expansion of this capital base. Conclusion The outlook for 2001-2002 is clouded by the uncertainty that surrounds the re-letting of the premises at 26 George Street. What seems important in this respect is to achieve a let that will provide a solid and reliable source of income to the RSE Scotland Foundation, enabling it to make its repayments to the Society. Equally important in the outlook period is the success of the Fundraising campaign, in terms both of entering into longer term partnerships with Charities and other bodies and of sustaining the Societys capacity for independent action and choice of direction. The early signs are very promising, but a great deal of effort is still required to deliver the capability that the Society desires. Next year promises to be another delicate
20
year, and we also have some new accounting standard requirements to be complied with. But I am confident that with careful management, we can come through this transitional financial period to one that will deliver the sort of capability to which the Society aspires. It will remain of importance that we do not allow our ambitions to run ahead of our capability. I would conclude by expressing my sincere thanks to Kate Ellis and William Duncan who have continued to provide first rate advice and support. Laurence C Hunter Sir Laurence Hunter CBE Treasurer, September 2001
The reports made by the General Secretary and the Treasurer were proposed for acceptance by Professor M B Wilkins FRSE and seconded by Professor J J McCutcheon FRSE and accepted unanimously by the Fellows present. The President proposed that KPMG be confirmed as Society auditors. The Fellowship endorsed his proposal. The President then awarded the 4th Henry Duncan Prize Lecture to Professor David McCrone and invited him to deliver his lecture, entitled Stateless Nations in the 21st Century: the Case of Scotland.(page 46)
ACCOUNTS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING 31 MARCH 2001

Statement of Councils Responsibilities
Under the Laws of the Society, the Council has the responsibility to manage all matters concerning the affairs of the Society. The Treasurer, a member of the Council, has a duty under the Laws of the Society to present to the Fellows at the Statutory Meeting the Accounts for the preceding financial year to 31 March. Under Charities legislation, the Council is required to prepare accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Society at 31 March and of its financial activities during the year then ended. In preparing these accounts, the Council should select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent ensure that the recommendations of the Statement of Recommended Practice (Accounting by Charities) have been followed prepare the accounts on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume the Society will continue its activities. The Council has a responsibility for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Society and which enable it to comply with the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 1992. It has general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to it to safeguard the assets of the charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.
Auditors Report to the Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

We have audited the accounts on pages 23-37. Respective responsibilities of Council and Auditors: The Council is responsible for preparing the Trustees report and, as described above, the accounts in accordance with the Laws of the Society, relevant UK legislation and accounting standards. Our responsibilities, as independent auditors, are established in the UK by statute,
21
the Auditing Practices Board and by our professions ethical guidance. We report to you our opinion as to whether the accounts give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the Laws of the Society, the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990, and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 1992. We also report to you, if, in our opinion, the
Trustees report is not consistent with the financial statements, if the Society has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. Basis of opinion: We conducted our audit in accordance with Auditing Standards issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the Council in the preparation of the accounts and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Societys circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed. We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations
which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the accounts are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the accounts. Opinion: In our opinion the accounts give a true and fair view of the state of the Societys affairs as at 31 March 2001 and of its incoming resources and application of resources including its income and expenditure in the year then ended and have been properly prepared in accordance with the Laws of the Society, The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 1992. KPMG, Chartered Accountants, Registered Auditors, Edinburgh September 2001
22
Accounts
BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2001

Note No Fixed Assets Tangible fixed assets Fixed Asset Investment Investments at market value Historical Cost : 2,203,109 (2000-2,234,478) Loan to RSE Scotland Foundation 12 13 2001 2,665,327 2000 2,743,525
2,279,378
2,413,715
2,171,984 7,116,689
2,218,792 7,376,032
Current Assets RSE Scotland Foundation current account Debtors Cash at bank and in hand Money Market and other term deposits
14
76,815 112,188 44,224 250,000 483,227
76,040 109,473 404,279 589,792
Current Liabilities Creditors : Amounts falling due within one year Net Current Assets Total Assets less Current Liabilities
15
(240,886) 242,341 7,359,030 7,359,030
(402,381) 187,411 7,563,443 (6,413) 7,557,030
Creditors: Amounts falling due after one year16 Net Assets Funds General Fund Designated Funds Restricted Funds 19 17 18
212,683 5,779,526 1,366,821 7,359,030
199,815 5,923,574 1,433,641 7,557,030
Approved by the Council on 26 September 2001 Laurence C Hunter Sir Laurence Hunter, CBE Treasurer
23
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2001

Note No General Fund Income Fellows Subscriptions Meetings Educational Activities Academic/Industry Links International Activities 4 97,287 230,151 5,423 2,567 238,141 Promotion of Research - receipts Other receipts Scottish Executive Grant Released from deferred income Investment income Total operating income Appeal receipts Appeal Interest Income Total incoming resources Expenditure Publications Meetings Educational Activities Academic/industry links Fellowships Office International Activities Evidence, advice & comment Promotion of Research Prizes and Grants Grant to RSE Scotland Foundation Buildings and Maintenance 22-24 George Street -depreciation 22-24 George Street-other 26 George Street-depreciation Management and secretariat Fundraising and publicity Total resources expended Operating surplus/(deficit) Appeal surplus Surplus/(Deficit) for the period 8 7 5 6 7 91,922 278,000 6,413 1,666 713,429 713,429 Designated Funds 52,333 Restricted Funds 45,741 10,988 16,152 72,881 825,207 38,335 68,859
2001 Total
2000 Total 80,090 129,119 26,520 74,504 1,733 231,876 634,841 65,092 278,000 6,413 123,281
97,287 275,892 16,411 16,152 2,567 311,022 825,207 130,257 278,000 6,413 122,858
52,333 1,005,282 13,267 511 -
1,771,044 1,419,593 13,267 511 20,041 4,263
66,111 1,005,282
1,784,822 1,443,897
39,930 350,016 38,718 19,163 48,920 19,907 49,546 566,200 7,685 14,288 22,061 12,947 32,949 62,054 69,813 787,997 (74,568) (74,568)
7,364 7,364 30,198 23,139 12,428 73,129 (20,796) 13,778 (7,018)
47,341 10,988 16,152 74,481 867,108 28,734 29,236 999,559 5,723 5,723
39,930 397,357 57,070 35,315 48,920 19,907 49,546 648,045 874,793 73,220 22,061 36,086 32,949 103,718 69,813
44,506 257,190 49,207 91,045 44,995 9,304 43,670 539,917 685,561 26,178 208,753 22,061 11,176 32,949 102,288 8,085
1,860,685 1,636,968 (89,641) (217,375) 13,778 24,304 (75,863) (193,071)
24
Accounts
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2001

Note No General Fund Designated Funds Restricted Funds 2001 Total 2000 Total
Surplus/(deficit) for the period (as set out in the Income and Expenditure account) Transfer Between Funds
(74,568) 89,192 14,624
(7,018) (89,192) (96,210)
5,723 5,723
(75,863) (193,071) (75,863) (193,071)
Gains/(losses) on investment assets Realised gains Realised losses Unrealised Net Movement in Funds Balance brought forward at 1 April 2000 Balance carried forward at 31 March 2001
558 (735) (177) (1,579) 12,868 199,815 212,683
15,194 (20,019) (4,825) (43,013) (144,048) 5,923,574 5,779,526
23,041 (30,358) (7,317) (65,226) (66,820) 1,433,641 1,366,821
38,793 (51,112) (12,319) (109,818)
50,597 (17,009) 33,588 26,776
(198,000) (132,707) 7,557,030 7,689,737 7,359,030 7,557,030
25
CASH FLOW STATEMENT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2001

Note No Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash outflow from operating activities Deficit for the year Appeal receipts Dividends receivable Interest receivable Interest payable Depreciation Decrease/(increase) in debtors Decrease/(increase) in RSE Scotland Foundation current account Increase/(decrease) in creditors Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities Cash flow statement Net cash outflow from operating activities Appeal receipts Returns on investments and servicing of finance: Interest received Interest paid Dividends received Capital expenditure and financial investment: Purchase of tangible fixed assets: Proceeds from sale of tangible fixed assets Proceeds from sale of investments: Purchases of investments Loan to RSE Scotland Foundation Increase/(decrease) in cash Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds Increase (decrease) in cash in the year Net funds at beginning of year Net funds at end of year 2001 2000
(75,863) (13,778) (104,412) (107,551) 81,517 (28,360) (140,044) (205,835) (594,326)
(193,071) (20,041) (104,942) (48,934) 77,873 56,780 195,249 (37,086)
(594,326) 13,778 135,030 95,478 (3,639) 320 272,657 (260,457) 46,808 (294,351)
(37,086) 20,041 22,187 (419) 116,835 (2,835) 304,558 (291,596) (221,914) (90,229)
25
(294,351) 513,752 219,401
(90,229) 603,981 513,752
26
Accounts
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2001

1 Accounting basis The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost accounting rules as modified to include the revaluation of investments as required by the Statement of Recommended Practice for charities (SORP) approved by the Accounting Standards Board in October 1995. The accounts comply with the provisions of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990, the Charity Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 1992. The accounts comprise three primary financial statements: the Income and Expenditure Account, the Statement of Financial Activities and the Balance Sheet. Funds The Societys funds are classified in accordance with the definitions in the SORP into Restricted funds, where there are restrictions placed by a donor as to the use of income or capital, Designated funds, where the Society has set aside sums from its unrestricted funds for a particular purpose and the General (unrestricted) Fund. The classifications made are as follows: a) General Fund - a discretionary Fund available to Council to meet the ordinary activities of the Society. b) Designated Funds Staff restructuring fund In July 2000 Council resolved that the balance of the 1994 Development Fund be used to create a Staff restructuring fund, to be used at its discretion to provide flexibility in staffing arrangements and in developing future operations. 1994 Appeal Fund - contributions from Fellows and other benefactors in response to an appeal to replenish Society Funds following the purchase of 26 George Street and its refurbishment. Capital Asset Reserve Fund - representing the book cost of the rooms at 22-24 George Street, and 26 George Street and an allocation in respect of funding of the refurbishment of 26 George Street. Building Maintenance Fund - a reserve to support the future maintenance of the fabric of the Rooms. Dr James Heggie Fund - income from this fund supports the Societys activities with young people. Grants Fund - a fund created by contributions and legacies from Fellows and used to provide grants to support research activities of Fellows. C H Kemball Fund - income from this fund is used to provide hospitality for distinguished visitors from other learned societies and academies. c) Restricted Funds Robert Cormack Bequest Lessells Trust Auber Bequest Prizes Fund Dryerre Fund Piazzi Smyth Legacy Fund CASS Fund Retailing Seminar Fund 3 Accounting Policies a) Subscriptions are accounted for on the basis of the subscription year to October 2001 and includes income tax recoverable on subscriptions paid under Gift Aid. b) Other income and expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. c) Interest and dividends are accounted for gross, tax deducted being recovered or recoverable from the Inland Revenue. d) Publication income receivable in foreign currencies is converted into sterling at rates of exchange ruling at the date of receipt. e) Revenue grants are credited to income in the period to which they relate; capital grants are deferred and amortised over the useful life of the assets to which they relate. f) Donations of a recurring nature from other charitable foundations and one-off gifts and legacies included in other income are taken to revenue in the period to which they relate. g) The Societys principal assets are its buildings in George Street, Edinburgh. Under FRS 15 the Society depreciates the buildings assuming a 50 year life. It is the policy of the Council to maintain the buildings to a high standard and an provision is made for upkeep of the buildings through a designation from General fund. Any permanent diminutions in value are reflected in the Income & Expenditure Account. Costs of repairs and maintenance are charged against revenue. h) Minor equipment is written off to Income & Expenditure Account in the year of purchase. Computer and audiovisual equipment is depreciated on a straight-line basis over four years. i) Investments are stated at their market value at the balance sheet date. Unrealised surpluses on revaluation are credited to funds in accordance with their proportionate share of the investment portfolio. j) The Society participates in a defined benefit pension scheme which is externally funded. The cost of providing pensions is allocated over employees working lives with the Society and is included in staff costs.
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2001 4 Subscriptions Contributions from Fellows Admission Fees Annual Subscriptions Income tax recoverable under gift aid
2000
5,500 82,225 9,562 97,287
4,000 76,090 80,090
Promotion of research - receipts Scottish Executive grant - research fellowships British Petroleum Research Fellowships Trust Caledonian Research Foundation Scottish Enterprise PPARC Enterprise Fellowships Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland
304,507 139,045 35,115 188,130 54,619 103,791 825,207
263,703 169,691 21,185 158,763 21,499 634,841
Further information relating to grants, donations and receipts and their application is set out in note 24 6 Other receipts Fleck additional receipt Lessells Trust additional receipt Retailing Seminar Fund Legacy from Professor Frank Alexander Other income Sales of ties (net) Sales of sundry publications Rent of rooms Grant from MacRobert Trust for Millennium Prize Interest receivable from RSE Scotland Foundation
1,419 13,335 667 240 412 590 25,000 88,594 130,257
2,116 11,680 8,000 12,000 3,749 262 952 26,333 65,092
In addition to the donations set out above, the Society receives donations made specifically in support of meetings which are included in meetings income (see note 24(c)) 7 Investment income Dividends (Net) Income tax recoverable on dividend income Interest arising on term deposits (Gross) Interest arising on Money market deposits Less: Appeal fund interest
90,326 14,086 18,446 511 123,369 511 122,858
88,381 16,561 18,339 4,263 127,544 4,263 123,281
Publications Editorial & management costs of journals Support of journals published by RSE Scotland Foundation Other publications Proportion of central costs (note 10)
18,437 7,380 7,972 33,789 6,141 39,930
13,584 11,060 9,784 34,428 10,078 44,506
The RSE Scotland Foundation became publisher of the Societys journals and Year Book with effect from the 1997 volumes. The Society retains copyright and incurs editorial costs in respect of these publications. The Society has made a donation to the RSE Scotland Foundation equivalent to the Foundations net deficit on publications.
28
Accounts
2001 9 Promotion of Research Direct Costs : Restricted Funds SEELLD Research Fellowships - Support SEELLD Research Fellowships - Personal BP Research Fellowships CRF European Fellowships Scottish Enterprise Fellowships PPARC Enterprise Fellowships Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Fellowships Robert Cormack Bequest John Moyes Lessells Scholarship Auber Bequest Awards Henry Dryerre Scholarship D S McLagan Travel Grant Direct costs : General Funds Library Proportion of central costs (note 10)
2000
60,093 206,900 266,993 125,869 31,262 168,547 48,304 92,292 5,770 22,860 13,271 775,168 1,304 776,472 98,321 874,793
55,831 171,916 227,747 153,941 17,311 147,741 20,499 6,838 7,112 3,400 6,030 1,485 592,104 1,196 593,300 92,261 685,561
10
Central Costs Total Payroll: Less paid by RSE Scotland Foundation Salaries (note 11) Other Costs: Staff training, agency and recruitment costs Establishment expenses (22-24 George St) Establishment expenses (26 George St) Computer and equipment costs Communication, stationery and printing costs Travel and subsistence, hospitality Miscellaneous Professional fees Audit fee Depreciation Publicity
462,128 (83,578) 378,550 15,159 24,571 110,458 12,039 39,115 23,617 5,991 14,172 5,875 26,507 7,852 285,356
426,067 (81,522) 344,545 18,768 21,415 71,487 8,951 29,813 17,663 1,214 22,112 5,288 22,863 11,241 230,815 575,360
Total Central Costs
663,906
29
10
Central Costs (contd) In addition to direct costs incurred, central costs have been apportioned to expenditure on functional activities, as follows: General Designated Restricted 2001 2000 Fund Funds Funds Total Total Publications 6,141 6,141 10,078 Meetings 160,959 160,959 147,551 Educational Activities 45,846 3,735 49,581 42,604 Academic/Industry links 38,396 38,396 55,591 Fellowships Office 48,920 48,920 44,995 International links 17,340 17,340 7,994 Evidence, advice & comment 49,052 49,052 42,140 Promotion of Research 98,322 98,322 92,261 Prizes and Grants 1,186 16,433 1,682 19,301 10,687 Buildings and Maintenance 12,947 12,947 11,176 Management and Secretariat 62,054 12,428 29,236 103,718 102,288 Fundraising and publicity 59,229 59,229 7,995 600,392 32,596 Total 2001 390,124 29,115 42,889 462,128 30,918 Paid by Foundation 70,548 5,926 7,104 83,578 663,906 Paid by Society 319,576 23,189 35,785 378,550 575,360
11
Employees
Wages and salaries Social Security Costs Other pension costs (note 21)
2000 294,199 24,024 26,322 344,545
The average number of employees of the Society including those employed under joint contracts with the RSE Scotland Foundation during the year was 20. (2000 - 18) 22,24 George Street 12 Tangible Fixed Assets Cost At 1 April 2000 Additions Disposals At 31 March 2001 Depreciation At 1 April 2000 Disposals Charge for the year At 31 March 2001 Net Book Value At 31 March 2001 At 31 March 2000 26 George Street
Equipment
Computer
Total
1,103,038 1,103,038
1,647,468 1,647,468
53,927 3,056 56,983
39,650 583 (808) 39,425
2,844,083 3,639 (808) 2,846,914
22,061 22,061 44,122
32,949 32,949 65,898
26,964 16,538 43,502
18,584 (488) 9,969 28,065
100,558 (488) 81,517 181,587
1,058,916 1,080,977
1,581,570 1,614,519
13,481 26,963
11,360 21,066
2,665,327 2,743,525
30
Accounts
13a
Value at 1 April 2000 Fixed Asset Investments Managed Funds 233,478 Fixed interest 567,502 UK equities 1,163,595 Overseas equities (managed funds) 285,100 Cash deposits 164,040 2,413,715
Investments made at cost 72,714 95,366 (168,080) -
Proceeds on sale of investments (72,025) (200,578) (54) 260,457 (12,200)
Gain/(loss) on sale 4,742 (1,587) (15,474) (12,319)
Revaluation 14,383 (21,825) (43,555) (58,821) (109,818)
Market value at 31 March 2001 180,578 618,391 1,013,241 210,751 256,417 2,279,378
The deficit on sale of investments measured against their historical cost was 19,172 (2000 - surplus 59,848). The investment management fee of 12,200(2000 12,962) has been deducted from the proceeds of sale of investments. 2001 46,808 2,125,176 2,171,984 2000 46,958 2,171,834 2,218,792
13b
Loan to RSE Scotland Foundation Due within one year Due after one year
The Loan initially bears interest at 4% per annum, capped at the amount of rent received by the Foundation, and is repayable over the period to 30 June 2047, the expiration of the lease of 26 George Street. 2001 45,478 3,653 51,203 11,854 112,188 15 Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year Bank overdraft General creditors Accruals and deferred income RSE Scotland Foundation Current Account University of Glasgow (note 19) Symposia income deferred Deferred capital grant 2000 49,727 3,728 19,665 2,920 76,040
14
Debtors General debtors Stock of ties Prepayments and accrued income Income Tax Recoverable
74,823 81,672 59,935 13,828 4,215 6,413 240,886
36,109 256,243 63,229 12,347 28,040 6,413 402,381
31
16
Creditors: Amounts falling due after one year Deferred capital grant
2001 -
2000 6,413 6,413
17
General Fund At 1 April 2000 Net movements in funds for the year from Statement of Financial Activities At 31 March 2001
199,815 12,868 212,683
204,452 (4,637) 199,815
Capital Asset Building Staff 1994 Appeal Reserve Maintenance Development Fund Fund 18 Designated Funds
At 1 April 2000 4,914,288 120,449 6,925 (18,771) (11,846) 7,831 3,518 (370) (3,923) (775) 8,884 511 13,267 (4,368) (8,046) 1,364
CH Kemball Fund
17,607 846 (89) 757
Grants Fund
641,152 30,796 (13,765) (3,240) (13,193) 598
Dr James Heggie Fund

213,363 10,248 (3,629) (1,078) (2,657) 2,884
Total
5,923,574 52,844 13,267 (40,533) (4,777) (27,819) (7,018)
Investment income Other income Less Direct expenditure Investment Management Fees RSE admin and staff costs Surplus/(deficit) for the year Transfers between funds Re building depreciation (55,010) Re loan repayment (46,808) From General fund (101,818) Net gains on investment assets Realised Unrealised At 31 March 2001 4,812,470
12,626 12,626
(55,010) (46,808) 12,626 (89,192)
108,603
(374) (3,333) 15,975
10,248
(90) (801) 17,473
(3,272) (29,171) 609,307
(1,089) (9,708) 205,450
(4,825) (43,013) 5,779,526
32
Accounts
Robert Cormack Bequest 19 Restricted Funds At 1 April 2000 Investment income Other income Less
Direct Expenditure Investment Management RSE Admin and staff
Lessells Trust 414,080 19,889 13,335 (22,860) (2,093) (6,837) 1,434
Auber Bequest 317,907 15,269 (1,607) (5,249) 8,413
Prizes Fund 77,986 3,746 (2,052) (394) (1,288) 12
Dryerre Fund 462,445 22,212 (13,271) (2,337) (7,636) (1,032)
Others 37,522 1,802 (1,599) (190) (620) (607)
Total 1,433,641 68,859 13,335 (45,552) (7,246) (23,673) 5,723
123,701 5,941 (5,770) (625) (2,043) (2,497)
Surplus/(deficit) for year
Net gain on investment assets Realised (631) Unrealised (5,628) At 31 March 2001 114,945
(2,113) (18,840) 394,561
(1,622) (14,464) 310,234
(398) (3,548) 74,052
(2,360) (21,040) 438,013
(193) (1,706) 35,016
(7,317) (65,226) 1,366,821
Prizes Fund comprises The Keith Fund, The Neill Fund, The Makdougall-Brisbane Fund, The Gunning-Victoria Fund, The James Scott Prize Fund, The Bruce-Preller Lecture Fund, The W.S. Bruce Memorial Fund, The Dr D.A. Berry Fund, The Henry Duncan Prize Lecture Fund and The BP Prize Lecture in the Humanities Fund. Others comprise the Piazzi-Smyth Legacy Fund, the Retailing Seminar Fund and the CASS Fund. The Retailing Seminars Fund arises from the donation of the surplus from an earlier series of meetings that publicised research in the retailing sector. The fund is to be used to support meetings in this area. Under the terms of the Lessells Trust the University of Glasgow is entitled to 10% of additional amounts received by the Society from the Trust. The balance included in Creditors at 31 March 2001 represents the total sum apportioned but not yet paid over to the University (note 15). Unrestricted Funds Analysis of Assets between Funds Fund balances at 31 March 2001 are represented by : Tangible fixed assets 24,842 Investments 80,327 Loan to RSE Scotland Foundation Current assets 58,422 RSE Scotland Foundation current account 76,815 Deposits 60,708 Bank overdraft less cash 23,166 Current liabilities (111,597) Creditors over one year 212,683 Designated Funds Restricted Funds 2001 Total 2000 Total
20
2,640,485 832,230 2,171,984 899 134,826 (898) 5,779,526
1,366,821 52,867 54,466 (52,867) (54,466) 1366,821
2,665,327 2,279,378 2,171,984 112,188 76,815 250,000 (30,599) (166,063) 7,359,030
2,743,525 2,413,715 2,218,792 76,040 (63,229) 404,279 109,473 (339,152) (6,413) 7,557,030
33
21
Pension Costs a) USS The Society participates in the Universities Superannuation Scheme, a defined benefit pension scheme which is externally funded and contracted out of the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme. The assets of the Scheme are held in a separate trustee-administered fund. The fund is valued every three years by a professionally qualified independent actuary using the projected unit method, the rates of contribution payable being determined by the trustee on the advice of the actuaries. In the intervening years the actuaries review the progress of the scheme. It is not possible to identify each institutions share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme and hence contributions to the scheme are accounted for as if it were a defined contribution scheme. The cost recognised within the deficit for the year is equal to the contributions payable to the scheme for the year. The latest actuarial valuation of the scheme was at 31 March 1999. The most significant assumptions, those relating to the rate of return on investments and the rates of increase in salary and pensions, are as follows: Past Service Liabilities Future Service Liabilities investment return 4.5% 5.5% Salary Increase 3.6% 3.5% Pension Increase 2.6% 2.5% At the valuation date the market value of the schemes assets was 18,870 million and the value of past service liabilities was 17,427million. The value of the assets represented 108% of the benefits that had accrued to members, after allowing for expected future increases in earnings. The contribution rate payable by the Society was 14.0% of pensionable salaries. b) Lothian Pension Fund The Society also participates in the Lothian Pension Fund, a defined benefit pension scheme established under local government pension fund regulations. The assets of the Scheme are held in a separate trustee-administered fund. The fund is valued every three years by a professionally qualified independent actuary using the projected unit method, the rates of contribution payable being determined by the trustee on the advice of the actuaries. In the intervening years the actuaries review the progress of the scheme. The latest actuarial valuation of the scheme was at 31 March 1999. The major assumptions used by the actuary were that, over the long term, the return on the schemes assets would be 6.1% per annum, salary increases would average 4.3% per annum and present and future pensions would increase at a rate of 2.8% per annum. At the valuation date the market value of the schemes assets was 1,483 million and the value of past service liabilities was 1,571 million. The value of the assets represented 94% of the benefits that had accrued to members, after allowing for expected future increases in earnings. The contribution rate payable by the Society was 205% of employees contributions of 6% of pensionable salaries, amounting to 12.3%. The actuary has confirmed that it is appropriate to take the pension charge to be equal to the actual contribution paid during the year. The total pension charge for the year was 35,785 (2000 -26,321).
22
Transactions with Council members No member of Council received any payments other than reimbursement of expenditure on travel and subsistence costs actually and necessarily incurre in carrying out their duties as Councillors and Officers. The aggregate of such reimbursement amounted to 6,273 (2000 -6,172). RSE Scotland Foundation RSE Scotland Foundation is a charitable trust, recognized in Scotland as Scottish charity number SCO24636. It was created in March 1996 with the object of advancing the education of the public in Scotland in science and engineering and in so doing to conserve the scientific and cultural heritage of Scotland. The President, General Secretary, Treasurer, Curator and a Vice President of the Society are ex officiis Trustees of the Foundation, which draws on the resources of the Society in carrying out its objects. The Foundation also has five nominated Trustees. The Foundation became publisher of the Societys journals under a Publications Rights Licence effective from 1 January 1997. The Foundation has also carried out work in support of the Societys involvement in the Scottish Science Trust and the implementation of the Technology Ventures Strategy. On 1 July 1997 the Society granted to the Foundation a 50 year lease over 26 George Street carrying an obligation to refurbish the building within a three year period. The Council of the Society agreed to make funding of up to 2.3 million available to the Foundation in support of the refurbishment. The agreed terms of the loan are as described in note 13(b).
23
34
Accounts
At 31 March 2001 the financial position of the RSE Scotland Foundation was as follows: 2001 Net Liabilities Fixed assets Current assets RSE Current Account Current liabilities Loan from Royal Society of Edinburgh Other Creditors over one year:-Loan from Royal Society of Edinburgh Represented by Income and Expenditure Account The Income and Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2001 was as follows: 2001 Income Publications Academic/Industry Links Other receipts - grant from Society re publicatioons Grant from Society re brought forward deficit LEEL Licence fees Rent of Rooms Rent and service charge receivable Investment Income 99,895 3,525 7,380 98,063 35,229 153,702 2,383 400,177 Expenditure Publications Academic/Industry Links Public understanding of science Conference Facilities Hire Depreciation of leasehold improvements Building management Management and Secretariat Provision for bad debts Total Operating Expenditure Interest payable Total resources expended Operating (deficit) /surplus for the year Balance brought forward Balance carried forward 2000 87,804 75 11,060 208,753 4,495 62,582 54,348 54,211 1,238 484,566 2,105,629 170,300 (76,815) 2000 2,147,522 118,045 63,229
(46,808) (46,959) (144,977) (178,473) (2,125,176) (2,171,833) (117,847) (68,469)
107,513 3,500 1,000 38,234 42,742 129,997 30,095 7,880 360,961 88,594 449,555 (49,378) (68,469) (117,847)
98,865 32,662 41,507 113,445 31,471 317,949 26,333 344,282 140,284 (208,753) (68,469)
The Council of the Society has confirmed to the Trustees of the Foundation that they will continue to support the Foundation and will not call for the repayment of the current account balance in the foreseeable future. 2001 2000
24
Supplementary Information; grants, donations, receipts a) Scottish Executive /(1999-Scottish Office) Grants Income EELL Department Promotion of Research Public Policy Seminars Exhibition Other activities Department of Health
304,507 9,974 10,000 278,000 6,996 609,477
263,703 278,000 6,378 548,081
35
24a)
Supplementary Information; grants, donations, receipts (contd) Direct Costs Allocated to Functional Activities Meetings office 26,970 Educational activities Publications office 7,380 Promotion of research 266,993 Evidence advice and comment 494 Management and secretariat Buildings - Establishment expenses 24,571 - Maintenance 326,408
Staff and other costs 53,732 40,659 27,111 37,514 49,052 62,054 12,947 283,069
2001 Total 80,702 40,659 34,491 304,507 49,546 62,054 24,571 12,947 609,477
2000 Total 88,759 22,686 32,226 263,703 43,670 64,446 21,415 11,176 548,081
The Scottish Executive provides grant-in-aid under the powers of S.23 National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985 to meet the costs of SEELLD Research Fellows, and costs of activities including the cost of maintaining the Societys premises and a share of the Societys staff and other costs. The grant from the Department of Health is from the Chief Scientist Office for an oral health seminar. BP Research Caledonian Fellowship Research Trust Foundation 139,045 139,045 Costs Promotion of research Education Prize lecture Conference Workshops RSE administration and staff costs 125,869 13,176 139,045 35,115 35,115 31,262 3,853 35,115
Scottish Enterprise 188,130 188,130 168,547 19,583 188,130
b) Donations Income Promotion of research - receipts Education Meetings Income
Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland 103,791 10,988 15,500 130,279 92,292 10,988 3,000 12,500 11,499 130,279
Wellcome Trust 9,144 9,144 7,033 2,111 9,144
The BP Research Fellowship Trust supports postdoctoral fellowships in Scottish HEIs. The Trustees of the Trust are the President, General Secretary and Treasurer of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Caledonian Research Foundation supports postdoctoral fellowships in biomedical sciences and European visiting fellowships, a prize lecture and an international conference. The Wellcome Trust sponsors a series of research workshops. The Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland supports postdoctoral Fellowships, postgraduate studentships and lectures and conferences to fund and disseminate research aimed at improving the quality of life for an ageing population. c) Donations in Support of Meetings The Society gratefully acknowledges all those who make donations in support of meetings. The companies, trusts and other bodies that made donations of 1,000 or more in the year ended 31 March 2001 are as follows: Applied Materials plc Binks Trust Faculty of Advocates ICIAM 99 Medical Defence Union Royal Society Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education UKAEA Archibald Campbell & Harley BNFL plc Glaxo Wellcome plc Kymata plc Medical Protection Society Russell Trust Scottish Natural Heritage Sir Halley Stewart Trust BAE Systems plc BT plc Health Services Research Council MDDUS Royal Academy of Engineering Schlumberger SHEFC Standard Life
36
Accounts
25
Analysis of net funds/(debt) At 31 March 2001 44,224 250,000 (74,823) 219,401 Cash flows (65,429) (154,279) (74,823) (294,351) At 1 April 2000 109,473 404,279 513,752
Cash at bank Deposits Overdraft
26
Main Activities Meetings and Education Lectures Symposia/Conferences/Seminars Policy seminars Debates Workshops Technology Ventures Seminars Young Peoples events Science Masterclasses Maths Masterclasses Schools Lectures Christmas Lectures Discussion Forum RSE Roadshow Publications (issues) Proceedings A Transactions Year Book and miscellaneous publications RSE News RSE Fellows Number of Fellows Candidates for Fellowship Research Fellowships and Scholarships Postdoctoral Research Fellows in post Support Research Fellows European Visiting Research Fellows Enterprise Fellows in post Applications for Research Fellowships Studentships appointed Prizes and Grants Prizes awarded Grants awarded Central Administration Submissions to Government and public agencies External events held at RSE - 22 George Street - 22-26 George Street
2000/01 17 17 3 1 2 4 16 16 10 2 1 0 6 2 1 4 1287 156 15 7 7 8 80 2 8 18 30 1 150
1999/2000 15 12 3 7 10 16 11 2 2 1 6 3 1 4 1241 245 12 4 8 5 96 6 31 32 1 125
37
Royal Society of Edinburgh Schedule of investments - movements at valuation. Year ended 31 March 2001
Closing Number Purchase Cost 64,706 13,397 (600) 510 (11,018) (12,303) (6,999) (10,460) (24,727) (4,030) 2,457 (5,688) 102,504 (39,128) (52,825) 1,201 3,228 687 3,399 5,280 (156) (24,500) (26,739) 14,813 8,137 (3,321) 1,475 11,437 (24,970) (10,453) 5,854 Sales Proceeds Gain/(Loss) on Sale Revaluation for year 2,100 400 6,000 6,000 15,250 1,850 2,544 2,600 6,500 2,801 3,300 16,000 20,800 5,000 3,000 22,000 77,990 30,060 33,100 16,363 33852 36,320 24453 35,900 41,308 22,750 58,300 21,738 47,771 34,410 42,600 -
Investment
Astrazeneca
Opening Market Value -
Closing Market Value 70,560 2,944 42,000 34,920 36,753 9,435 12,084 25,207 35,620 51,566 27,852 41,600 33,696 34,575 26,250 53,020
Autonomy Corp
Bank of Scotland Stk 25p
BP Amoco Ord US$0.25 }
BPB Industries Ord 50p
British Telecom Ord 25p
Cable & Wireless Comms Ord 50p CGU Ord 25p
Electrocomponents Ord 10p
38
Glaxo Smith Kline Glaxo Wellcome Ord 25p
HSBC Holdings Ord US$0.50
IMI Ord 25p
Legal & General Group Ord 2.5p} Limit Ord 25p
Lloyds TSB Group Ord 25p
Marks & Spencer Ord 25p
Misys Ord 1p
National Express
N Brown Group Ord 10p
Investment
Closing Number 7,650 6,500 4,500 7,500 9,500 9,500 50,000 5,000 8,000 2,779 7,142 5,000 8,750 3,500 4,000 255,466 30,494 21,236 22,300 1,163,595 95,366 (200,578) (1,587) 34,075 28693 66,240 (63,376) 17,263 41,600 (2,864) 19,390 25,650 (15,536) (3,854) 65,750 26,885 66833 20,625 26,831 29,754 33,200 (14,813) (22,600) 4,213 22,606 6,999 (6,127) (872) 6,388 12,691 13,579 4,013 (43,368) 9,690 (6,500) 5,425 1,920 (7,398) 7,553 (3,025) (13,606) (1,058) 8,260 (43,555) (41,790) 17,272 -
Purchase Cost
Sales Proceeds
Gain/(Loss) on Sale
Revaluation for year
Next Ord 10p
Opening Market Value 24,518
Closing Market Value 28,994 42,445 40,410 24,638 23,465 36,575 59,250 31,075 43,520 9,865 36,246 31,050 16,888 20,178 30,560 1,013,241
NTLInc
Pillar Property Inv Ord 29 7/17p }
Prism Rail Ord 5p
Reed International Ord 12.5p
Reckitt & Benckiser Ord 10 10/19p Rotork Ord 5p
Sage Ord 1p
Sainsbury (J) Ord 25p
Salvesen (Christian) Ord 28 1/8p
39
Scottish & Southern Energy Ord 50p SSL International Ord 10p
Shell Transport & Trading Ord 25p Smithkline Beecham Ord 6.25p
Spirent
Unilever Ord 1.4p
Viridian Ord 25p
Vodaphone AirTouch Ord 5p
Whitbread Ord 25p
Schedule of Investments
Wilson Bowden Ord 10p
Investment
Closing Number 48,000 100,000 30,000 70,000 100,000 70,000 70,000 70,000 558,000 30,000 32,392 62,392 25,881 36,370 4,000 20,000 7,000 93,251 969,109 285,100 2,249,675 168,080 9240 (53) (272,656) (15,473) (12,318) 56,722 78,200 (41,196) (53) (15,473) 29,960 41,196 110,978 233,478 91,345 (72,025) 4,742 67,283 (72,025) 74,850 4,742 567,502 72,714 75,727 0 72,714 78,892 106,785 81,332 (553) 2,249 2,913 4,295 (646) (21,825) 16,650 (2,267) 14,383 (40,394) 11,108 1,320 (29,300) (1,557) (58,823) (109,820) 59,550 (23,475) 102,456 (10,808) 4,200
Purchase Cost
Sales Proceeds
Gain/(Loss) on Sale
Revaluation for year
Bank of Scotland 9.25% IRPF
Opening Market Value 62,760 91,648 36,075 80,779 109,034 81,805 77,009 75,081 618,391 91,500 89,078 180,578 70,584 52,304 31,280 48,900 7,683 210,751 2,022,961
Closing Market Value 66,960
Corus Finance 6.75% 2008
Carlton Comms 6.5% Conv 2010 HSBC Holdings 11.69% 2002
ICI Investments 7.625% 2007
Powergen 8.5% 2006
Royal Bank of Sc 7.387% 2010/49 Treasury 9.75% Stock 2002
40
Aberforth Smaller Co Trust PLC
Gartmore Global Bond Fund
Smaller Companies IT ULS 2003
Cazenove European Fund Acc UT CFS Asia Pacific
Fleming American IT Ord 25p
Fleming Japanese IT Ord 25p
Stewart Ivory Asia Pacific Fund Inc Templeton Emerging Markets IT
TOTALS
PRIZE LECTURES
The 30th Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lecture 5 February 2001 - Professor Angus Macintyre What Does Gdels Theorem Mean After 70 Years?
Angus Macintyre is one of the main exponents of model theory, particularly in its interaction with algebra, number theory and algebraic geometry. Model theory is a branch of mathematical logic which has developed during the 20th century into an independent and fundamental area of mathematics. The leaders of this development were Alfred Tarski (1901-1983) and Abraham Robinson (1918-1974); Angus Macintyre continues the line, indeed he succeeded Abraham Robinson at Yale where he worked for 12 years. His professorial career continued for a further 12 years at Oxford and more recently at the University of Edinburgh. Over the last seven years he has played an important leadership role across the mathematical spectrum as Scientific Director of the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences. Because of its technical nature, its volume and diversity, it is impossible to review his scientific work briefly. Overall, his work has extended enormously the areas where model theory is used. Recent publications have involved such varied subjects as neural nets, the cohomology of algebraic varieties and Schanuels conjecture on transcendental numbers. His erudition and enjoyment of life are additional factors that attract logicians worldwide to collaborate with him. Professor Macintyre reminded the audience that Gdels Incompleteness Theorem was published in 1931, when the author was 25. He noted that probably no other theorem of pure mathematics has been more written about in popular literature, and the extremes of its misrepresentation are mind-boggling. Professor Macintyre felt that, contrary to a widespread impression, Gdels proof is not difficult. It has an unrivalled ratio of general interest to mathematical difficulty. Gdel apparently agreed with Kreisels opinion that others would probably have got to the same result soon, but were hampered by ideology. As it turned out, Gdels paper was quickly understood and
41
improved, culminating in Turings definition of effective calculability. What Gdel showed was that putatively universal formal systems for mathematics (anachronistically, idealised mechanical devices for generating theorems) do not have the power to generate simple theorems about themselves. The generality of his method is such as to leave a permanent gulf in principle between the informal notion of mathematical truth and the precise formal notion of mechanical output from a black box. At various points in the last seventy years, Gdels Theorem has figured prominently in discussions of creativity and consciousness, (notably in the controversial work of Sir Roger Penrose).
The universal system singled out for mention by Gdel in 1931 was Principia Mathematica of Russell and Whitehead, a system almost obsolete at that time. Subsequently Gdel obtained deep results about the deductive power of specific modern systems such as ZFC (Zermel-Fraenkel with Choice), here revealing the possibility that problems which had resisted solution were in fact independent of the only axioms about which there is widespread agreement (a possibility amply confirmed by the last forty years of work on ZFC). Gdel proposed a scheme for finding new axioms at least for this part of mathematics. Despite the extensive popular literature, and the undoubted beauty of Gdels proof, Professor Macintyre observed that the mathematical enterprise seems little affected. No objective of mainstream mathematics has been shown to be out of reach of current axioms due to the Gdel phenomenon. Though we know that the phenomenon affects even equations in number theory, it is not known to bear at all on the high theory of modern arithmetic algebraic geometry, which has yielded a series of spectacular results (notably the TaniyamaShimura Conjecture and Fermats Last Theorem). Gdels theorem was the first about some prima facie reasonable model of theorem proving, and it revealed glaring oversights in the foundational positions most prominent around 1900. Professor Macintyre
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concluded that it is a memorable example, in the tradition of Einstein, of what can be achieved by a combination of philosophical analysis and undemanding mathematics. It has encouraged the growth of mathematical logic, nowadays useful in more traditional areas of mathematics. But there is no reason, for now, for it to affect the practice of mathematics. In the ensuing discussion Professor Macintyre was asked whether the every day reasoning by mathematicians maps onto a logical system. He felt that in general it does not. A lot of careful work has been carried out on the basis of set theory but it is rarely used! Referring to the Russell paradox, he was challenged to explain who shaves the barber and to discuss the issue of the set of all sets. His brief answer was that there is not any set of all sets. Finally the difference between provability and truth was raised. He responded that provability can be defined but truth is more difficult. Gdel believed there is a mathematical reality and that this is not a paradox. Professor Allan Sinclair proposed the vote of thanks, noting the highly impressive character of the exposition - notwithstanding the failure to define truth! He concluded that the audience was indebted for such an excellent lecture and thanked Professor Macintyre for providing such a good example to the many young people present.
Prize Lectures
5th BP Prize Lecture in the Humanities 5 March 2001 Dr Adrienne Scullion, Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, University of Glasgow Self and Nation: Issues of Identity in Modern Scottish Plays by Women
Dr Adrienne Scullion has been a lecturer in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at the University of Glasgow since 1996, an appointment which followed her term as British Academy Postgraduate Fellow. It is indicative of the renewed vitality of Scottish theatre over the past decade that it has attracted scholarly interest in its dramatic literature, in its institutions and in a revision of its history. In each of these areas, Dr Scullion has been a pioneer. She has written seminal essays on drama and theatre in Scotland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, on contemporary dramatists (with a focus on women playwrights) and on the impact of social and political change on theatrical culture. Her work extends to radio, film, and television. The quality of her research and writing has helped to promote Scottish theatre and drama as important subjects for international, as well as national, scholars. But Dr Scullions commitment to Scottish theatre is not confined to the academy. She is an active member of the boards of management of a number of companies, ranging from the Citizens Theatre to the East Glasgow Youth Theatre, and is an adviser in Performing Arts to the Scottish Arts Council. She has promoted the study of theatre, and specifically theatre in Scotland, in Secondary Schools by her work for the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculums Review of Scottish Culture in the Curriculum, and by her involvement in the curriculum design and implementation of Higher and Advanced Higher Drama. Dr Adrienne Scullions contribution to professional theatre in Scotland, to theatrical education in Scotland and to theatrical scholarship, both nationally and internationally, has led the Royal Society of Edinburgh to award her the BP Prize Lectureship in the Humanities in 2000. Dr Scullion began by saying that the creation and implementation of the devolved Scottish parliament marked a radical reorganisation and recreation of British political structures. She said devolution would affect how
43
we create, imagine and represent Scotland, and the Holyrood Government would result in shifts in how we understand and participate in the dynamic processes of Scottish national identity.
Her lecture argued that, if representations and images and identities are evolving within modern Scottish culture, then so too must critical language, critical rhetoric and discourse. This argument was contextualised in relation to the ideas and engagements with national identity within modern critical literature and, in particular, within Scottish critical literature. In recent years the wider critical literature around the idea of identity and in particular national identity has shifted. It is commonly argued that the reemergence of political and of ethnic nationalism in Europe and beyond has led to a reconsideration of issues of identity, and an interrogation of critical orthodoxies. The ideas of nations as imagined communities and of identity as fragmentary and fuzzy matter when considering the evolution of identity politics and its impact on our critical vocabulary. Dr Scullions lecture questioned how these developments are tested in relation to interpretations of gender and the idea of national within Scottish cultural criticism. The lecturer then considered issues of identity and representation in the drama that emerged from that system. Because of the orthodoxies of Scottish cultural practices and criticism, when artists challenge the conventions of narrative or of gender representation, they also challenge the conventions of representing and
44
responding to the nation. Dr Scullion proceeded to discuss this through close analysis of Zinnie Harris Further than the Furthest Thing, Sue Glovers Shetland Saga and Nicola McCartneys Home (all 2000). All three plays offered different versions of community empire, nation, island, family and different dramas of inclusion and exclusion. Analysis focused on language, on the recurrent motif of the return of the native and on the role of external and unpredictable forces in the creation of belonging. The lecturer argued that the context of devolution affords the opportunity to rethink the rigid lines of identity and move towards smaller and more flexible connections. These plays met the challenges of a devolved Scotland by adopting a dramaturgy, by telling stories that are both international and outward looking and essentially and immediately committed to work within and about Scottish society. It was political devolution and the creation of the new Scottish Parliament that insisted that these two dynamics can no longer be interpreted as mutually exclusive. The lecturer concluded by asking where next for cultural criticism in Scotland. If it was agreed that devolution matters in terms of representation and that devolution might just impact on the type of art being made; and if it was agreed that feminist art and
Prize Lectures
criticism might unsettle representational and critical orthodoxies, then we should anticipate that devolution will result in shifts in the criticism of and for Scotland. Following a brief discussion session, Professor Jan MacDonald, Professor of Drama from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at the University
of Glasgow, offered a vote of thanks for an address well grounded in Scholarship and for the focusing of issues which helped the hearers to understand themselves. She also thanked the Lecturers two assistants, whose contribution in reading extracts from scripts, added to the appreciation of the issues being addressed.
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4th Henry Duncan Prize Lecture Monday 29th October 2001 Professor David McCrone Stateless Nations in the 21st Century. The Case of Scotland
David McCrone has long been the pre-eminent sociologist of Scotland. For many years, he has conducted and published influential work on social formations and social change, on politics and voting behaviour and on urban development in Scotland. To this formidable range, he added groundbreaking work on the use and abuse of heritage and cultural tradition. Then in 1992 he published Understanding Scotland, the definitive text on the making of Scottish society over the last century and a half. A second and revised edition has just been published. Central to all this work has been his abiding concern with the anomalous nature of Scotland as a stateless nation. To understand this anomaly, he undertook over many years the comparative study of nationalisms and their social bases, which culminated in the publication in 2000 of his magisterial study, The Sociology of Nationalism. He was the moving spirit behind the successful application to the Leverhulme Trust for a 1M programme grant to study the relationship of national identity and devolutionary processes in the U.K., a programme which he now coordinates and directs, inspiring and shepherding nine separate projects, run by scholars from five institutions, into a surprisingly coherent form. He played a major role in devising and advising on procedures for the Scottish Parliament. At the University of Edinburgh, he is Professor of Sociology and co-Director of the Institute for Governance, a scholar of international renown, and one of Scotlands most distinguished social scientists. Professor McCrone started by noting that it is one of the enduring puzzles of the social sciences that while Scotland had a claim to have played a major intellectual role in founding the discipline of sociology at least what we might call its protosociology it has taken until the 21st century for it to come to terms with the Scottish case. The general tenor of his lecture was to use the Scottish case as an arena, a test-bed, for shifts in the
46
modern world, and to set it up as a case of a stateless nation which illuminates processes which require the social sciences, and sociology in particular, to refocus how it sees the world in quite a fundamental way. Hence, looking at Scotland is not some kind of parochial endeavour, but has much wider implications for how we do social science in the modern world. Doing sociology frequently involves a Scottish way of think-
Prize Lectures
ing: a concern with observation, causation, experimentation, connecting with and not being embarrassed about the real world. A Scottish way of doing sociology would deal in the language of universals while doing so in the grammar of the particular, comparing and contrasting social processes as they emerge and impact differentially in different territories, and at different scales. There is something analytically valuable about studying small societies like Scotland. Desperate jibes about parochialism are really far from the truth. Comparison, and the comparative method, so fundamental to human as well as natural sciences, is de rigueur because no one in their right senses thinks Scotland (or Ireland or Denmark, for that matter) are unique or universal. There is another and crucial reason why Scotland has been resurrected as a suitable case for sociological treatment. The world of the so-called nation state is coming to an end, or at least, is being thoroughly problematised. Just as a small boat is the first to sense changing tides and currents, so small societies confront social change most immediately, and have to react quickly or go
under. Larger societies can hold out for longer but ultimately have to change, often with bad grace. Instead of being an odd, ill-fitting case, Professor McCrone concluded that Scotland should be moved to the centre of the social science dilemma about the autonomy and boundaries of societies. In the subsequent discussion Professor McCrone was asked if there is something coercive about attaching the notion of nation to an imagined community? In replying he observed that civic nationalities do not necessarily carry coercion, unlike, say, ethnic groups. Overlapping nations exist, giving people more opportunity to choose where they fit. Professor Tom Devine gave a vote of thanks, congratulating Professor McCrone on the award of his prize and the quality of his presentation. The clear delivery and cogent analysis was suitable for the audience, which ranged widely beyond social scientists. It was apparent that there is a body of academics thinking through where their subject stands and why the sociology of Scotland matters in the broader context of their discipline. He had provided the audience a strong basis for further discussion. He thanked Professor McCrone for an enlightening and stimulating lecture.
47
LECTURES
Professor Gerhard Ertl, HonFRSE, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin 6 November 2000 Heterogeneous catalysis: From black art to atomic understanding
Professor Ertl commenced his lecture by observing that the term catalysis was introduced in 1835 by Berzelius in order to classify certain types of chemical reactions whose progress is affected by additional substances which were not part of the reaction products. It was only around 1900 that W. Ostwald presented the generally accepted definition of a catalyst as being a species which increases the rate of a chemical reaction through the formation of intermediate compounds and which is restored at the end of the reaction. The catalysts in biological systems are called enzymes. Heterogeneous catalysis denotes the phenomenon that the reaction is governed by bonding (chemisorption) of the reacting molecules to the surface of a solid catalyst. It forms the basis for chemical industry as well as for environmental chemistry, e.g. with the car exhaust catalyst. These catalysts are usually complex multi-component systems exhibiting high specific surface areas due to their nanometre scale structures, and research still bears to some extent the trial-and-error characteristics of a black art. As an example, Professor Ertl pointed out that this aspect becomes evident if one considers
49
some of the most significant technical processes, namely the synthesis of ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen. This was developed by Haber and Bosch at the beginning of the 20th Century and forms the basis of the fertiliser industry. A suitable catalyst was found by Mittasch from thousands of screening experiments and is still applied in essentially unaltered form in almost all industrial plants around the world. It consists mainly of iron with small additional concentrations of various oxides, which enhance the activity as promoters. Despite its complexity, however, the individual steps forming the mechanism of this reaction have recently been largely clarified. This became possible through application of the surface science strategy in which a real catalyst is replaced by welldefined single crystal surfaces as model systems which may be investigated at very low gas pressures by applying a series of sophisticated experimental tools supplemented by recent theoretical progress. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) is, in this connection, a most powerful technique which permits direct
observation of surface processes down to the atomic scale. Professor Ertl illustrated this by discussing some of the elementary steps involved in a very simple reaction, the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide, CO+O2CO2, as catalysed by platinum metals in a car exhaust converter. Typically, a catalyst is operated in a flow reactor and represents an open system far from equilibrium. For fixed external conditions, the reaction rate is expected to be constant (provided there are no changes of the properties of the catalyst). This is, however, not always the case, and instead the rate may vary periodically with time or becomes even chaotic. In parallel, the distributions of the chemisorbed particles on the surface may become non-uniform and form patterns on mesoscopic (say mm) length scales. Such effects of spatio-temporal selforganisation are a consequence of the nonlinear character of the underlying mathematical equations. Professor Ertl showed a short video film which demonstrated in this context the rich variety of experimental observations with CO oxidation on a platinum surface.
The concluding discussion focussed on the fascinating nature of the patterns created by the evolving chemical processes. Professor Ertl was asked about the analogies with other areas of science to which nonlinear dynamics also could be applied, such as optical/laser resonators. He pointed out that although many features are similar, the underlying mathematics varied depending on whether one was dealing with dissipative or nondissipative systems. He also noted that the concepts behind the soliton-like features that he had shown can be traced back to observations made in the 19th Century of solitary waves in the Union Canal at Hermiston on the western edge of Edinburgh! A vote of thanks was expressed by Professor Geoffrey Webb, Professor of Chemistry and Head of the Physical Sciences Planning Unit, University of Glasgow. He emphasised the exceptional quality of the speakers laboratories at the Fritz-Haber Institut and their long and distinguished history. The impact of catalysis on industrial chemical processes has indeed been impressive and the commercial impact considerable. He thanked Professor Ertl for his illuminating and enjoyable presentation.
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Lectures
The Phillips Report on BSE: Its Impact on Science and Society 28 November 2000
Sir William Stewart FRS FRSE, President, Royal Society of Edinburgh opened the lecture by giving a welcome and an overview of the lecture on the Phillips Report on BSE. Presentations were made by : Professor Robert Will, Director, CJD Surveillance Unit, Western General, Edinburgh who addressed the factual information and then the uncertainties surrounding nvCJD. The Facts To date there had been 87 cases of nvCJD, some of whom are still alive. Age at death ranges from 14 to 74, with an average of 29. Age of onset ranges from 12 to 74, with an average of 27. There is no sex bias. 77 of those cases have a single nucleotide polymorphism at codon 129 of the gene encoding the prion protein (PrP). This suggests that this particular genotype is a risk factor. What we dont know is the susceptibility of other genotypes at this locus. There is compelling evidence that BSE causes nvCJD. This evidence comes from research in several countries and this collaborative research continues. The Uncertainties The most important question is Will the incidence of nvCJD keep rising? There is at present an upward trend in the rate of incidence and various mathematical models are being used to predict how this rate may develop. The answer is that we dont know with any certainty what will happen. The complexity and uncertainty of the disease causes much confusion for the public; a matter compounded by sensational headlines in the press. We do not know how much bovine CNS tissue entered human food products. MRM (mechanically removed meat) was probably responsible for this transfer and it may have processed into products such as burgers and sausages. Sections of tonsil from the victims all stain positive for prion protein. This is not the case for other forms of CJD. Hence the tissue distribution of nvCJD appears different and this may present other risk factors for transmission. BSE is also present in Germany, Spain and France. The common methodology used in the surveillance of BSE across Europe was essential to the 1996 hypothesis linking nvCJD to BSE. The rise in European cases is concerning and the need for continued surveillance is very important.
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The reporting one reads in the newspaper is not always what the scientists have said. The communication of risk by journalists is not a simple issue. The purely voluntary system of nvCJD notification is a remarkable achievement for the neurological community. Finally, we must improve the care of those afflicted by this disease and collaborate further to find prophylactic treatment. Mr Peter Stewart, Vice President, Scottish National Farmers Union who focused on the needs of industry and what the Government is doing. Graeme Miller, Chairman, Scottish Consumer Council who asked how can the consumer be protected? and David Body, Solicitor, Irwin Mitchell, Solicitor for the nvCJD families who looked at the Public Perspective. Introduction A great deal of publicity has been given to the BSE Inquiry during its work between 1998 and 2000. The 16 volumes deal with many aspects ranging from animal and human health, livestock farming and feed industry processes and controls to Government and Public administration. All the analysis of the Philips Inquiry demonstrates an absolute attention to thoroughness, and wide ranging insight into the
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process of Government in the just recent past. In an unusual step, the conservative Government handed over its administration material to this inquiry enabling light to be shed upon events between 1985 and 1996. We might consider that the risk of nvCJD is remote. Ones opinion is quite different if this disease happens to affect you or someone you know. It is fatal and is quite different to the risk one might associate with being knocked down by a bus. nvCJD kills you. There is no choice and no therapy. With regard to communicating the level of risk, the call from the scientific community is that there should be openness and clarity in what is expected of them. In the past scientists have been asked by Government to advise outside their field of expertise and with illdefined terms of reference. What is more, sometimes their advice was not listened to. Scientists must be aware of this. From 1988 to 1996 the reassurances given by Government were not based well in fact. What have we learned from the Inquiry? It is more important to learn the lessons of the past than it is to make scapegoats of those who were responsible for what went wrong. In seeking to learn lessons from the past, Lord Philips identifies some of the secretive habits in the political and administrative culture of this country which are most to blame.
Lectures
Ensuring that interdepartmental rivalry is not allowed to cloud issues that may affect public health. It took nearly 6 months for the central veterinary laboratory to contact the world renowned prion diseases centre at Edinburgh to inform it of the existence of and concerns about BSE. There was also a significant delay in MAFF notifying the Department of Health of this disease for which the Department of Health might ultimately be responsible if there was a human threat posed. The Southwood Committee was constituted to give initial advice to Government about the threat that BES might pose. Lord Philips felt than an advisory committee in this position should not water down its formulated assessment of the risk out of anxiety to not cause public alarm. Enforcement of health and safety standards. There must be a clear pattern of enforcement and a means of audit to safeguard against disregard of rules, i.e. enforcement of the Specified Bovine Offals (SBO) ban. A need for clear guidance where central Government gives local authorities regulatory and enforcement powers. MAFF should clearly tell the public and those responsible for enforcement the reasons for and importance for those precautionary measures. Poor practice at slaughterhouse level meant that infected organs from cattle were entering the human food chain
years after the SBO bans were introduced. From the emergence of nvCJD itself the lessons to be learnt were that: 1. Although likelihood of a risk to human life might appear remote, where there is uncertainty all reasonable practicable precautions should be taken. 2. Precaution measures should be strictly in force even if the risk that they address appears remote. 3. All pathways by which nvCJD may be transmitted between humans must be identified and all reasonably practicable measures taken to block them. 4. All potential pathways of infection to humans should be identified and reviewed so that, once again, there is clear interdepartmental co-operation within the Government and planned with consistent objectives handled interdepartmentally to ensure its success. In relation to scientific committees e.g. the Southwood Committee, the Tyrell Committee and SEAC, there need to be lessons learnt about the setting up of committees, particularly terms of reference, the handling of conflicts of interests, the resourcing, and those who bring expertise to those committees. In relation to policy the role of such committees was felt by Lord Philips to involve drawing a line between that which the commit-
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tees could be truly establish as advice and that which lay in the hand of ministers as political decision. In giving advice on nay risk management issue committees should follow a formal structure based upon recognised principles of risk management and the proceedings of those committees should be as open as is compatible wit the requirements of confidentiality.
The meeting ended with a lively and wide-ranging question and discussion session. A fuller report of the proceedings is available on the Societys web site.
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Lectures
The Rt Hon Lord Ross, PC, FRSE 1 December 2000 Human Rights and Responsibilities Part of the Edinburgh Lecture Series
Human rights are rights which individuals, by virtue of their being human beings, are entitled to expect to have guaranteed to them. Five main questions were addressed. (1) what is the history of Human Rights, and of the UKs adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)? (2) do we need the ECHR? (3) what effect will it have on our lives? (4) is there a cost to be paid of introducing the ECHR into our law? (5) do we place too much emphasis on rights and too little on responsibilities? (1) The modern concept of human rights owed much to the American and French Declarations of Independence. At the end of the Second World War, the United Nations Organisation was set up, and it was recognised that there was a need to protect the basic rights of individuals. UNO adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and the Council of Europe signed the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1950. The UK ratified the ECHR but did
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not then incorporate it into its domestic law, although since 1966 individuals could petition the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It was not until the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998 that effect was given to the ECHR in UK domestic law. (2) UK citizens had already enjoyed many of the important rights contained in the ECHR, but the Strasbourg Court had held that the UK had violated the rights of individuals in this country in a variety of ways. This showed that the ECHR was necessary. It gave citizens a powerful weapon for challenging excesses by public authorities, and the Act of 1998 gave people the right to raise human rights issues in the Scottish courts instead of having to go to Strasbourg. (3) The areas where the ECHR would bite were legion, and a number of cases had already been decided in Scotland under the ECHR. In some cases, the ECHR might have the effect of restoring the old common law of Scotland, and the approach of the ECHR was familiar to the law of Scotland. Previously, Parliament had been omnipotent, but now legislation must be compatible with ECHR rights, and so there was now a standard by which
legislation could be tested, and the Scottish Supreme Court would have to exercise jurisdiction as a constitutional court. Another effect was that the rules for interpreting legislation had been altered. The actions of public authorities might in future be challenged in a number of areas including prisons, police, criminal law, employment law, education, health, privacy and the media. (4) There were costs to be paid. Some provisions of ECHR might be trivialised; there might be an increase in litigation; the courts could in effect nullify Acts of Parliament which might bring the law and the courts into disrepute. Judges would be called upon to decide socially and politically sensitive questions, which might result in judges being subjected
to increased scrutiny, thus prejudicing judicial independence. (5) Although it was good to promote a culture where people were reminded of their fundamental rights, more should have been done to remind them that they had duties and responsibilities too. Finally, Lord Ross stressed that the problems about human rights legislation should be approached with realism and good sense and kept in proportion. The ECHR was concerned with civil liberties. Despite certain drawbacks identified in the lecture, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, and overall the people of Scotland would benefit from the incorporation of the ECHR into our domestic law. Professor Hector MacQueen proposed a vote of thanks.
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Lectures
Professor Lalage Bown, OBE, FRSE Chair of the Council for Education in the Commonwealth Working Group on Student Mobility 4 December 2000 People Flows and Knowledge Flows: International Students and Public Policy
Information is the only resource we have that is nondepletable and can be freely shared without depriving anyone of its use. International students comprise an important instrument for scholarly knowledge sharing and also a means for promoting economic and political national policies. Many of the issues involved at the present time were illuminated by research undertaken for the Council for Education in the Commonwealth and UKCOSA, reported as Student Mobility on the Map, Tertiary education interchange in the Commonwealth on the threshold of the 21st Century (London, July 2000). The report and its recommendations were presented to Commonwealth Ministers of Education at the end of November 2000. Some recommendations to the British Government have been noted by Baroness Blackstone, Minister for Higher Education. In spite of pessimistic predictions after the introduction by some countries of full-cost fees, there has been recent expansion of international student numbers. Unesco reported over a million in the 22 main host countries. Nevertheless the general atmosphere in which students were
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welcomed in Scottish universities in the past has changed dramatically. In the new era of globalisation, education has become a saleable commodity and meanwhile ever more new knowledge is developed outside the conventional university system. There are now special dilemmas for the Commonwealth, which includes both richer and poorer members, and for many of whom higher education interchange was seen as the glue holding the organisation together the very first action of the initial Commonwealth Education Conference was to establish the Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan (CSFP). In the world as a whole and in the Commonwealth, the share of access by countries of low Human Development is now very small less than 6%. Further, members have other affiliations, such as the UKs treaty obligation to give favourable access to EU students. In Britain, international students are a vital source of income (an average overall of 2000 over cost) and arguably keep some departments and postgraduate programmes functioning. While the UK is the largest contributor
to the CSFP, a possible means of encouraging more students from low HD countries, other awards now no longer favour the poor (British Council and DFID awards are disappearing). For the Commonwealth and its members, including Britain, what is the answer? Ingenious schemes for learning at a distance can help, but the general hope is in the new borderless learning i.e. to concentrate on knowledge flows rather than people flows. There are still challenges many low HD countries do not have the technology; and it would be necessary for costs to be met somehow. Further, the experience of learning in another environment is regarded as enriching. There is therefore
need for a twin tack approach in public policy. After the address, described by Professor Wilson as a tour de force, a number of comments were made: the greater value for foreign students of post-graduate studies with undergraduate work being done locally; the introduction of branches abroad by British Universities; the availability of Open University courses, and valuable twinning between particular faculties of Commonwealth and British Universities. After these comments had been answered, Principal Andrew Miller thanked the speaker for giving the audience so much to think about in a stimulating address.
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Lectures
Mr Geoffrey Stell Head of Architecture at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland 8 January 2001 The Defences of Scapa Flow: Protecting the Royal Navys Fleet Anchorage, 1914 1945
Mr Stell, in opening his talk, at which he presented many explanatory slides, pointed out that Scapa Flow, at the heart of the Orkney archipelago, was one of the great natural anchorages of Europe. Its name evidently derived from the Old Norse meaning bay of the long isthmus, and the quality of its holding ground over an average depth of 20 fathoms or less must have been recognised since at least the time of the Vikings. However, medieval sites had so far revealed little information about the use of the Flow, and the few traces of later fortifications mainly of the Cromwellian period related mainly to seaward inlets on the Eastern Mainland of Orkney, not to the Flow itself. Not until late in the Napoleonic era, shortly before Waterloo in 1815, did a sheltered inlet opening off the south-west corner of the Flow - Long Hope - acquire sufficient importance to merit significant government defence expenditure in the shape of two Martello towers and a gun battery, built to protect convoys of sailing ships on the long north-about route against French and American Privateers. Recognition of the strategic value of Scapa Flow grew rapidly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in step with a growing awareness of the German military threat. It became the Royal Navys principal fleet anchorage in two world wars, when for crucial periods it was arguably the single most important expanse of water in the world, facing an enemy ranging across the North Atlantic and the North Sea (the stopper in the North Sea bottle as it was referred to). But when the Royal Navy went in force to its war station in 1914 and again in 1939, Scapas defences were known to be vulnerable. In 1939 that vulnerability was immediately and cruelly exposed, for, in contrast to much of the rest of Britain, there was no phoney war in Orkney. Having been the setting for the interned German High Seas Fleet twenty years earlier, Scapa Flow was seen as a special, symbolic target whose destruction would avenge the humiliated but unvanquished military pride which had manifested itself in the scuttling of that fleet in 1919. The response to these early aerial and submarine attacks ultimately led to the creation of one of the
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most concentrated defence networks in Britain, centred around the famous Scapa box barrage. Many of these defences retain tangible archaeological definition, and the surviving remains which ring Scapa Flow reflect different phases of construction and use in both wars. They have a density and variety second to none in Scotland and include many of the last examples of their type in Britain. They even include a World War II coats battery built over and around a prehistoric broch! Mr Stell presented the main findings of a recently-completed survey of these wartime remains in Orkney and related parts of the Scottish Mainland carried out by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS). The survey represented a special contribution on the part of RCAHMS to the Defence of Britain project which was inaugurated by the Council for British Archaeology and the Fortress Study Group in 1995. RCAHMS had brought the full panoply of its survey techniques to bear on the subject, including measured drawing, photography aerial as well as terrestrial and computerised mapping. Being an essential prerequisite of all wartime operations, accurate mapping was also of first importance in the study and understanding of the disposition of wartime remains. The capabili-
ty of the RCAHMS to embrace wrecks and other undersea features was also a particularly useful facility in a Scapa context. Use had been made of a wide range of historical sourcematerials and illustrations which were found in abundance, principally in London, at the Public Record Office and the Imperial War Museum, and locally at the Orkney Archives in Kirkwall, supplemented by museum collections of the different services. The holdings in the National Monuments Record of Scotland contributed significantly, particularly through the collections of oblique and vertical aerial photographs taken by the RAF in and after World War II. A small but disconcertingly illuminating collection of wartime aerial reconnaissance views of Scotland, including Orkney, taken by the German Luftwaffe is also held by the NMRS. The Commissions limited aim had been to try and match what was known from historical sources with what was detectable on the ground and in the memories of those who served there. It was possible to draw out a few key persons who designed or ran the Scapa defences, as well as obtaining invaluable oral testimony from the many unsung heroes who were involved in the actual building or manning of them. As a result of this combined op, a fascinating detailed picture has emerged of the everyday reality of
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Lectures
defending the most vital naval anchorage in Britain in both world wars The fascinating address led to a number of questions about the effectiveness of the booms installed and the routes by which supplies arrived for the troops. The speaker pointed out that marine archaeology has been dominated by the wrecks of the German naval ships, which has prevented any real underwater research.
A vote of thanks was proposed by Professor David Breeze, FRSE, who referred to the meticulous and thorough work carried out by the oldest Royal Commission which had been founded in 1908. It has recorded not only what was on the ground but also what local survivors could contribute. All this had been relayed to the meeting in a lucid and entertaining way, for which he thanked the speaker. At the same time he wished the Commission well in its future researches.
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Sir John Krebs 16 February 2001 Is Food Safe? Joint Lecture with the Edinburgh Centre for Rural Research/Institute of Biology
Speakers Abstract The Food Standards Agency was set up to protect the health of the public and the interests of consumers in relation to food. A central part of its job is to see that the food the consumer buys is safe. But what does it mean to say that food is safe? We all have vivid memories of Ministers claiming at the height of the BSE epidemic that beef was absolutely safe. In reality nothing in life is totally risk free and the question is, what constitutes an acceptable level of risk? The Agency uses expert scientific advice to assess risk and approaches communication and management of risk in an open and honest way. BSE and other examples from the Agencys work will illustrate how to answer the question: Is food safe?
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Lectures
Mr Alan Tweedy and Mr David Lewis 19 February 2001 Engineering the Scottish Parliament Building In Association with the Royal Academy of Engineering
For some years the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Edinburgh have held a joint annual lecture, resulting in a detailed publication on the theme of the lecture. The 2001 lecture, Engineering the Scottish Parliament Building was given by Mr Alan Tweedy and
Mr David Lewis on 19 February 2001. The published lecture can be obtained from the Royal Academy of Engineering, 29 Great Peter Street, Westminster, London, SW1P 3LW. Tel. 0207 222 2688. www.raeng.org.uk.
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Professor Michael Usher, FRSE 27 March 2001 An Archipelago of Islands : The Science of Nature Conservation RSE/Scottish Natural Heritage Joint Annual Lecture
Speakers Abstract Effective conservation management requires the integration of many sciences, though the biological sciences will always be central. A series of examples will be discussed where there is the use of mathematical models, where there are perspectives from the earth sciences, and where the increasing links with the social sciences are discernible. In the 1970s, the theory of island biogeography provided a stimulus for the design of nature reserves. However, two more recent developments have cast doubt on the uncritical application of this theory. First, landscape ecology has underlined the role of the physical arrangement of habitats in space. Second, metapopulation dynamics has underlined the lack of spatial stability for many species, and indeed for many habitats. Effective conservation requires the synthesis of these newer approaches. We need to understand how archipelagos of habitat patches work in the conservation of wider-scale biodiversity.
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Lectures
Professor Gordon McVie Director General of the Cancer Research Campaign 9 April 2001 Cancer Research Delivers At Last!
Professor McVie started his lecture by observing that it is thirty years since Richard Nixon declared war on cancer and the impact has been a long time coming. The reason was that money was not the solution; that could only be provided by technology. Thirty years on we now have the technology and all we require is the money. But luck has been on our side for the last quarter century. A number of new treatments have been discovered by a mixture of serendipity and sheer dogged persistence. Thanks to that we have enjoyed an improved cure rate in 46 of the main cancers in adults and every single kind of cancer in children. This year it is calculated that one million people are alive and well and free of the dreaded disease having been diagnosed within the last 15 years. The cure rate for childrens leukaemia in 1970 was zero, now we boast an 80% cure rate for common sub-types of the disease and overall in childrens cancer 6 out of 10 children are cured compared to 10% at the time Nixon launched his Cancer Act in the US. Progress has been slower in the United Kingdom than almost any of our sister European states, certainly slower then in white America. Only Black Americans have poorer outcomes
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for common cancers than the British. Our National Health Service has been caught on the hop by the unexpectedness of improvement of treatments. Its chaotic system of uptake of innovation and ill-thought-through delivery of cancer care has resulted in a delay of 10-15 years in realising improvements from research efforts compared to in the US. But cancer research in this country has kept apace and many of the significant cancer genes which have emerged have been cloned in the UK and turned into diagnostic or therapeutic products. Further, many interesting anticancer drugs and effective radiotherapy regimes have been developed and we have pioneered the measurement of quality of life as an end point in cancer care and put human rights for cancer patients at the top of the political agenda. Research into cancer problems in the deprived section of society and ethnic minorities in our country has also been amongst the first in the world. Professor McVie concluded with his view that we are now turning the technological corner. Knowledge of the human genome is permitting us to pick out those genes that cause cancer and then to develop that genetic informa-
tion into early diagnostic tools, preventive strategies and tailormade cancer treatments. The latest predictions indicate that cancer should be controllable in 90% of patients by 2050. The subsequent discussion started by picking up on Professor McVies concern expressed about the terrible impact of smoking. What should government be doing, given the various conflicting interests? He answered that this, of course, is a political issue but there has been a good lead from America, where, using government money, teenagers have been recruited to lead educational campaigns against smoking by the young. The suggestion that we should only support politicians who do not smoke was left to the audience to consider! However he noted the importance of raising the issue widely. The question as to whether we could afford to implement the wonderful diagnostics and cures that have been discovered was
asked. Professor McVie commented that these are starting as expensive but the prices will come down. On patenting gene therapies, he reported that the Campaign did patent a breast cancer gene but it will hand it over to the NHS at no cost. Professor McVie was asked about the impact of diet on prevention of cancer. He felt this was less well understood than with, say, heart disease. Further research is still needed on exactly what does the damage and the interactions of genetic and environmental factors. Noting that smoking and drinking alcohol was a very high risk combination, he was finally asked about the effect of alcohol alone. In reply he noted that, whereas there appears to be some link with breast and head/neck cancers, smoking is a thousand times more risky. Professor Colin Bird proposed the vote of thanks, noting how informative, comprehensive and indeed entertaining the lecture had been.
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Professor Vicki Bruce, OBE, FRSE, FBA 11 April 2001 Identifying Faces : A Psychological Investigation Edinburgh International Science Festival Lecture
Professor Bruce observed that the face is one of the most easily accessible and reliable cues to an individuals identity. All human faces must share the same basic pattern, constrained by the demands of activities such as vision, respiration, digestion and speech, but we are also highly sensitive to variations on this pattern. Dynamic alterations in faces from moment to moment convey emotions and other signals important for interpersonal communication, while more enduring differences between individual faces convey information about personal identity. People can be remarkably good at recognising familiar faces even from poor quality images. Faces appear to be special visual patterns for the human brain. Babies track face-like patterns, suggesting they have some innate knowledge of the general structure of the face, and infants also learn their mothers face very quickly after birth. Specific areas of the human brain appear dedicated to the perception of human faces. As a result of brain damage, patients sometimes lose the ability to recognise faces while remaining unimpaired in many other visual recognition tasks, again suggesting that there may be areas of the brain that are specialised for face recognition.
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However, despite our undoubted expertise, we can be remarkably poor at recognising faces in certain situations. People who have witnessed crimes may feel sincere and confident in their ability to recall or to identify a criminal, but eyewitnesses frequently make mistakes when attempting to identify people seen briefly in criminal episodes. In some much-publicised cases of wrongful conviction, the same innocent person was mistakenly identified by more than one independent witness. Witnesses who attempt to recall a face using systems which allow a composite image to be constructed can also find that this is an extremely challenging task. Psychological research has been important in revealing the limitations of eyewitness memory for faces, and in suggesting improvements to procedures which are used to question witnesses, and to the technologies used to support witness recall of faces. These days, particularly in the UK, images of people committing crimes are often recorded via closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. While the widespread use of CCTV might appear to solve the problem of person identification at crime scenes, recent research has shown that it
can be problematic to establish the identity of faces caught on CCTV, even when the images are of high quality. Recognition of CCTV images by people highly familiar with the faces shown can be excellent, but attempting to verify the identities of otherwise unfamiliar faces by making comparisons between different images is difficult, and subject to error. Human perception, like eyewitness memory, can be confused by superficial resemblance between different images of unfamiliar faces. Such observations have theoretical as well as practical implications. Professor Bruce concluded that face perception and recognition has been a particularly strong area of research in Britain, with several of the leading groups working in universities in Scotland. She therefore felt it most appropriate that this lecture was being given at the Royal Society of Edinburgh as part of the celebrations marking the centenary year of the British Psychological Society (BPS). In the ensuing discussion Professor Bruce was asked how quickly a face can become familiar. In reply she noted this was a matter of on-going research but it would appear, from video training, that a few minutes were sufficient. Significantly, the observer needed to learn the more important internal features of the face. On whether the emotion associated with an initial incident can be used to assist subsequent identification, she felt reproduction of
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this emotion raised ethical issues and that this aspect might actually distract from accurate recognition. The advantage that police have if they already know a person recorded on video was confirmed but Professor Bruce pointed out that this still does not stop the defence in court arguing it is only a resemblance. With regard to identity parades, she was asked whether inviting individuals to move might help identification. In reply she suggested that the rareness of such requests perhaps indicated an acceptance of the key importance of the face in recognition. A further issue concerned computer-generated likenesses and whether they were symmetrical. Professor Bruce agreed that real faces are asymmetric but pointed out that current computer fitting programmes are based on real sets of features and therefore this factor is included. When asked about disguises she noted how easy it is to disguise even familiar faces. On a final topic, she agreed that the difficulty we have in differentiating between faces from less familiar racial groupings is widespread and pointed out that this is an entirely symmetrical phenomenon. A vote of thanks was moved by Professor Ivana Markova. She noted the significance of the occasion and the important role of the BPS over the last hundred years. She observed how the face also appears to tell us much about the mind and is so important in our relationships.
Lectures
Lord Sutherland of Houndwood, Kt, FBA, FRSE 29 May 2001 The Virtues of Old Age
Lord Sutherlands lecture looked at three issues in the light of changes in the demography of the population: 1. Does our society have a system of values currently skewed towards attaching more value to youth than to age? 2. Does philosophical emphasis upon the importance of the autonomy of moral agents, fail to give due attention to the many ways in which, often increasingly with use, we are dependent upon others? 3. Are there any virtues which are distinctive of, or at least especially consonant with, old age? At the conclusion of the address Lord Sutherland agreed to answer questions and discuss solutions to the questions he had posed. It was pointed out that greater respect was prevalent in the East, where darshan was shown to elderly family members, even if demented; gratitude was also felt by younger members for money spent on their education and upbringing. Others spoke of the failure to value the voluntary care society gave. It was recommended that the shape of peoples working life should be altered, spacing it out with resultant reduction of pressures. Should, indeed, retirement be obligatory at a given age? While the aged did not want to be a burden on their families, should there be a legal requirement of support, as in Singapore, on children, or was it the duty of the State to step in when penury in old age arose without fault? The meeting closed with an enthusiastic vote of thanks proposed by Professor John Beck, especially for the depth of the speakers thinking in his approach to the problem. The abolition of TB and pneumonia by the medical profession has led to the lengthening of our lives, which has aggravated the situation; there was consensus that public support should be provided to the aged, who should not be written off as unproductive, but the extent and conditions of such provision was problematic. Lord Sutherland had analysed the question and highlighted the moral duty of society to look after its senior citizens, and for this the audience was most grateful.
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Professor Marion McMurdo Head of Ageing and Health, Department of Medicine Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee 4 June 2001 Health in Old Age - Dream or Reality?
Professor McMurdo explained that although increasing life expectancy was hailed by some as one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, a more common reaction was a doomladen prediction of health and social budgets being bled dry by the burden of caring for dependent old people. This overwhelmingly negative reaction had been fuelled by a misunderstanding about health in old age. Certainly older people often have poorer health than younger people, due in part to the higher rates of disease in old age. The incidence of heart disease increased with age, but this did not mean that ageing itself was a cause of heart disease. Nor did it mean that heart disease was inevitable in old age. Finally laying to rest the myth that all the ills of old age were just your age would represent a major breakthrough for the health care of older people. Some fears about the ageing of society had their origins in the well-established relationship between advanced age and dependency. This raised the important issue of whether the health of the rising older population was increasing or deteriorating. Evidence was
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beginning to emerge that for welll-educated affluent older people, morbidity was being compressed and that healthy ageing might be achievable for some. A landmark observational study followed university graduates from their early 40s to their mid 70s, and focussed on modifiable risk factors of cigarette smoking, body mass index and exercise patterns. Those with high health risks in their 60s had both an earlier onset of disability and a greater cumulative level of disability. In contrast, the age at onset of disability was postponed by more than five years in the low risk groups. It was clear that regular physical activity was associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer of the colon and others. Demonstrating that exercise was beneficial was less difficult than persuading people to be more physically active. Part of the problem was the common misconception that to reap health benefits continuous, vigorous exercise (jogging or squash) was required. This notion had its origins in studies of the effects of endurance exercise training on maximal oxygen uptake in young adults. This data produced a daunting and scientif-
Lectures
ic physical fitness recommendation of 20-60 minutes of endurance exercise at 60% to 90% of maximal heart rate, three or more times a week. However, a reassessment of the original evidence, together with a growing body of new research, had shown that most of the health benefits could be gained by moderate-intensity physical activity, outside of formal exercise programmes. This was good news for couch potatoes of all ages who were terminally disheartened by the pervasive lycra-clad images of aerobic exercise. Physical capacity peaks in early adulthood and then declines progressively. Part of the decline was due to ageing and was irreversible, as even healthy ageing was associated with a loss of muscle mass. However, some age related changes that were once thought to result solely from ageing were now known to be the result of disuse and were potentially reversible. There was now substantial evidence that lost physical fitness could be regained
with regular physical activity, even in extreme old age. Strength training did not halt the loss of muscle fibres, but the improvements in strength reported in studies of exercise training in older people might be equivalent to 10-20 years of rejuvenation. Professor McMurdos amusing and persuasive address, illustrated with supporting charts and provocative pictures was enthusiastically received by an audience who were happy to be assured that the health of the aged was improving and their life expectancy steadily increasing through better nutrition, housing and sanitation. Professor McMurdo then responded to questions, particularly on how to meet the cost of looking after the aged and provide them with adequate pensions. The meeting closed with a vote of thanks by Professor Charles Forbes, who emphasised the importance of the message given by the speaker and assured her that her enthusiasm would help the audience to effect the important changes of life style which she was recommending.
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Professor Keith Moffatt, FRSE Director, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences University of Cambridge 2 July 2001 Knot Theory and Fluid Mechanics A Reflection on the Work of Tait and Kelvin
Professor Moffatt described several recent developments in knot theory and vortex motion against the background of the early pioneering work of Helmholtz, Tait and Kelvin. The origins of knot theory are inextricably linked with the laws of the vortex motion in ideal fluids, discovered by Helmholz (1858). Peter Guthrie Tait refers to the Helmhotz paper in a letter to Hamilton dated 7th December 1858, by which time he had translated it into English for his personal use, under the title Vortex Motion. In his paper On Vortex Atoms presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 18 February 1867, Sir William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) refers to a magnificent display of smoke rings which he had witnessed in Taits lecture-room; this short paper was but a prelude to Kelvins great paper (1868/9) in which the theorem we now know as Kelvins Circulation Theorem was demonstrated. Unable to reproduce Taits smoke rings (due to lecture room smokedetectors), Professor Moffatt demonstrated the creation of vortex rings in water using coloured dyes and went on to show how more complex interactions can occur. He noted that
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Kelvins interest in the subject was motivated by his desire to develop an atomic theory in terms of vortices in the aether. Kelvin recognised that knotted vortex filaments (or tubes of very small cross-section) would permanently retain their knotted form, and that the characteristic frequencies of oscillations of these forms about their equilibrium states (if such existed) might provide a fundamental explanation for the known spectroscopic properties of matter. It was this insight that led Tait to initiate the great project of classifying knots, in three papers (1877, 1884, 1885) in which he provided a more or less complete classification of knots up to crossing number 10. The word Topology first appears in Taits second 1884 paper Listings Topologie which refers to Listings (1847) paper Vorstudien zur Topologie with the words: I was altogether ignorant of the existence of the Vorstudien till it was pointed out to me by ClerkMaxwell, after I had sent him one of my earlier papers on knots; and I had to seek, in the Cambridge University Library, what was perhaps the only then accessible copy. Be that as it may, it was apparently Taits papers that
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simulated the development of topology as a recognisable branch of mathematics; it may fairly be said that the origins of topology lie in classical fluid dynamics! The topological aspect of fluid dynamics nevertheless lay dormant for some 80 years, and came to new life only gradually with the development of a rather different discipline, namely magnetohydrodynamics, during the 1950s and 1960s. The magnetic field in a perfectly conducting fluid is a frozen-in field, just like the vorticity in an ideal fluid; moreover, it is sensible to seek minimum-energy states for magnetic flux tubes knotted in a prescribed manner. These are stable magnetostatic (equilibrium) states, and they admit a spectrum of frequencies of oscillation when disturbed from equilibrium. The analogous Euler flows are, however, in general unstable, which perhaps goes some way to explaining why Kelvin was so frustrated in his grand project to develop a vortex theory of atoms. Nevertheless, his ideas have received new life in the parallel magnetohydrodynamic context; and the very fact that the analogous Euler flows are unstable gives a new handle on the everchallenging unsolved problem of turbulence. Professor Moffatt concluded his lecture with descriptions of more recent mathematical studies in this area, including his own work on the concept of helicity.
Subsequent open discussion drew attention to analogies between the elastic bending of wires and of magnetic flux tubes; and the way that long DNA molecules twist and writhe, thus minimising their volume. In answer to a question concerning the possible relevance of this topic to developing higher strength materials, Professor Moffatt observed that the most likely application would be in gaining a better understanding of turbulent flow, e.g. when knots or vortices meet. Referring to a slide that had been shown, which illustrated the half-ring vortices created in the water by oarsmen, the idea of assisting rowers to become more efficient was raised. It was concluded that while application of this theory might have some relevance, natural ability and hard training were likely to be more important! A vote of thanks was moved by Professor Alex Craik, of the University of St. Andrews. Referring to the Workshop held earlier that afternoon, he explained that the days events were commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of PG Tait. He expressed his pleasure in seeing the way that topological fluid dynamics had continued to be a vital research subject, and Professor Moffatts development of the concept of helicity had been a remarkably useful advance. Congratulations were also in order with regard to attempting experimental demonstrations during the lecture.
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7 September 2001 The Foot and Mouth Controversy Delivered at the University of Glasgow as part of the BA Festival of Science
Foot and Mouth Disease: A World Problem. Professor Fred Brown FRS, United States Department of Agriculture FMDV is not like a common cold. It is one of the most important diseases of food animals and in the last few years it has had global impact. The US Department of Defence considers FMDV the most important biological agent in existence, and has provided significant funding to fight it. When Western Europe began vaccination in 1952, cases dropped greatly from the then annual rate of 100,000. In 1989 Brussels ordered an end to vaccination. Experience elsewhere suggested this move to be unwise; when Argentina stopped vaccination a huge outbreak resulted. In combating such an epizootic we need faster diagnosis, ideally pen-side, and subsequent culling. Until recently diagnosis has necessitated viral culture a 3-day process. However, the rapid spread of FMDV means that by the time results are available infection has spread still further. A 2 hour diagnostic test has recently been developed. Not only is this test faster, but it can detect infection 24 96 hours sooner than viral culture. DNA technology is used to identify the presence of the viral polymerase gene, a highly conserved gene throughout the seven FMDV serotypes. The UK government were offered this test soon after the outbreak but declined. Would vaccination have helped to contain this outbreak? If not, why do we maintain a strategic reserve? What will we do next time? There will be a next time. Foot and Mouth Disease Virus: The Nature of the Beast. Professor Dave Rowlands, Department of Microbiology, University of Leeds. Although we know a significant amount about FMDV, including its 3D structure, we must conduct more basic research into its nature. FMDV is the fastest-growing animal virus; extremely infectious; extremely fast rate of spread. Traditionally, inactivated FMDV forms the basis of vaccine. This vaccine is not ideal however, as it is specific to an individual serotype. Additionally there is the added danger of outbreak caused by improper inactivation of the virus, as happened in 1981.
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An ideal vaccine is effective against a wide serotype range. Development now focuses on synthetic peptides able to elicit an effective immunogenic response. Results so far indicate very good response in guinea pigs, average response in pigs but only poor response in cattle. Sadly, when the UK ended its use of FMDV vaccine ten years ago, UK funding for vaccine development decreased substantially. We have the technology to eradicate FMDV from the world, but do we have the political will? The Science of controlling Disease Outbreaks. Professor Mark Woolhouse, Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, The Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh. I am an advisor to government on control of the current outbreak. We now know that on first news of this outbreak (February 23) there were already 70 80 cases. Initial control measures included movement restrictions; biosecurity; surveillance; and culling of infected premises and dangerous contacts. By March 29 we had 1000 cases. Government asserted that the outbreak was under control; it was not. At that time cases were exponentially increasing, a situation clearly out of control. Control measures were strengthened, including a reduction in culling time from 3 days to 24h.
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The last Scottish case occurred on May 31, a success partially due to an extended culling regime. The huge head-start of the disease in Cumbria has caused a lingering incidence of disease in that region and elsewhere in England. The current control programme has weaknesses, including lapses in biosecurity and relaxations of movement restrictions. We cannot afford the slightest relaxation; a 10% increase in infection rate could lengthen the outbreak by months. Vaccination is not sufficient to halt the spread of FMDV. It could only be used in particular circumstances: when delivered at a very high coverage; to protect against persistent challenge; to protect rare / valuable livestock; and in support of a culling programme. DEFRA must have emergency procedures to allow very fast action; currently they are too slow. The crucial lesson must be to ensure faster diagnosis and to act quickly.. The view of the Veterinarian. Hugh Reid, Moredun Research Institute. As a veterinarian, I add the following: The mass movement of animals for slaughter is not just a welfare issue; it is now a disease issue. The running down of our state veterinary service is a major reason why we were unable to pick up this disease faster.
Disease surveillance has been inadequate for some time. FMDV in parturient animals is extremely serious. In March I witnessed a field of aborting ewes, unable to stand and being attacked by crows. The scene was utterly distressing. Questions from the Floor included: How effective is the use of disinfectant in biosecurity? Has any leisure user been shown to have transmitted the virus? Has delay in carcass disposal increased spread? Does vaccination of animals prevent further transmission?
Is there now a case for prophylactic vaccination? Is FMDV now endemic in England? Is wind-borne spread significant? Is there evidence of deliberate spread? Has the country of origin of the contaminated material been identified? Can we restock if FMDV is still here? Should we restock with vaccinated animals? Do we need a policy for outbreaks such as this?
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Professor Malcolm Gillis President, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA 25 September 2001 Unleashing Technology for the 21st Century
Speakers Abstract This address focuses on three technologies stemming from university-based research at Rice and other institutions. Innovations arising from these technologies could bring about significant changes in the way we live, how well we live, and how long we live. The discussion opens with reflections on the origins of the technological revolution wrought by the rediscovery and commercialisation of steam power; some of the lessons learned from that experience provides perspective for understanding the generation and transfer of 21st-Century technology in three critical fields: information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Significant fruits from these technologies will ripen only over several years, and in some cases, decades. Discussion of information and computational technology focuses primarily upon ultra-fast computing and grid computing. The section on biotechnology deals mainly with innovations in biomedicine, virtually all of which have been made possible by discoveries and innovations originating in physics, chemistry, computer science, and engineering. Nanotechnology, now a field unto itself, is also seen to be very closely linked to computational and biomedical technology, with very significant implications for materials science as well. In the end, the linkages between these three fields are seen to be significant. Finally, some of the relevant lessons learned from the development of the steam technology are applied to the outlook for some 21st Century technologies.
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CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA, WORKSHOPS AND EXHIBITIONS

Symposium The Management of Radioactive Waste Thursday 16 November 2000
The Symposium on The Management of Radioactive Waste was held at the Society on 16 November 2000 and attracted some 65 participants including MSPs, Fellows and representatives from bodies involved in this issue, including BNFL, British Energy, SEPA, Scottish Executive and Nirex. Sir William Stewart, President opened the meeting by giving a welcome on behalf of the Society. He highlighted the need for a Scottish strategy and the increasing demands for safety and suggested that the decommissioning of Dounreay should be considered not as a threat, but as a real opportunity. Dr John McKeown, Chief Executive, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, went on to discuss the following: - Safety and security - Environmental responsibility - Value for money - Public acceptance He explained that the UKAEA recognised the need for safe storage and disposal of radioactive waste but accepted that there was, unfortunately, much uncertainty in the management of these processes. The public had a right to be heard on this issue and in the 21st Century all levels of approval, both scientific and
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public, must be met, through asking, listening and winning public confidence and acceptance. In conclusion, he said if the nuclear industry is to move forward then we must convince the public that we are acting with safety as our major concern. Hopefully in the future you will see that we have attacked this problem honestly and openly. Mr Rob Edwards, Correspondent for New Scientist and Sunday Herald reflected on the public attitudes towards the Management of Radioactive Waste, including the anxieties of ordinary people and their political representatives. He reviewed the history, the problems of disposal in the UK and how we might move forward. He suggested that history demonstrates that people do not want radioactive waste. It also indicates the publics deep mistrust of nuclear industry. Reprocessing is the most polluting aspect of the nuclear industry, and politicians, the public and the European Community all share the view that it is an anachronism. Technology developed in the USA allows the combining of Uranium waste with other radionuclides, but at the end of the day we are left with the basic problem which we faced 25 years ago, as de-
scribed in the wise words of Brian Flowers MP: We must assume that radioactive waste will remain damaging to the biosphere for hundreds of thousands of years, a timescale transcending mans experience. It is morally wrong to inflict fusion power onto future generations when not one method for storing the waste has yet been demonstrated. In conclusion Mr Edwards said: to say that the AEA is not part of the UKAEA is missing the point they are the same thing. It is not up to the nuclear industry to sell itself. We need new organisations because the public will never trust the nuclear industry. Ms Julie Tooley, Acting Director of Environmental Strategy, Scottish
Environmental Protection Agency outlined the regulations of radioactive disposal in Scotland. She explained the role of SEPA and the legislation governing the control of radioactive material but emphasised that decommissioning is the biggest challenge for the industry: under EC legislation, article 37 of the Euratom Treaty requires submission to the EC of intent to decommission. SEPA will closely scrutinise any such plan. We are aware that UK-wide consultation will take place in this area and we look forward to contributing. She concluded by saying that SEPA aims to be an open and transparent organisation. With regard to independent advice I would add that we take this point very seriously.
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Conferences, Symposia, Workshops and Exhibitions
Wellcome Trust Research Workshop Systematic Reviews on the Brain 19 January 2001
This research-based workshop on systematic reviews in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry was attended by 30 participants currently involved in this field. Speakers included Dr John Geddes of Oxford University, Dr John Stern of Birmingham University, Professor David Weller of Edinburgh University, Professor Martin Eccles from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, Professor Peter Sandercock of Edinburgh University and the Cochrane Stroke Group, Professor James Petrie, Director of SIGN and past President of the College of Physicians and finally Dr A Pelosi, Consultant Psychiatrist. Each session was led by an expert in the given subject area and was followed by at least 30 minutes of discussion and lively debate. Topics for discussion included recent developments in observational meta-analysis, recent developments in meta-analyses of RCTs, an update on metaanalyses in Neurology and also a debate on the place of guidelines in clinical practice. Several new research collaborations were formed at the meeting which was a rare opportunity to meet many leading names in this important field in a relatively small group. We would like to thank the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Wellcome Trust for supporting research in this interesting and expanding area.
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Oral Health Workshop Dental Health in the Older Adult : a Neglected Issue? 26 January 2001
Dental health in the older adult is a topic that will be important to all as we mature and yet there is some evidence that currently it might be a neglected issue. Professor Nigel Pitts, (Dental Health Services Research Unit, Dundee Dental Hospital and School, University of Dundee) outlined the aim of the days symposium as a debate of current issues, from a broad base of dental and non-dental expertise, in order to make recommendations for future developments. The meeting was organised by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and included a number of members of the Medical Research Councils Health Services Research Collaboration. The day began with evidence of the dramatic change in oral health of older adults seen over the past three decades since the first UK Adult Dental Health Survey in 1968 to the most recent exercise in 1998. Dr James Steele (Department of Restorative Dentistry, The Dental School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne) stressed that greater change was still to occur. In the next 20 years it is expected that 80% of people aged 65 years and over will have teeth and that the majority of these teeth will have been treated with large and complex restorations, which has worrying
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implications for the maintenance of oral health and function. The importance older adults place on oral health was discussed by Dr Nigel Nuttall (Dental Health Services Research Unit, Dundee Dental Hospital and School). He compared over-65-year-olds with younger dentate adults and found them less concerned of cost, fear and organisational issues, but more concerned about long term value, while not seeing the need for fancy treatment. The prevalance and aetiology of orofacial pain, including the effect of dental treatment, was then discussed by Dr Tatiana Macfarlane (University of Manchester Dental School) and the potential risk to future oral health of complex dental treatment was eloquently outlined by Dr Nick Grey (Edinburgh Dental Institute), who reinforced the lack of evidence in this area. There is an assumption that with age a decline in oral health is inevitable. Professor Marion McMurdo (Head of Ageing and Health, Department of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School) reminded us that health in old age may be influenced by both ageing and expectations that it is just your age. She also stressed the importance of the quality of perceived health and links with nutrition. Professor
John Bond (School of Health Sciences, University of Newcastle) reinforced the importance of life experience and argued that the need to change institutional barriers should be our focus, rather than blaming individuals. Mrs Pat Dawson (Scottish Association of Health Councils) identified the importance of consumers contributing through genuine partnership, rather than merely taking a consumeristic approach to the clinical effectiveness agenda and development of services. Opportunities to include recommendations for oral care in strategy documents such as the Scottish Health Plan and Regulation of Care (Scotland) Bill were also discussed. The impact on the delivery of care for older adults of recent changes to dental primary care services was debated by Mr Arthur Hughes (Dental Practice Division, Edinburgh), while the difficulties caused by a lack of sensitive tools to measure oral health needs and treatment outcomes to evaluate any type of intervention was clearly demonstrated by Dr Finbar Allen (Department of Restorative Dentistry, National University of Ireland). The potential benefit that seamless health service data would make to a comprehensive and
continuous delivery of health care was described by Mr Patrick Sweeney (Consultant in Dental Public Health, Argyll and Clyde and Forth Valley Health Boards), and the importance of this was confirmed by Professor James Beck (Dental School, University of North Carolina) with a debate on how oral infection might affect systemic disease. Finally, Mr Charles Ormond (West of Scotland Division, Faculty of General Dental Practitioners) described clearly the willingness of general dental practitioners to provide care for older adults and highlighted current barriers, including accessibility of practices and lack of evidence-based guidance. The meeting then split into four working groups who reported back with an agenda for future action to ensure that oral health in this group should not remain a neglected issue. The priorities included a focus on appropriate and effective care which delivered what patients found important, the urgent need for effective preventive (as well as interventive) dental care for groups at particular risk, and preparations to combat a bolus of need for complex maintenance care that is likely to arrive in the next decade.
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Symposium The Future of Medical Education in Scotland organised by The Royal Society of Edinburgh and The Centre for Medical Education, University of Dundee 23rd January, 2001
Introduction by Sir William Stewart FRS FRSE, President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh The President stated that medical education is a topic of great importance to the people of Scotland, since it has direct relevance to the quality of health care available to them. Scotland has had a distinguished history in the field of medical education, but the system must be prepared to adapt in changing circumstances by incorporating appropriate new concepts and technologies if it is to remain in the forefront of international competition. He said that the objective of the evening was to stimulate a wide ranging discussion amongst individuals with experience in the field. The Implications for Higher Education. Sir Alan Langlands, Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of Dundee Three themes are relevant : 1. Forces shaping change in the National Health Service. The NHS must respond to rising patient expectations, technological advances and demographic changes. The Government has identified priorities, including heart disease, cancer and mental
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health. It is anxious to shape the services around the needs of individual patients with improved care in the home and community. All will require more doctors in the NHS trained to work with other arms of the NHS. 2. Professionalism of Doctors. Public accountability of doctors is currently being called into question, so there is a need to reestablish trust in their professionalism and competence. The profession and the Government must be much more explicit about professional standards and accountability. The complex issues around revalidation and clinical governance must be resolved quickly with involvement of the public. 3. Response of Higher Education. It is encouraging that medicine continues to attract high-quality undergraduates for training. Moreover, the medical schools have responded well to the challenges set by the GMC in 'Tomorrows Doctors'. The ground has been set to use the new concepts and techniques in educational technology, but these are very demanding on staff.
Improvement in the quality of clinical care has been restricted by a shortage of doctors in the NHS. The Government's decision to increase medical student numbers south of the border is welcomed, but it is disappointing that there has been no commitment to increase the number in Scotland. In conclusion, he raised the question whether the complex and changing demands of the NHS can be met within the existing framework of medical education. In particular, there appears to be a lack of coherence between the different components of undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education. Postgraduate Education. Dr Graham Buckley, Chief Executive, Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education Since the start of the NHS there have been two key advances in postgraduate medical education the establishment of the compulsory pre-registration house officer year in 1953 and the structured training for specialists introduced by Sir Kenneth Calman in 1996. 1. Workforce Issues. The output of UK trained doctors is still inadequate to meet the needs of the NHS and it is anticipated that the services of overseas trained doctors will be necessary for the next 20 years. The shortage of doctors will be aggravated by the new EU working time regulations.
2. Challenges for Postgraduate Medical Education. There is a need for a new synthesis between service and training since current arrangements are breaking down. It is essential that systems north and south of the border should develop along the same lines to retain freedom of movement of doctors in the training and specialist grades. The need for proper educational supervision of trainees could be best achieved by proper reward and recognition of clinical teachers. 3. Progress in Postgraduate Training. Pre-registration house officers. Better training is needed for these doctors. Progress has been made with the introduction of a defined curriculum with structured training for Specialist Registrars. There are now annual, as well as endpoint, assessments to define standards. Assessments were introduced in 1992 for General Practice Registrars and have proved to be highly effective. There is concern that 5% of these trainees do not meet the basic skills required for independent practice. The introduction of payments for teachers has been an important factor in achieving the success in this area of training. Senior House Officers represent 50% of the trainees. There is an urgent need to set up managed and structured training programmes for doctors in this heterogeneous group. Dr Buckley concluded that while there has been considerable
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progress, more work has to be done to ensure the optimal quality of P/G education is available with the most effective use of resources. E is for Everything . e-Learning? A Vision for the Future of Medical Education in Scotland. Professor R Harden, Director, Educational Development Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education and Director, Centre for Medical Education, University of Dundee Technological advances in e-learning now offer the prospect of delivering flexible training to large numbers and also individualised programmes of work in a cost-effective manner and with unlimited opportunities for international cooperation. The time is now ripe for Scottish Universities to exploit these opportunities. An increasing range of simulators and models will allow clinical procedural skills to be learned before they are extended to patients. It will be essential to blend the newer e-learning with traditional face-to-face learning to achieve the best overall medical education. There have been important recent advances in educational concepts, including outcome-based learning, curriculum mapping and study training guides that help to direct and complement the blend of face-to-face and e-learning. There is great potential in the new
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concept of using learning objects that offer the prospect of trainees selecting their individualised educational programmes at different locations, in different orders and at different paces, but working towards a common endpoint. Professor Harden outlined his concept that the new technologies of e-learning could be developed with international cooperation. To have good prospects for success, it will be essential that the process should be led by the traditional Universities with established expertise in medical education. e-learning should be seen as complementary to traditional medical education and not as a competitor. It would be possible for Scotland to take a leading role internationally. Opening Discussants The view from the medical school. Professor John Simpson, Head of Department of Pathology and Sub-Dean for Medical Education, University of Aberdeen The main purposes of the medical schools are : (a) to assist in self learning and to direct learning resources (b) to provide role modelling for clinical practice (c) to assess the process of medical education The medical schools have responded enthusiastically to the radical changes in the process of
medical education recommended by the GMC. Quality Assessment is helping to the monitoring of the effectiveness of the changed approaches in medical schools. Professor Simpson thought that it was timeous to establish (a) a vision of what will be required of medical education in the foreseeable future (b) a common strategy for medical education within Scotland (c) a need to train more students within the system, with greater graduate entry. He believed that it would be practical to start to implement the systems that Professor Harden had outlined for an International Virtual Medical School with Scottish leadership (IVIMEDS). Learning together. Professor Joan Stringer, Principal and Vice Patron, Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh She made the following points (a) Medical education should not be viewed in isolation, since other professions made important contributions to clinical care (b) Expertise would need to be developed to implement new technologies in health care education (c) Committed health professionals must demonstrate the will to implement the planned educational changes (d) The health care professions must work and learn together
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(e) A flexible attitude should be encouraged to make the best of available skills in the workforce (f) A vision was essential to enable Scotland to continue to be regarded as at the forefront of healthcare education for the full range of disciplines in the health sector Discussion and Summary. Professor P W Howie, Chairman of the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education He identified six themes that had emerged from the meeting 1. The urgent need to meet Scotland's needs 2. Effective collaborations must be established 3. Effective Educational Development 4. The need to invest in new educational technologies Several speakers gave strong support to Professor Harden's vision of e-learning and an IVIMEDS, but others expressed caution lest the new technology displaces the fundamentally important role of the traditional clinical teacher. It was recognised that the new technology will play an increasingly important part in clinical teaching and that it should blend with, not contradict, traditional clinical teaching. SHEFC should be encouraged to support academic development with the new technologies.
5. Opportunity for Scotland Medical education is marketable world-wide. 6. Enabling the process At the present time the key actions that are required are : (a) to encourage the Health Department to explore the need for additional students to meet
the foreseeable needs of its workforce. (b) to ask that the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education re-evaluate the role of the SHO grade in the NHS (c) to explore the opportunities for collaboration between the key players in medical education.
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Particle Physics Workshop New Opportunities in Particle Physics 7 February 2001

Seventy-five research physicists gathered for a highly successful day examining the prospects and opportunities for Particle Physics theory, experiment, detector and accelerator technology at the start of the new millennium. Ian Bertram (Lancaster) opened by describing the techniques and challenges used at the D0 detector, to commence operations at the upgraded TeVatron collider in Chicago on 1 March 2001. The LEP collider closed in November 2000, leaving a cliff-hanger on the question of the Higgs Boson, proposed years ago by Peter Higgs, FRSE, who was honoured by the Queen for this work in 2000. The TeVatron is the flagcarrier for the high-energy frontier until the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva starts operations in 2006. Clifford Johnson (Durham) gave a didactic tour through the conceptual revolutions of the last few years in string and brane theory. Elegance of mathematics has often historically opened up new concepts in physics. The excitement felt by the theorists was catching. The same enthusiasm characterised the talk by Mahfuzur Rahman (Glasgow), who explained the various approaches being followed to improve by large factors the radiation tolerance of new detector technologies. Short talks by Martin Kimber (Durham), Mark Alford (Glasgow), Michael Kraemer (Edinburgh) and E Bouhova-Thacker (Lancaster) explored developments in phenomenology, the superconducting phase of quark matter, Higgs physics at high energy photon colliders, and matter-antimatter asymmetry studies in CP violation. Dr Bertram had already left to speak in Chicago. Our next scheduled speaker, Alain Blondel (Geneva), was not so fortunate with his planes and so Ken Peach (Rutherford) spoke extemporaneously on the historical background to neutrino oscillations. This segued brilliantly into Prof. Blondels arrival. He fascinated us with the rationale, techniques and potential of a proposed European Neutrino Factory Complex, and the meeting went off into the twilight stimulated with the excitement of the field and the burgeoning opportunities.
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Symposium The Future of Retailing: Catching the Consumer 22 February 2001

The second in a series of annual symposia on The Future of Retailing was held at the Society on 22 February 2001 and attracted some 125 participants. Professor John Swanson Beck, Programme Convener, opened the meeting by giving a welcome on behalf of the Society. Professor Gavin McCrone went on to provide an overview of the symposium by emphasising the importance of retailing to the Scottish economy and society and pointed to the substantial changes occurring in the sector from Retailed Price Management, a system where manufacturers fixed prices to an emergence of larger firms in the retail business, and how this has affected many grocers and small corner shops. He provided the example of Tesco and explained how it conducts more business than occurs in the whole of Scotland, and Walmart, which owns ASDA, has more retailing business than the whole of Spain. Professor McCrone went on to say that employment in the sector has decreased, and the nature of the jobs involved has altered. Retailers are more responsive to their customers demands, and personalise relationships with their customers, which affects cost structures. Information technology has had a big impact. Before
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credit cards, customers had accounts at individual shops. The changes have affected everyone. Edinburgh now competes with other cities in order to attract shoppers. This has also created problems with planning. Professor Michael Levy, Charles Clark Reynolds Professor of Marketing, Babson College, Boston, discussed Supply Chain Management in a networked economy; Stephen Scott, Senior Consultant, Fitch Design Consultants Limited, focused on retail branding: store design and product labelling; Matthew Taylor, Business Development Manager, Quadstone Limited, described the new uses of marketing information and John Clare, Chief executive, Dixons Stores Group plc ,reviewed retail marketing through multiple distribution channels. The meeting ended with a panel discussion, which generated the following conclusions : - Retailers and their customers are at the end of the supply chain. Retailers are concerned about the Internets impact on how they supply merchandise and services to their customers. Much of their efforts are concentrated on the front end from point-of-sale to the customer. Yet there are incredible opportunities to create
sustainable competitive advantages in the supply chain as a result of the new technologies surrounding the Internet. Therefore, technology for technologys sake is not necessarily sustainable and a new technology should first be tested to see if it brings advantages. - The world of the consumer is constantly changing, and expectations are increasing. Brands must respond. They must serve the customer and express themselves in a consistent way and use the growing number of channels available in which to build trust in the customerretailer relationship. - New electronic channels of communication between the retailer and the customer have the potential to add vast
amounts of detailed information on customer behaviour to the already vast amounts of data being generated through existing channels. The automation of business processes has provided lots of information, and companies have the potential to transform. We started with mass marketing, but in the future we will be moving towards one-to-one marketing. - Advances in technology increase the ability for electronic communication to play an even more significant role in business in the future. Customers and businesses will benefit, but only those that grasp the opportunities that this world creates. None of this means the end of shops as we know them. Multichannel approaches will win.
Exhibition - Transformism by Matt Laver In conjunction with the second in the series of Retailing Seminars sponsored by Archibald Campbell and Harley, Solicitors, a successful exhibition of photography by Napier University Graduate, Matt Laver, was held from 19 February to 19 March 2001. Matts portfolio juxtaposes modern retailing space with gothic architecture and parodies the movement from religion to consumerism and the subsequent resurgence of religion.
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Symposium Aspects of Food Safety April 4 2001

In planning this symposium the organising committee included a broad sweep of current topics, all touching on public concerns about the safety of the food chain. Food Safety now ranks as one of the major public issues of the day. The programme began with an introduction by Sir John Arbuthnott that set the topic within social parameters, including Public Health, Consumer Choice, Economic Issues and National and International Politics. The interplay between these factors is complex and illustrates the requirement for clear policies and priorities at national and international level designed to promote the production of safe nutritious food, with effective control of the food chain at its critical points. Above all consumers must know what they are eating and risks must be fully explained; the role of the independent scientist is vital. The role of the Public Health Laboratory Service in England and Wales was described by Professor Richard Gilbert.The importance of a diagnostic capability to monitor incidence of disease in man and animals is vital, as is the horizon-scanning necessary to detect the emergence of new threats. Such a database can be used to monitor progress towards new targets such as the FSAs
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strategy to reduce food poisoning by 20% over 5 years. In terms of food-borne microbial pathogens, Professor Hugh Pennington set the historical context and then evaluated the risks arising from well-known organisms such as Salmonella and Campylobacter to the more recent threat from a potent pathogen of animal origin, namely E.coli 0157. In dealing with the risks, he also commented on the collapse of public trust that followed the BSE epidemic in cattle and emphasised the absolute priority to learn from the Phillips enquiry. Professor James Ironside then assessed the impact of vCJD in humans, dealing with its pathology and diagnosis; factors that affect susceptibility; and the very long incubation period. He thoroughly reviewed the controls which were now in place to protect animals from BSE and the measures designed to prevent BSE entering the human food chain. The uncertainties that had to be considered in modelling the likely extent of vCJD in humans were also discussed. The link between animals and humans in the spread of infection was addressed by Professor Bill Reilly, who critically assessed the importance of the environment. He illustrated this with recent work on E.coli 0157 outbreaks.
He also stressed the potential for cross-contamination involving animal husbandry, wildlife, feed, silage, and post-slaughter handling of meat products. The threat of adverse reaction to food arises not only from the presence of microbes; chemicals also play a significant role. And Professor Peter Aggett gave a very clear exposition of the adverse reactions including allergies that affect some individuals. He stressed that evidence pointed to reactions to foods being more common than reactions to additives. The potentially dramatic chemical poisoning associated with shellfish contaminated with toxins from marine phytoplankton was described by Dr Colin Moffat. Symptoms vary from gastrointestinal toneurological, and death can occur. Global warming and other environmental factors may contribute to the increased presence of microalgae in the seas. The challenge to regulators and the industry is considerable and requires close working locally and internation-ally. The topic of Genetically Modified Food, introduced by Professor Derek Burke, illustrated most clearly the problems associated with the introduction of novel foods based on genetically modified crops. Though the evidence of harm from consumption is slight and GM food is common in some countries, the perceived risk of long-term effects and general public concern in the
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UK about gene manipulation in foods has resulted in heated controversy. This issue more than most also emphasises the tension between science and public trust. Very open consideration of labelling, detection methods and adequate risk assessment lie at the heart of the debate. The symposium moved to its conclusion with a session on Communication and the Consumer led by Deidre Hutton. While steps to explain the science of the risk are helpful, this is no longer a one-way message. Consumers want their views to be considered early in the process and they want to be involved in the decisionmaking. Scientists must learn that collaboration involves not just scientists; consumers wish to be actively involved. Summing up, Sir John Krebs Chairman of the FSA placed food safety in the broader context of agricultural practice. He posed the question: Where next for food and farming after the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic? Major issues surround intensive agriculture, local and global food production, control of the food chain internationally, the role of subsidy and the role of regulatory bodies such as the FSA. An open inclusive dialogue dealing with these issues and the management and communication of risk is essential. This well-attended meeting generated healthy debate and discussion amongst the diverse audience present.
Robert Cormack Bequest Meeting 23 April 2001 at Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow
This meeting, intended to enable astronomers and those interested in astronomy in Scotland to present and to see, a broad selection of what is currently going on in Scottish astronomy is held annually, with the venue alternating between the RSE and other locations in Scotland. The meeting focuses primarily on research, but also encompasses teaching and Public Understanding work. The 2001 meeting, held at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, comprised a series of short talks and poster presentations by: Kenton DMellow, University of Glasgow; Istvan BAllai, University of St Andrews; Jim Dunlop, ROE/ University of Edinburgh; Esther Haydock, University of Glasgow; Hick Cross, University of St Andrews; Iain Hannah, University of Glasgow/Glasgow Caledonian University; Gillian Wright, ROE, Helen Bryce, University of Glasgow; Jean-Claude Thelen, University of St Andrews; Phil Armitage, University of St Andrews; Rejean Dupuis, University of Glasgow; Marek Kukula, ROE and Holger Baumgardt, University of Edinburgh. The meeting culminated with a special lecture by Professor Colin McInnes, of the University of Glasgow Department of Aerospace Engeineering, entitled Near-Term Space Science Applications for Solar Sails. Solar Sailing is a unique and elegant form of propulsion which transcends reliance on reaction mass. Solar sails can therefore enable new high-energy mission concepts, and enhance some existing mission concepts by significantly reducing launch mass. Future missions which are enabled by solar sails include a solar polar orbiter, planetary and small body sample return and fast missions to the outer solar system. Professor McInnes talk looked at near, mid and far-term mission applications for solar sails and the challenges necessary to enable these missions.
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Wellcome Trust Research Workshop Narrative and Memory in the History of Health, Medicine and Illness 28 April 2001
This research workshop explored narrative and memory approaches across inter-disciplinary boundaries, bringing together historians of medicine and sociologists, who are using life history or autobiographical methods, with members of the medical professions, who have an interest in narrative-based medicine (NBM). The workshop compared definitions and interpretations of narrative, memory and evidence used by the two groups and also discussed the differing approaches to methods of collection and the uses made of narratives and memories. Speakers were : Malcolm Nicolson (Senior Lecturer, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine at Glasgow): Narrating evidence in the history of medicine. Phil Cotton (Lecturer, Department of General Practice at Glasgow): Narrative based medicine in an evidence based world. Joanna Bornat (Senior Lecturer, Open University): Reminiscence and oral history; parallel universes or shared endeavor. Howard Mitchell (Project Coordinator, WEA Scottish Oral History Project): Nursing lore? Participants included young scholars and more experienced advocates of narrative and memory-based approaches and were drawn from a wide range of academic disciplines, including medicine, the arts and social sciences. The meeting broke into four workshop groups. Morning groups were organised by discipline, whilst afternoon groups were broader. Group Reports A number of possible outcomes were identified by members of the discussion groups and are summarised here. Group 1. The nature of medical evidence was discussed at some length. The group then proceeded to discuss patient evidence, including family history and negotiated narratives. It was agreed that trustcould no longer be taken for granted and patients no longer fully believed narratives by either the state or clinicians (even when evidence-based). Methods by which patients (and their narratives) were recruited in the gathering of evidence were considered. These included the influence of the media.
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The history of evidence, including the idea of up-to-date evidence vs the contrasting history of patient illness, was also explored. Linking together narrative, identity and trust, the group asked the following questions: - How well do doctors need to know patients? - Can narratives be unhelpful? - What should be done with patient narrative? - Should silenced narratives be uncovered? Evidence-based medicine (EBM) as a discourse represented a shift in medical knowledge and the group suggested that examining the history of this shift would be illuminating, especially given that the history of the component parts of EBM is much older than that of EBM itself. Groups 2 & 3. These groups discussed - ways in which EBM might fit complement other already wellunderstood systems - the part EBM might have played in reinventing the professional authority of the medical profession?. It was also felt that the social history of EBM might be further clarified by considering its role in relation to: - the doctor-patient relationship - settings which display different ways of financially controlling resources (including time)
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- medicine through external forces, e.g. state in the UK and insurance companies in the US (is EBM about controlling costs?) - the differences between doctor/ patient and nurse/patient relationships. Participants wondered whether EBM was about evidence-based treatments rather than evidencebased diagnosis and whether narrative-based medicine (NBM) was a product of a confessional society and reached the conclusion that NBM (including patient feelings) and EBM and screening lay at opposite ends of a spectrum. Group 4. A fourth group questioned the nature of the ideal narrative, wondering if there was pressure to talk in the ideal, given that there might be some stigmatism of what was perceived to beunacceptable narrative or lack of chronology. The group also discussed how truth or suspicion and the real life context of illness and distress, as well as time could influence the quality of a narrative. The group considered whether narrative was improved by length and concluded that this was not necessarily true, with the caution that practitioners should not attempt to discourage disclosure when it is offered. However, there could be difficulties in using sensitive data collected in this way, not the least being validation.
The group concluded that narratives did serve a useful purpose, in particular with regard to examining life-style and its effects on health. Afternoon groups 1&2. Two of the afternoon groups discussed the therapeutic implications of the oral history interview, and other narrative and memory approaches, noting how such approaches might empower individuals by reinforcing self-worth/identity. It was agreed that more information on how individual clinicians work, including the ways in which treatment changes with knowledge of a patients background, would be useful. Given that stories do change over time, participants discussed the importance of various methods of assessing reliability and interpreting information. Participants expressed the belief that silenced feelings were unusual, but added that what is excluded from a narrative could be important. Among other questions on biographical-based research, participants discussed assumptions brought to interviews or consultations by oral historians and doctors, and whilst noting that the two groups had very different purposes, tried to ascertain if there were any links. Afternoon Group 3. Another discussion centred on the nature of memory and selected silences, which could arise as a result of the
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patient making assumptions as to the extent of the doctors knowledge on his case and/or specific condition. Additionally, it was felt important to acknowledge pre-conceived assumptions on the part of the interviewer that might negate contrary views. Other reasons for silences might be shame, denial, and the stigma of disease. It was noted that nursing narratives and nurses memories would also be relevant in any history. Afternoon Group 4. In the final discussion of the day the role of oral history in the history of health, illness and medicine was considered and it was accepted that oral history was still of lower status. Issues for the future were : - Do oral historians want a whole history or snippets? - When is enough, enough? - Who sets the agenda? Is it ever the patient? - How flexible should oral history be and how does this impact on validity? - What are the differences between focus groups and one-to-one interviews? - Is enough attention paid to the joint construction of narratives, especially in medical consultations?
Output and Future Plans A number of participants, especially the younger scholars, indicated that they would like to hold further meetings. As well as a collaborative research paper drawing on the findings of the Workshop, a fuller report for participants, as well as those who were unable to attend, is planned.
It is hoped that this will be published in Oral History. Finally, a number of the participants have curricular responsibilities in Scottish University departments, including medicine, and it is hoped that this research workshop will be influential in future developments in higher education.
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Workshop Maths in Industry 6 September 2001

This day-long workshop discussed a number of aspects of the interactions between maths and industry. During the first session it became apparent that all sorts of businesses find mathematics useful. The subject will become increasingly vital and already enough companies are convinced of its usefulness to fund the Fraunhofer Institute. Attention was given to the variety of possible mechanisms for interaction between academic mathematicians and commercial companies. This led on to how industry has in the past and continues in the present to act as a catalyst for new areas of mathematical research. The afternoon was largely devoted to two particular industrial areas in which mathematics is being successfully applied, namely liquid crystals (a field to which the late Professor Frank Leslie, who first suggested this particular workshop, contributed enormously) and optical communication systems (the latter requiring the study of non-linear waves). The final session emphasised the importance of mathematicians, when working on problems of commercial or other practical interest, being adaptable and prepared to use all appropriate areas of mathematics.
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Conference Carbohydrates in Disease Targets for Therapies? 27 September 2001

The study of the role of carbohydrates in biological systems is a rapidly emerging field with the availability of new practical tools and methods coupled with genomics-based technologies. Carbohydrates can be investigated from a number of different perspectives, but it is rarely the case that these intersect. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together the leading researchers from a number of different backgrounds and, by providing a common forum for discussion, help to stimulate further research in this area. The one-day meeting was structured around four thematic sessions on: structure and function; structural chemistry and drug design; carbohydrates and proteins; and carbohydrate binding toxins as tools and therapies. Professor Konrad Sandhoff (University of Bonn) began the meeting with a presentation on neurodegenerative sphingolipid storage diseases. He described elegant experiments with knockout mice that allow studies into the phenotype effects of deficiencies in either the biosynthesis or the degradation of complex gangliosides. Professor Anne Dell (Imperial College, London) then described
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strategies using ultra-high sensitivity mass spectrometry in sequencing carbohydrates, identifying novel glycoproteins and developing screening strategies to study glycosylation changes in knockout mice. Her talk was illustrated with examples from her research on the role of glycoproteins in areas such as reproduction, autoimmune diseases and proteomic sequencing. Unlike oligonucleotides and oligopeptides which are routinely made in an automated fashion, the chemical synthesis of oligosaccharides provides enormous challenges to the synthetic chemist. However, new synthetic breakthroughs and solid phase approaches are beginning to facilitate the rapid assembly of oligosaccharides. Dr Antony Fairbanks (University of Oxford) discussed the problems inherent in ologosaccharide synthesis and described the applicability of the new advances. An example of the successful application of synthesis, coupled with X-ray crystallography, was described by Professor Randy Read (University of Cambridge). Shiga-like toxins use their pentameric B-subunits to bind to the carbohydrate component of Gb3 glycolipids in host cells. Information from the crystal structure of
the pentameric subunit complexed with a Gb3 trisaccharide allowed for the design and synthesis of a five-fold symmetric carbohydrate analogue with subnanomolar affinity for the toxin. The session on carbohydrates and proteins began with a presentation from Dr Paul Crocker (University of Dundee) on sialic acid binding lectins, or Siglecs. These recently-discovered sialic acid binding Ig-like lectins are a major family, characterised by an N-terminal V-set Ig domain that mediates sialic acid binding, followed by varying numbers of C2-set Ig domains. Siglecs are expressed predominantly in the immune system and are involved in both adhesive and signalling functions, suggesting a role in cellular activation via sialic acid recognition. The second presentation in this session was given by Dr Malcolm Lyon (Christie Hospital, Manchester). He described recent work on heparan sulphate proteoglycans, where the heparan sulphate polysaccharide is conjugated to a protein core. These ubiquitous molecules were long thought to play predominantly structural roles within the extracellular matrix. However, new research is showing that they are integral cell surface components, displaying molecular complexity and variability between different tissues. They interact with a more diverse range of proteins, including growth factors/cytokines, than previously thought.
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GM1-binding toxins, such as cholera toxin and heat labile enterotoxin, consist of an enzymatically active A-subunit and five B-subunits that bind to GM1 gangliosides. Since the B-subunits are non-toxic they could be exploited as systems to deliver peptides into cells. Professor Tim Hirst (University of Bristol) described this work and recent findings that the B-subunit of cholera toxin and an E. coli enterotoxin possess a capacity, linked to their lectin function, to directly modulate mammalian immune systems. The B-subunits can down-regulate certain immune responses and promote others. There are potential uses in the prevention of inflammatory autoimmune disorders, such as arthritis and diabetes, and as mucosal vaccine adjuvants. The final paper of the day was given by Professor Germn Camejo (AstraZeneca, Mlndal, Sweden) on the role of complex carbohydrates in atherosclerosis. Proteoglycans rich in sulphated glycosaminoglycan chains, chondroitin and dermatan sulphates are responsible for the retention of apoB-containing lipoproteins, through specific interactions between positively charged lysine and arginine rich segments of the lipoprotein with negatively charged sulphated proteoglycans. Consequent structural changes in the lipoproteins increase their susceptibility to degradation. These structural alterations also have important
consequences in the interaction of lipoproteins with arterial cells that are responsible for the tissue response leading to atherogenesis. Therapies that reduce the association of apoB-lipoproteins with
glycosaminoglycans or that induce the synthesis in smooth muscle cells of proteoglycans with lower affinity for apoB-lipoproteins, are potential anti-atherosclerotic agents.
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Symposium Ponts Worlds : Timothy Ponts 16th Century Maps and Mapping in a Wider Context Saturday 29 September 2001
The fifth and final seminar in the series established by Project Pont was organised jointly by the National Library of Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh and held in the Societys Rooms on 29 September 2001. The touring exhibition on the work of Pont - Mapping the Realm - which had been arranged by the NLS was on display at the seminar and during the subsequent week. After graduating from the University of St Andrews in the early 1580s, the young Timothy Pont undertook the mapping of the whole of Scotland and the compilation of written descriptions of parts of the country, the best known of which is his description of Cunningham, Ayrshire. Thirty eight of the delicate sheets of paper on which he drew his maps survive in the NLS. These manuscript maps range in quality from very rough sketches to more finished copies, but almost all depict topographic features, settlements, place names, buildings, bridges, towns and woodland. Ponts maps formed the basis for the first Atlas of Scotland produced by Blaeu in 1654. Speakers at the seminar placed Ponts maps in context, reviewing some of the results of research
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carried out since 1996 during Project Pont, reporting current research and defining some new research questions. Reflecting the inter-disciplinary nature of recent research, speakers included historians of cartography, architecture, church and state, geographers and archaeologists. Dr Jeffrey Stone (Aberdeen University) summarised our present knowledge of Pont himself and examined the depiction of bridges on Ponts maps and the information that can be derived from this. Chris Fleet (NLS) analysed the manuscript and printed maps of Robert Gordon of Straloch which contained information derived from Ponts maps and manuscripts, paying particular attention to the place names on Gordons maps. Professor Lawrence Keppie (Glasgow University) examined in detail the information provided by Pont on the Antonine Wall, stressing the importance of his early description of the Wall and his interpretation of the evidence available at that time, and his list of extant or probable forts along the Wall. Dr Alan Macdonald (Dundee University) considered Pont and his work in the context of his fathers involvement in the affairs of church and state, concluding that
although Pont is known to have been appointed minister of the parish of Dunnet, Caithness, in 1601, a post which he held until at least 1611, but must have demitted by 1614, there was no evidence that he actually undertook his duties as minister. In both the surviving maps and other material there is perhaps rather less evidence for Ponts interest in ecclesiastical concerns and church buildings than in other aspects of contemporary economical and social activities. Ponts maps and map-making were set in the context of contemporary mapping in England and north-west Europe by Catherine Delano-Smith (London University), who illustrated that Pont was a map-maker of his times: local to Scotland, yet no less firmly part of general European practice. Professor Charles Withers (Edinburgh University) similarly placed Ponts work in the context of contemporary geographical description, emphasising the distinction to be made between chorography and geography. The former was
concerned with local description including the mapping and textual description of the topography, and the historic, social and economic features of an area. Such local or regional description contributed to more general geographic knowledge. In this sense Pont was very much the chorographer of Scotland. The seminar was concluded by Professor Charles McKean who thanked those who had taken part in the seminar and all those who had collaborated in Project Pont during the previous five years. As a result of Project Pont, much more is known about Pont himself, his maps and their contexts in Scotland. However, there still remain such fundamental issues as the reasons for the compilation of the maps and the ways in which Point carried out his field work, as well as the means by which Ponts maps were incorporated into the maps published by Blaeu in 1654, some sixty years after their origin.
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Conference The Quality of Life and the Socio-Economic Problems associated with Ageing 3 October 2001
Speakers Abstracts Delivering New Standards in Health Care. Sir Alan Langlands, Principal & Vice-Chancellor, University of Dundee There is a strong commitment in Whitehall and Holyrood to improve health and social care for older people. Standards have been set to improve the quality of care and to reduce variations in service provision. But the task of helping older people to maintain their independence and meeting the needs of others with multiple and complex needs is one of the most difficult facing the health and social care system. It requires new service models, new forms of partnership working, investment and the active involvement of older people and their carers. This talk will critically appraise current policies and set out the pre-requisities for delivering real and sustainable change. Changes in Income over a LifeTime and Issues of Retirement. Mr Andrew Dilnot, CBE. Institute for Fiscal Studies, London How much income do those over retirement age have? How has this changed over time, and how is it likely to change? How is the
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life path of income likely to develop as labour market behaviour changes? How can we run pension systems that are stable and can be trusted when they take so long to come to maturity and yet are so frequently reformed? State Versus Private Sector Provision. Mr Jim Stretton, Chief Executive, UK Operations, Standard Life. The ageing of the population, the wish of many to enjoy substantial periods of retirement, changes to family structures and the increasing costs of care and medical treatment for the less-fit elderly all combine to raise complex questions of affordability. The principal policy response in the UK has been to encourage the transfer of parts of the funding process from the public to the private sector. What will be the effects? Political Realism and Policy Options. Professor Alice Brown, Professor of Politics & Vice Principal, University of Edinburgh The establishment of the Scottish Parliament just over two years ago has changed the context in which public policy is developed in Scotland. The new, more propor-
tional, electoral system has resulted in a different balance of power between the political parties. In addition, the procedures of the Parliament are based on the principles recommended by the Consultative Steering Group, namely power-sharing, accountability, access and participation, and equal opportunities. These new conditions, and the commitment to involve a wide range of people in decision-
making, offer the potential for different voices to be heard and new options to be placed on the policy agenda. These options have at times diverged from policies south of the border, not least in relation to the topic of this conference on the quality of life for the ageing population. This presentation examines the extent to which the aspirations for the new political system in Scotland have been realised and explores the prospects for the future.
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PUBLICATIONS
Proceedings A: Mathematics. The journal had 156 papers submitted for consideration during the Session and published six issues: parts 130.6 to 131.5 inclusive. 74 papers were published. RSE News. Issue 30 (replaced by ReSourcE in April 2001) ReSourcE. Issues 1 and 2 Transactions: Earth Sciences. Three issues were published: volume 91.1/2 (2000) - the Hutton IV Symposium double issue, comprising 23 papers; volume 91.3/4 (2001, for 2000) - the Southern Uplands Symposium double issue, comprising 18 papers; and volume 92.1 (2001), comprising 6 papers. Other Publications Engineering the Scottish Parliament Building: the 2001 Royal Society of Edinburgh/Royal Academy of Engineering Joint Lecture, delivered in Edinburgh by Mr David Lewis and Mr Alan E Tweedie. Published by the RSE, February 2001.
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FUNDRAISING
Council agreed to launch a fundraising campaign to secure the funds necessary to implement the Corporate Plan (2001-2006) produced following extensive consultation with the Fellowship and key external RSE supporters. The campaign was formally launched in August 2001 when HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Patron of the Fundraising Campaign visited the RSE. The launch coincided with news of a major grant from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland to expand a programme of research on measures to improve quality of life for an increasingly ageing population. Shortly before the formal launch, meetings were held in Glasgow, Aberdeen, London and Edinburgh at which the President and Senior Officers presented the final version of the Corporate Plan and outlined the fundraising objectives. The Corporate Plan recognises that Scotland needs to engage all its available resources to realise its full potential and the RSE contains within its Fellowship a major reservoir of knowledge and skill that should be deployed to achieve that objective. The major campaign objective is to create and develop sufficient reserves so that the Society can develop its programme of activities as articulated in the Corporate Plan. It will also enable the Society to address issues of importance to Scotland, in an independent manner, through think tanks and through specially constituted fora. A small Fundraising Executive Committee, chaired by RSE VicePresident, Lord Ross was set up to co-ordinate the different aspects of the campaign, and a Fundraising Advisor, Stuart Armstrong was contracted to help shape the campaign on a day-to-day basis. The initial task was to articulate a vision which represented the very varied nature of the Society. Realising Scotlands Excellence is the banner under which the Society is aiming to increase its contribution to Scotlands development , through the expertise of the Fellowship and in partnership with business, academia amd public bodies. This report covers the period up to October 2001 and at that stage the Fellowship was in the process of being contacted through personal letters from the President.
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SCOTTISH SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

At the launch of A Science Strategy for Scotland in August 2001, the then Minister for Enterprise & Lifelong Learning, Wendy Alexander, announced the creation of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee . This new committee is a key part of the Science Strategy and a central element of the science policy framework which sets out a new way forward for science in Scotland. The Scottish Science Advisory Committee, will operate under the auspices of the RSE, and will identify scientific priorities, inform policy in science and technology, and advise Scottish Executive Ministers on issues of strategic scientific importance. The Committees remit to monitor progress and advise the Executive on how the Scottish Science Strategy is being implemented across departments, was agreed following consultation between the President, Sir William Stewart, and the Scottish Executive, which will fund the work of the Committee. The Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh is responsible for appointments to the Committee, and the Secretariat. The Chair of the Committee, will also act as chief advisor on science to the Scottish Executive. Committee Members Professor Wilson Sibbett, CBE, FRS, FRSE (Chair) Professor Geoffrey Boulton, OBE, FRS, FRSE Professor Jane Bower Dr Donald Bruce Professor Muffy Calder Professor John Coggins, FRSE Dr Graham Durant Professor Tariq Durrani, FRSE, FREng Mrs Sarah Fletcher Professor Margaret Gill, FRSE Professor Peter Grant, FRSE, FREng Professor Sally Macintyre OBE, FRSE Dr John Nicholls Professor Andrea Nolan Mr Ian Ritchie Professor John Savill Professor David Wallace CBE, FRS, FRSE, FREng Dr John Whitelock SSAC Staff Dr Avril Davidson. Head of Secretariat. Ms Tracy Rickard. PA/Administrator. All were appointed after the end of the Session covered in the publication.
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EVIDENCE, ADVICE AND COMMENT

November 2000 Work Plan of the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Committee. Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Committee December 2000 Assessment of Risk to Biodiversity from GM Crop Management. Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees. Office of Science and Technology January 2001 Are We Realising Our Potential. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution Long-term Effects of Chemicals in the Environment. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution February 2001 Proposed Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. Scottish Natural Heritage Wave and Tidal Energy. House of Commons Science and Technology Committee March 2001 National Parks in Scotland - Direct Elections. Scottish Executive Environment Group Fuelling the Future. Foresight Energy Futures Task Force Cost/Benefit Assessment and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Animal Procedures Committee April 2001 Review of Teaching Funding: Third Stage Consultation. Scottish Higher Education Funding Council The European Commissions proposals in its White Paper Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy (COM(2001)88) House of Lords European Union Committee Review of Research Policy and Funding: Second Stage Consultation. Scottish Higher Education Funding Council European Commissions Chemicals White Paper. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions The Adventitious Presence of GM Seeds in the Seed of Conventional Varieties. Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department consultation Proposed Cairngorms National Park. Scottish Natural Heritage May 2001 Scottish Executives Interim Response to the Findings of the Phillips Report. Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department The Sixth Environmental Action Programme. Scottish Executive Environment Group Devolution and the Arts, the Humanities and the Social Sciences. The Royal Society of Edinburgh and British Academy Animals in Scientific Procedures. House of Lords Animals in Scientific Procedures inquiry
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June 2001 The Forthcoming Review of the Common Fisheries Policy. Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department Stem Cell Research. House of Lords Stem Cell Research Committee The Nature of Scotland - A Policy Statement. Scottish Executive Environment Group Foresight Review. Department of Trade and Industry July 2001 Land Reform: The Draft Bill. Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department Quinquennial Review of the Grant Awarding Research Councils. Office of Science and Technology Review of Funding for the Voluntary Sector in Scotland. Scottish Executive Development Department Natural Heritage Zones Programme. Scottish Natural Heritage Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees: Second Round of Consultation. Office of Science and Technology Protecting our Rights: A Human Rights Commission for Scotland. Scottish Executive Justice Department August 2001 Possible Scenarios for the Uptake of GM in Agriculture. Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission
Supply of Scientists and Engineers. Sir Gareth Roberts Review of the Supply of Scientists and Engineers September 2001 Commission Proposals on Adventitious GM Presence in Non-GM Seeds. Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department Application of the Consultative Steering Group Principles in the Scottish Parliament. Scottish Parliament Procedures Committee The Future of Europe. Scottish Parliament European Committee Developments on European Commission proposals on traceability and labelling of GMOs and food and feed products derived from them, and on genetically modified food and feed. Food Standards Agency Research Support Libraries Group Call for Evidence. UK Funding Councils October 2001 European Commission Proposal to Introduce Legislation Controlling Radioactivity in Foodstuffs. Food Standards Agency (Scotland) Inquiry into the Global Economy. House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs Copies of these submissions are available on the RSE Website at www.royalsoced.org.uk or can be obtained from the Societys Research Officer, Dr Marc Rands (evidenceadvice@royalsoced.org.uk)
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INQUIRIES
During the Session, Working Parties were set up to look at the issues involved in Foot and Mouth Disease, Infectious Salmon Anaemia and Mediation in Medical Negligence Cases. Infectious Salmon Anaemia Following representations made to the RSE by members of the public, expressing the view that the current EC legislation is not based on science, a Working Party, chaired by Professor Sir Roderick MacSween, was set up to assess the science behind legislation governing the control of Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA), a viral disease of salmon. The final report was published in June 2002 and is available on the RSE Website. Members of the group were : Sir Roderick MacSween (Chair) Professor Ian Aitken Professor Peter Maitland Professor Imants Priede Professor Stuart Reid Professor John Sargent Sir William Stewart Dr Marc Rands (Secretary) Foot and Mouth Disease Chaired by Professor Ian Cunningham, this group, with members drawn from veterinary health, medicine, farming, economics, tourism, consumers and the general public, was tasked with conducting a wide-ranging assessment of the impact of the disease on animal health and examining the social and economic consequences of the epidemic on the countryside and on Scotland as a whole.
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Particular emphasis was placed on future methods of prevention and control. The final report, (issued July 2002) with recommendations for priorities should there be a further outbreak, is available on the RSE web site. Members were : Professor Ian Cunningham (Chair) Professor Gavin McCrone (ViceChair) Sir James Armour Professor Brian Ashcroft Dr Jean Balfour Mr Ivan Broussine Sir David Carter Dr W J Irvine Mrs Barbara Kelly Dr Bill Martin Dr Donald MacRae Professor Jeff Maxwell Dr Laura Meagher Mr David Mitchell Dr Peter Nettleton Professor Stuart Reid Dr Robert Sellers Mr Loudon Hamilton (Secretary) Mediation in Medical Negligence Cases Prompted by a symposium on Medical Practice and the Growth of LItigation in the UK held at the RSE in 2000, a panel of experts chaired by RSE Vice-President, Lord Ross was set up, with the support of the Scottish Executive and the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, to explore whether mediation could
help resolve disputes between patients and health services in Scotland. The group took evidence throughout Scotland from a range of professional and public bodies. The report was published in February 2002 and is available on the RSE website. Members of the group were : The Rt Hon Lord Ross (Chairman) Dr David Blaney Ms Maggie Boyle
Mrs Pat Dawson Mr Tom Divers Mr Hugh Donald Dr John Garner Mr Ranald Macdonald Dr William Mathewson Mr Grant McCulloch Lord Patel Mrs Anne Smith (now Lady Smith) Professor John Sturrock Dr Charles Swainson Ms Helen Tyrell Mr Graeme Herbert (Secretary)
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PUBLIC POLICY SEMINARS

As part of its continuing contribution to helping Scotland meet the new challenges set by devolution, the Society ran a programme of public policy seminars entitled Scotlands Well-being, supported by the Scottish Executive, which provided the necessary funding and seconded to the Society, a staff member, Graeme Herbert, to manage the programme. The programme comprised a series of think tank events, which provided neutral platforms for discussion of important economic, cultural and social development issues, and which helped to inform the policy decisionmaking process concerning the future well-being of the people of Scotland. Four seminars were held during the session. The programme was inclusive in its approach and brought together people from all walks of life, including Scottish Executive Ministers, the public, MSPs, academics, practitioners, the voluntary sector and Scottish Executive and Local Government officials. Reports are available on the RSE website. www.royalsoced.org.uk 14 December 2000. The Active Involvement of Older People. The specific focus of this was supporting and encouraging the active involvement of an ever-increasing older population, through tapping into the contribution they can make to society and business; the contribution business can make to actively involve them; and providing learning that equips them with practical skills and knowledge to be actively involved. 14 February 2001. Educating through Inclusive Schooling. This focused on the mainstreaming of all children within both the fields of primary and secondary education, and in particular how disaffected and disengaged children can be supported and engaged within this. 26 March 2001. Renewable Energy -21st Century Challenges and Changes. This focused on the challenges and changes arising from the Governments objective of stimulating the development of the renewables industry and the obligations it proposes to help achieve this. 25 June 2001. Urban Congestion - A Charging Solution. The specific focus of this was on the potential introduction of road pricing and the range of issues that need to be developed and addressed as a consequence. The last seminar in the programme was held on 19 November, during the 2001-2002 session. This focused on the potential use of mediation in helping to resolve disputes involving patients and the health services in Scotland, and it supported the work of the Societys Mediation Working Group, which considered this particular issue and reported its considerations in February 2002.
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LINKS WITH INDUSTRY

The RSE is committed to promoting the economic well-being of Scotland by encouraging closer links between the countrys research base and its commercial sector. This already happens in a number of ways, including providing Enterprise Fellowships which allow young researchers to developing their research from a commercial perspective; supporting the Governments Foresight programmes in Scotland; and by undertaking work leading to and in support of Technology Ventures, a national strategy aimed at increasing the volume of Scottish-based businesses exploiting Scotlands world-class Science base. Details of the Societys Enterprise Fellowships are provided in the Research Awards section. The following events were also held in encouraging closer links between the countrys research base and its commercial sector in 2000/01. Events 11th December 2000: The Fourteenth Foresight seminar on Healthcare: Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Medical Devices. Introduced by Professor Robert Donovan, this seminar included keynote presentations by Professor David Delpy, FRS, Professor of Medical Photonics, University College London and member of the Foresight Healthcare Panel on Healthcare 2020 - Some Outputs from the Healthcare Panel and Professor Graeme Catto, FRSE, Vice- Principal of Kings College London, Dean of Guys, Kings and St Thomas School of Medicine and former Chief Scientist of the Scottish Executive Health Department on Healthcare in 2000: A (Personal) Scottish Perspective. 12th March 2001: The first RSE Science Base Research and Commercialistion Workshop, held at the University of Glasgow. Chaired by Professor Robert Donovan, the workshop included a presentation from Dr Cathy Garner, Director, Research and Enterprise, The University of Glasgow, and a Panel discussion including Mr Hugh Thomson, Director, Research and Consultancy Services, University of Strathclyde; Ms Margaret McGarry, Director, City Industries, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and Dr John Bremner, Business Development Director, Link Technologies Ltd. 15th May 2001: The second RSE Science Base Research and Commercialistion Workshop, held at the University of Dundee. Chaired by Professor Robert Donovan, the workshop included a presentation from Mr James Houston, Director, Research and Innovation Services, University of Dundee, and a Panel discussion which included Mrs Lorna Siller,
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Director, Research and Enterprise Services, University of St Andrews, Mr Kevin Bazley, Development Manager, Biotechnology and Healthcare, Scottish Enterprise Tayside and Mr Michael Voice, Director, Cypex Limited, Dundee. 15th June 2001: The third RSE Science Base Research and Commercialistion Workshop, held at Heriot-Watt University. Chaired by Professor Robert Donovan, the workshop included a presentation from Ms Gillian McFadzean, Director, Technology and Research Services, Heriot Watt University, and a Panel discussion with Dr Robert Smailes, Director, Research and Innovation, University of Edinburgh, Mr David Caughey, Development Manager, Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians and Dr Gerald Buller, Director, Terrahertz, Edinburgh. 28th June 2001: The fourth RSE Science Base Research and Commercialistion Workshop, held at the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute Executive Office, Inverness. Chaired by Professor Robert Donovan, the workshop included
a presentation from Dr Iain Glenn, Research Director, Highland Psychiatric Research Foundation, UHI Millenium Institute, Mr Calum Davidson, Head of Knowledge Economy and Growing Business Group, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Mr Alistair Goodlad, Managing Director, SAGA Seafoods, Shetland. A Panel discussion followed including Dr J.Douglas McKenzie, Managing Director, Integrin Advanced Biosystems, Oban. 20th August 2001: The RSE Science Base Research and Commercialistion Workshop summary event, held at the RSE, chaired by Professor Robert Donovan. The summary event was held at the RSE on 20 August 2001 with an invited group of science base research and commercialisation representatives from universities and research institutes, key personnel from Government and local hi-tech start-ups. The event sought to examine the common issues arising from the four regional workshops and identify and encourage the adoption of best practice.
Reports of all the above seminars have now been published and can also be found on the RSE Website at www.royalsoced.org.uk
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EVENTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Schools Lectures 25 January 2001. Flashes and Bangs by Dr Oliver Musgrave at Ross High School, Tranent, East Lothian 12 March 2001. Building Bridges by Professor Miles Padgett at Gairloch High School, nr Inverness 30 March 2001. Human Genome the movie by Dr Wendy Bickmore at Douglas Academy, Milnagavie, Glasgow 30 April 2001. Serpents and Synthesisers by Professor Murray Campbell at Inverkeithing High School 12 September 2001. Human Genome the movie by Dr Wendy Bickmore at Cults Academy, Kinkorth Academy, as part of TechFest 13 September 2001. Human Genome the movie by Dr Wendy Bickmore at Peterhead Academy and Ellon Academy, as part of TechFest 16 October 2001. Aspects of Cancer by Professor John Wyke at Glenalmond College, nr Perth Christmas Lectures 12 December 2000. Nature, Nurture or Neither - What Genetics Tells Us About Ourselves by Professor Steve Jones at Perth High School. Students from eight schools in Perth & Kinross and Fife heard this lecture. In the evening Professor Jones gave the talk Almost Like a Whale: Is Man Just Another Animal? to the general public. Startup Science Masterclasses Supported by Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Glasgow University. 21, 28 October, 11,18 November 2000 31 March, 7, 28 April, 5 May 2001 St Andrews University. 11,18, 25 November, 2 December 2000 21, 28 April, 5, 12 May 2001 Stirling University. 11,18, 25 November, 2 December 2000 28 April, 12, 26 May, 9 June 2001 Satrosphere, Aberdeen. 4,18 November, 2,16 December 2000 Heriot-Watt University. 12, 19, 26 May, 2 June 2001 Summer Science Camp Supported by Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Satrosphere, Aberdeen 23-27 July 2001 For a week in the summer, S1/S2 pupils attended a new series of masterclasses at Satrosphere on the general theme of Space and Time. The pupils studied the theory of sundials, made cardboard models and painted two different ones on the tarmac outside Satrosphere. The week also included a visit to the Planetarium and to the Maritime Museum to study past methods of navigation. The camp concluded with a visit to the historic sundials at the National Trust for Scotlands Pitmedden Gardens and a
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demonstration of Global Positioning Systems. Primary School Maths Masterclasses Craigmount High School, Edinburgh 28 October, 4, 11, 18 November 2000 Kirkliston Primary School, West Lothian 4, 11, 18, 25 November 2000 St Georges School, Edinburgh 13, 20, 27 January and 3 February 2001 Kelvinside Academy, Glasgow 20, 27 January, 3, 10 February 2001 Physics Masterclasses New Saturday morning masterclasses for S5/S6 students, in conjunction with the University of Glasgow Department of Physics and Astronomy. 29 September, 6, 13, 20 October 2001 RSE Roadshow 19-21 March 2001. Food For Thought as part of National Science Week at Eyemouth High School, Berwickshire. Postponed due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in the area
Discussion Forum 18 June 2001. Mobile Phone Technology and Safety:Good to Talk? at the University of Glasgow. In conjunction with the BA. Supported by the IOP and EPSRC. Sir William Stewart FRS, PRSE, who had chaired the Independent Expert Group, which published the highly regarded Stewart report on Mobile Phones and Health in May 2000, chaired this Discussion Forum. Dr James Irvine of Strathclyde University began by explaining how mobile phone technology works. After the physics, Dr Dick Lerski from the University of Dundees Medical School spoke about the effects of radiofrequency radiation emitted by mobile phones on the brain and about non-thermal effects. Ethics and sociology followed as Mr John Fellows, a lay member of the Stewart Committee, discussed the publics concerns. The young people then discussed in workshop groups, developing their own proposals as to the way forward. Almost all of the young people who attended owned or had use of a mobile phone. But they were concerned and wanted to know more about how mobile phones would affect them. They called for easier access to safety information and more independent research into the effects on health. Strong concerns were expressed about the siting of mobile phone masts.
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RESEARCH AWARDS
The following Research Awards were made in the Session 2000/2001. BP Research Fellowship Dr Matthew Costen: Novel techniques in inelastic collision dynamics. (Chemistry, HeriotWatt) SEELLD Personal Research Fellowships Dr Peter Andolfatto: Population Genetics of the Drosophila melanogaster species group. (ICAPB, Edinburgh) Dr David Andrew: The central neuroanatomical representation of dental pain. (IBLS, Glasgow) from USA Dr Sonja Franke-Arnold: Precision magnetometry utilising electromagnetically induced transparency. (Physics, Strathclyde) Dr Alun Hubbard: Modelling the Ice-Sheet, Landscape, Climate System of Antarctica. (Geography, Edinburgh) from New Zealand Dr Nigel Kelly: What causes the clock to start ticking? Understanding the rates of mountain building. (Geology, Edinburgh) from Australia Dr Jason Smith: Single nanocrystallites in novel resonant microcavities; towards a triggered single photon source. (Physics, Heriot-Watt) SEELLD Support Research Fellowships Dr David Hopkins: Decay of residues from GM plants in soils. (Environmental Science, Stirling) Dr Anthony Powell: Exploiting low-dimensionality in metal chalcogenides: electrical and magnetic properties of new materials. (Chemistry, HeriotWatt) CRF Biomedical Research Fellowships Dr Mandy Jackson: Molecular mechanisms that regulate the neuronal glutamate transporter EAAT4. (Centre for Neuroscience, Edinburgh) from USA Dr Lesley Stark: Studies of the molecular effects of NSAIDs in colorectal cancer: implications for cancer prevention and novel drug discovery. (Oncology, MRC Human Genetics Unit, Edinburgh) Dr Robin Plevin: Generation of transgenic mice to study the role of proteinase-activated Receptor-2 in inflammatory disease. (Physiology & Pharmacology, Strathclyde; at Centre for Genome Research, Edinburgh) CRF European Visiting Research Fellowships in the Humanities Professor T Artemieva, Russian Academy of Sciences, from School of European Languages & Cultures St Petersburg, Russia, to Edinburgh University.
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Dr S Dring, from University of Essen, to Dept of Moral Philosophy, St Andrews University. Dr M Fazzini, from University of Macerata, Italy, to Dept of English Literature, Edinburgh University. Ms J Tomicka, from National Museum of Warsaw, Poland, to Hunterian Museum and Glasgow University. Dr S Murdoch, from Aberdeen University, to State Archives Stockholm, University of Uppsala, Gothenburg Regional Archive and University. Dr C Woolfson, from Glasgow University, to Kaunas Medical Academy, Lithuania. Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Support Research Fellowship Dr Malcolm MacLeod: Explaining memory performance in old age. (Psychology, St Andrews) PPARC Enterprise Fellowship Dr Grant Crossingham: Scintispheres The shape of things to come in gamma-ray spectroscopy. (Physics & Astronomy, Southampton) Scottish Enterprise Fellowships Optoelectronics Dr Stuart McKay: Personal Interactive 3-D Imaging System using a Novel Optical Screen. (Mechanical Engineering, Strathclyde)
Microelectronics Dr Ben Hounsell: Commercialisation of a high performance programmable processor for multimedia data processing applications. (Electronic & Electrical Engineering, Edinburgh) Dr Andrew Peacock: Image Fusion Systems. (Electronic & Electrical Engineering, Edinburgh) Communications Technologies Dr Meurig Sage: Paraglide mobile computing support for anaesthesia. (Computing Science, Glasgow) Biotechnology Dr Chris Hillier: Novel technology to assist the discovery of the next generation of cardiovascular drugs. (Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian) Dr Marie Claire Parker: Enzymecoated Microcrystals. (Chemistry, Glasgow) Enterprise Fellows Presentations The Scottish Enterprise and PPARC Enterprise Fellows gave their six-monthly and final presentations to members of the Enterprise Fellowships Selection Committee at events held at the RSE on 26th March 2001 and 2nd October 2001 respectively. These presentation events give the Committee an opportunity to find out how the Fellows are progressing and what successes and problems they have encountered during the Fellowship. Former
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Research Awards
Enterprise Fellows are invited to attend and exchange ideas and advice. Business collaborations between some of the Enterprise Fellows have resulted from this opportunity to meet. Presentations were made by : Dr Ala Al-Obaidi (Optoelectronics) Dr Wei Huang (Communication Technologies) Mr Douglas Maxwell (Biotechnology) Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg (Biotechnology) Dr Andy Porter (Biotechnology) Dr Matthew Dallimore (PPARC) Dr Mark Williams (PPARC) Dr Andrew Zadrozny (PPARC). Lessells Scholarships Mr Steven MacGregor, Strathclyde University Mr Gordon Cameron, Napier University. Mr Ben Thornber, Edinburgh University. Wellcome Trust Research Workshops Dr David Smith and Dr Lesley Diack, for a workshop entitled, New perspectives of the Aberdeen typhoid outbreak.
Dr Edwin van Teijlingen, for a workshop entitled, Psycho-social ethical aspects of genetic counselling. Dr Douglas Roy, for a workshop entitled, The application and potential of microarray and chip based technologies in biomedical research. Cormack Vacation Scholarships Mr Richard Archibald, Edinburgh University, for his project entitled The redshift-space bias of the galaxy distribution. Mr Peter Arrowsmith, Edinburgh University, for his project entitled A search for new Planetary Nebulae in the Galactic Bulge. Mr Niall Deacon, Edinburgh University, for his project entitled The parallax of a newly discovered star. Mr Michael Fleming, Glasgow University, for his project entitled Cosmology: Testing the Large Scale Homogeneity of the Universe. Miss Sarah Smolkin, Glasgow University, for her project entitled Space Mission Studies of Solar Coronal Heating and Mass Supply. Mr Martin Torney, Strathclyde University, for his project entitled Modelling x-ray line and continuum emission from comets.
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Research Fellows in Post During the Session SEELLD Personal Research Fellowships Dr S Collins, Glasgow University, Physics. Dr G Robb, Strathclyde University, Physics. Dr M Evans, Edinburgh University, Physics and Astronomy. Dr S Farrington, Edinburgh University, Genetics. Dr S Booker, Dundee University, Mathematics. Dr A Arnold, Strathclyde University, Physics. Dr A Anderson, Dundee University, Mathematics. Dr M Haw, Edinburgh University, Physics and Astronomy. SEELLD Support Research Fellowships Dr D Johnston, Heriot-Watt University, Mathematics. Dr S Linton, St Andrews University, Computer Science. Professor J Irvine, St Andrews University, Chemistry. Dr N Stuart, Edinburgh University, Geography. Dr W Weiglhofer, Glasgow University, Mathematics. Dr A Mount, Edinburgh University, Chemistry. Professor S Barnett, Strathclyde University, Physics & Applied Physics. CRF/RSE European Visiting Research Fellowships Dr I Biliarsky, From Institute of History, Sofia, Bulgaria, to Dept of Mediaeval History, St Andrews University. Professor N Hrovatin, From University of Ljubljana Slovenia, to Business School & Economics Department, Glasgow Caledonian University. Professor V Lahoda, from Institute of Art History, Prague, Czech Republic, to School of Art History, St Andrews University. Dr M Mikeshin, from The Russian Academy of Sciences Russia, to Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Edinburgh University. Dr C Barker, from Dundee University, to Humbolt University in Berlin, Germany. Dr C Emmott, from Glasgow University, to Institute of Linguistics, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Dr A Roach, from Glasgow University, to British School in Rome, Italy. Dr G Warwick, from Glasgow University, to American Academy in Rome, Italy. BP Research Fellowships Dr C Peters, Edinburgh University, Chemistry. Dr K Skeldon, Glasgow University, Physics & Astronomy. Dr D Skryabin, Strathclyde University, Physics.
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Research Awards
Dr C Gordon, Strathclyde University, Chemistry. Dr Y Najman, Edinburgh University, Geology & Geophysics. Dr A Finch, St Andrews University, Geological Sciences. Lessells Scholars Mr Simon McGeough, Aberdeen University, Mechanical Engineering. Mr Matt Staines, Strathclyde University, Civil Engineering. Mr Mark Taylor, Napier University, Civil Engineering. Cormack Vacation Scholars Ross Galloway, Glasgow University. Iain Hannah, Glasgow Caledonian University. Dominic Marsat, Edinburgh University. Kirsty Selway, Glasgow University. Derek Shanks, Glasgow University. Christina Walker, St Andrews University. Vivienne Wild, Edinburgh University. Scottish Enterprise - Enterprise Fellowships in Biotechnology Mr Douglas Maxwell, Strathclyde University, Bioengineering Unit. Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg, St Andrews University, Gatty Marine Laboratory. Dr Andrew Porter, Aberdeen University, Molecular & Cell Biology.
in Optoelectronics Dr Ala Al-Obaidi, Robert Gordon University, Optoelectronics. PPARC Fellowships Mr Matthew Dallimore, Southampton University, Physics & Astronomy. Dr Mark Williams, Queen Mary & Westfield College, London, Physics. Dr Andrew Zadrozny, Durham University, Physics. Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Personal Research Fellowships Dr J Paterson, Dundee University, Molecular & Cellular Pathology. Dr H Wilkinson, Stirling University, Applied Social Science. Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Support Research Fellowships Dr N Alm, Dundee University, Computer Science. Dr L Phillips, Aberdeen University, Psychology. LLoyds TSB Foundation for Scotland PostGraduate Studentships Miss L Jessiman, Dundee University, Psychology. Mr R MacLean, Aberdeen University, Psychology. Dryerre Scholarship Miss Alison Littlejohn, Aberdeen University, Biomedical Sciences.
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MEDALS, PRIZES AND PRIZE LECTURESHIPS

Royal Medals, 2nd Award 2001. Presented by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony in Holyrood House on 4 July 2001. Life Sciences: Professor Sir James Black OM FRS Hon FRSE for his unique contribution to the advancement of Pharmacology and to the discovery of highly effective drugs which have revolutionised the treatment of disease and benefited untold numbers of patients throughout the world. Sir James work led to the discovery of two blockbuster drugs in different fields. Firstly, the renowned beta-blocker drugs which changed cardiovascular therapeutics beyond recognition. He also had great success in another therapeutic area with the development of cimetidine, which selectively blocks the effects of histamine on the stomach and heart with minimal toxicity. The design of these histamine H2 receptor blockers revolutionised the therapy of the peptic ulcer. Arts and Social Sciences: Professor Tom Devine FBA Hon MRIA FRSE for his outstanding contribution to Scottish History, particularly the relations between Scotland and Ireland. Professor Devine is a most distinguished academic historian who has shared his knowledge and insights through publications such as The Scottish Nation which was, undoubtedly, a publishing landmark of 1999. Physical and Engineering Sciences: Professor A Ian Scott FRS FRSE for his outstanding contributions to natural product and organic chemistry over the past thirty years. Among his many achievements has been the establishment of the mechanism for the synthesis of the key life pigments cholorphyll and heme. He has also done seminal work on the biosynthesis of Vitamin B12, and on alkaloids and on the important anti-tumour agent taxol. Bruce-Preller Prize Lecture 34th award 2000 to Professor Adrian Bird FRSE for his lecture entitled The Epigenetics of Disease. Bicentenary Medals Sir James Armour CBE FRSE, for his outstanding support to the President and service to the Society as Vice-President 19972000 Sir Lewis Robertson CBE FRSE, for his outstanding service to the Society as Treasurer 1994-1999 Professor Peter Wilson CBE FRSE, for his dedicated service to the Society as General Secretary 19962001 CRF Prize Lecture 11th Award 2001 to Dr Lewis Cantley, Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, USA, for his lecture entitled Signalling Via Phosphoinositide Kinases.
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GRANTS COMMITTEE
The Grants Committee considered 28 applications and a sum of 15,763 was awarded to 26 applicants. Approximately 53% of this sum was awarded as travel assistance. Travel Assistance Professor E N K Clarkson, for travel to Wales. 300. Professor P S Corbet, for travel to Gallivare, Sweden. 430. Professor D W T Crompton, for travel to Cornell University. 615. Professor G B Donaldson, for travel to Copenhagen. 500. Professor B Harte, for travel to Pretoria and Cape Town. 900. Dr M R W Johnson, for travel to India. 900. Professor S McKee, for travel to Sao Paulo. 500. Professor G Milligan, for travel to Christchurch, New Zealand. 750. Professor A A Paterson, for travel to Australia and New Zealand. 750. Professor A H F Robertson, for travel to Strasbourg. 500. Professor D S Saunders, for travel to St Petersburg. 500. Professor M F Thomas, for travel to Australia. 900. Mr R Tripp, for travel from Canada to Scotland. 318 (subsequently cancelled. Grant not taken up). Professor G A Watson, for travel to Leuven, Belgium. 500. Research Visitor to Scotland Professor A Werritty, to enable Dr Stewart Franks, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia to visit the University of Dundee, 350. Professor W Sibbett, to enable Professor E M Wright, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA, to visit the School of Physics and Astronomy at St Andrews University, 900. Professor R A Kempton, to enable Professor A J Bailer, Miami University, USA, to visit Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland at Edinburgh University, 900. Professor E N K Clarkson, to enable Dr Franco Tortello, Museo La Plata, Argentina, to visit the University of Edinburgh, 900. Support for Meetings Professor A Broadie, for a meeting entitled The Scottish Enlightenment in its European Context to be held at Glasgow University, 500. Dr C Glidewell, for a meeting entitled Universities of Scotland Inorganic Club 2001 (USIC 2001) to be held at St Andrews University, 600. Professor A C Wardlaw, for a meeting entitled Microbiology Golden Jubilee 2001 to be held at Glasgow University, 500.
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Professor M G Cannell, for a meeting entitled Forests at the Land-atmosphere Interface to be held at Edinburgh University, 600. Professor F A Huntingford, for a meeting entitled The Role of Conservation Science in National Parks to be held at Glasgow University, 600 Professor R Fletcher, for a meeting entitled XVth Householder Symposium on Numerical Linear Algebra to be held at Peebles Hydro Hotel, 600 Professor P W J L Brand, for a meeting entitled Techniques for the detection of planets and life beyond the solar system to be held at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, 500
Support for Publication Professor R S Crofts, as a guarantee against loss for the publication of Conserving Nature:Scotland and the Wider World, to be published by Tuckwell Press Ltd, 1000 Auber Bequest Award 2001 Professor Elliot Leader of the Theoretical Physics Research Unit, Birkbeck College, London, for travel to Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA and CERN, Geneva, Switzerland for his research project Testing Quantum Chromodynamics, 3000. [Professor Leader later informed the Society that he had obtained funding from another source. Award not made] Visiting Lecturer Grants None this Session.
The closing dates for applications to the Grants Committee are 28 February, 31 May, 31 August and 30 November.
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INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME
The Societys international programme continued apace, with excellent progress being made in developing and enhancing its links and relations in Europe and beyond. In Europe, work during the session set the ground for the Society obtaining membership of the All European Academies Network, which it did in March 2002. The Society also became a member of Scotland Europa. This helped strengthen its other European links - notably with the European Commission. The Society co-hosted two important events on the future of Europe: The first, in February 2001 with the Scottish Executive and Scotland Europa, a seminar discussing Scotlands part in Europe, which was attended by Neil Kinnock, Vice-President of the European Commission and Henry McLeish, the then Scottish Executive First Minister. The second, in September 2001 with the Scottish Jean Monnet Centre for European Excellence, a seminar which launched the Future of Europe Debate in Scotland, which was attended by Jack McConnell, the then Scottish Executive Minister for Europe, members of the Scottish and European Parliaments, and ambassadors and representatives from European member and accession states. Beyond Europe, the ground was set for the establishment of agreements of scientific cooperation between the Society and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Science Council, Taiwan. These agreements were formally signed during the 2001-2002 session and work is progressing on their implementation. The Society also hosted international visitors, including, in February 2001, a Cuban biotechnology delegation, led by Dr Carlos Borrotto, Deputy Director of the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana.
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FELLOWS SOCIAL EVENTS

Discussion Dinners 7 December 2000. (At University of Stirling). European Funding for Research : the priorities and trends. Alan Seatter presented recent developments in European research policy, concentrating in particular on the idea to develop a European Research Area, and current preparations for the next European Union Framework Programme. Among the questions addressed were: What is the scale of the task facing research policies in Europe today? How can each country individually or collectively help European research be more competitive on a world scale? What can be done to make the climate for private investment in research and development better? How can the European Unions own contribution be made more effective? 5 March 2001. Self and Nation. Following Dr Adrienne Scullions address to the Society, (see page 43) with the Right Hon. Lord Ross, PC as Praeses, and Professor Douglas Gifford as discussant. 13 September 2001. Joint Chemical Industries Association/ RSE Lecture and Dinner. Sustainable Development through Innovation, Following a lecture by Mr Barry Stickings, Managing Director, BASF UK and President, Chemical Industry Association. 29 October 2001. Stateless Nations in the 21st Century. The Case of Scotland. Following Professor David McCrones address to the Society. (see page 46), with The Right Hon Lord Ross, PC as Praeses and Professor Sir Neil MacCormick as discussant. Discussion Suppers 14 November 2000. The Role of the Expert Witness, led by the Right Hon Lord Ross, PC, Dr Adam Neville, and Professor John Knox, with the Rt Hon Lord Ross, PC, in the chair. 13 February 2001. Too Much Science, Too Little Technology?, led by, Sir Graham Hills, Professor Geoffrey Boulton and Dr Ian Sword, with Professor Bruce Proudfoot, in the chair. Fellows Coffee Meetings Weekly Coffee Meetings were held throughout the winter and spring months. Speakers at the monthly lecture meetings were: 3 October 2000. Subsequence and Consequence - Pertussis Vaccine on Trial. Professor A C Wardlaw. 7 November 2000. Geopolitics, Strategy and War. Professor J Erickson. 5 December 2000. Whither Human Nature? : Reflections on the RSE 2000 International Conference on Human Nature. Professor M A Jeeves.
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9 January 2001. Emergence of the Ignorant Spectator. Professor P H Jones. 6 February 2001. Dont Bother with the Evidence; Weve Made up our Mind. Professor P N Wilson. 20 February 2001. Special Meeting to consider draft paper Flourishing of Intellectual Vitality in Retirement. The paper, revised in the light of discussion, was submitted on 23 April 2001 to Sir David Carter, Vice-President who, in May, presented it to the Business Committee and Council where it was welcomed in general. 6 March 2001. Speech and Speakers. Professor J D M H Laver. 2 October 2001. Absurdity or Pedantry. Professor D J Finney. The Royal Society Dining Club This Club was established on 3rd January 1820, with the view of promoting the objectives of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In Session 2000/2001 meetings were held as follows: 815th dinner - 4 December 2000. Praeses : Professor R M MacKie. Croupier : Professor J M Howie.. 816th dinner - 2 April 2001. Praeses : Sir Charles Fraser, Croupier : Professor M B Wilkins. 817th dinner - 4 June 2001. Praeses : Professor A P Cracknell, Croupier : Professor C C Bird. 818th dinner - 26 September 2001. Praeses : Sir William Fraser, Croupier : Sir Roderick MacSween.
Royal Medal Presentation The 2001 Royal Medals (see page 129) were presented on 4 July 2001 by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, in the Picture Gallery of Holyroodhouse in front of an audience which included the Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, the President and members of Council, invited Fellows and guests. Research Awards Reception The 2001 Research Awards (see page 123) were announced by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh on 6 August 2001, at an event held to mark the Dukes 50th Anniversary as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Poster presentations by twentyone current Research and Enterprise Fellows ran throughout the evening. Fellows Golf Challenge Fellows, guests and staff enjoyed a blowy golf outing at Aberdour on 7th September 2001. The event was played as a Stableford and the Stewart Trophy was won by Professor John Cornwell. New Fellows Dinner 2001 The New Fellows Dinner for Session 2000/2001, hosted by Council was held on Friday 12 October 2001 and was attended by 54 New Fellows, members of Council and RSE staff. Professor Peter Wilson proposed the toast to the New Fellows, to which Professor Keith Ingold responded.
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GRANTS, SPONSORSHIP AND DONATIONS

The Society is grateful to the following organisations for their continuing support during the Session : The Baron Fleck Bequest British Petroleum Lessells Trust Lloyds TSB Morrison Charitable Trust PPARC Scottish Enterprise Scottish Executive Department of Health Scottish Executive Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Dept Scottish Executive Environment & Rural Affairs SHEFC Wellcome Trust
and also to the following for their support for specific events : Archibald Campbell & Harley WS Astra Zenica UK Ltd British Nuclear Fuels plc Caledonian Research Foundation The Darwin Trust of Edinburgh Health Services Research Council Holyrood Project Group HSRC L & E Maths Societies National Grid Company Ove Arup & Partners Quality Meat Scotland Ltd Royal Society for the Promotion of Health Scottish Council of Postgraduate Medical & Dental Education Scottish Knowledge plc Sharp Laboratories of Europe Unilever Research University of Glasgow
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CHANGES IN FELLOWSHIP DURING THE SESSION

DEATHS
Sir Kenneth Alexander John Frank Allen Edward Raymond Andrew Cecil Arnold Beevers Charles Michael Mcintyre Begg James Bell Malcolm Murray Campbell Sir Kingsley Dunham William Whigham Fletcher Kenneth Boyd Fraser Sir Alistair Grant Sir William Henderson David Bowes Horn William Scott Mackenzie John Laurence Malcolm Hans Anton Meidner Christina Cruickshank Miller Crispin St John Alvah NashWilliams Fellows Cecil Wilfred Nutt John Stewart Orr James Colquhoun Petrie Robert Alexander Rankin John Mcarthur Reid John Charles Shenstone Richards John Alan Richardson Ian Naismith Sneddon Thomas Stevens Stevens Sir Michael Strachan Duncan Taylor Baron Taylor Of Gryfe Arthur Geoffrey Walker Paul Egerton Weatherley Thomas Wilson (Musician/Composer) Thomas Wilson (Political Economist) Sir Michael Woodruff
Honorary Fellows Olga Oleinik Sir Rutherford Robertson Cardinal Thomas Joseph Winning
ELECTIONS
Honorary Fellows Keith Usherwood Ingold Charles Patrick Fleeming Jenkin Martin David Kruskal Colin Renfrew
Corresponding Fellows Ole Eiler Barndorff-Nielsen Peter Boyle Bonnie Jean Dunbar Anders Hjorth Hald Alexander M Klibanov
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Peter Ladefoged Vladimir Mazya Birger Munk Olsen Henning Srensen Renhard Zimmerman
Fellows Stephen Blackmore John Leonard Brockington Ewan Brown Keith Mark Brown Anthony Carbery Deborah Charlesworth Timothy Peter Plint Clifford Jonathan Mark Cooper Dorothy Hanson Crawford Barbara Elizabeth Crawford Roger Stanley Crofts Andrew Cubie Christine Tullis Hunter Davies Dianne Edwards Robert Francis Elliott Alan Hutchinson Fairlamb Rhona Hunter Flin David Patrick Frisby Simon Christopher Garrod Heinz Joachim Giegerich Neil Andrew Robert Gow Brian Gammell Ivory Ronald Dyce Sadler Jack Stanley Bernard Kaye Neil Howard Keeble Alexander George Kemp Alexander McCall Smith Patricia Clare Mazoura Morrow Macdonald Colin Robert Mcinnes Donald Angus Mackenzie Hugh Robert Peel Miller Ronald Morrison Robert Emmet Mulvey John Anthony Murphy Alan Fraser Murray Miles John Padgett David John Porteous Imants George Priede Stuart William John Reid Neville Vincent Richardson Geoffrey Edwin Rickman John Francis Roulston Philip Ronald Schlesinger Jonathan Adam Sherratt John Edmund Leonard Simmons Graham Smith Kenneth Stuart Sorbie Joan Kathleen Stringer Michael Anthony Summerfield Graham Michael Teasdale Roy Thompson David Philip Tweedie Anthony John Walton Andrew Whiten Jeffrey Graham Williams
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STAFF CHANGES DURING THE SESSION

Arrivals Mr Stuart Armstrong Fundraising Advisor Ms Elaine Hay Research Fellowships Assistant / Telephonist Mrs Sharon Jesson PA to President and General Secretary Mr Frank Pullen Central Services Manager Ms Susan Walker Events Assistant Mrs Doreen Waterland PA to Executive Secretary Ms Anna Whitehead Temporary Events Assistant Departures Ms Beatrice Alexander Events Assistant Mr Peter Burns Facilities Assistant Mr Ian Leslie Society Officer Mrs Marjorie McArthur Temporary PA to Executive Secretary and President Mrs Heather Mantell Events Manager Mrs Luana Pritchard Technology Ventures Co-ordinator Mrs Patricia Richardson PA to Executive Secretary and President
Other Staff in post throughout the Session Mr Stuart Brown Public Relations Officer Ms Jennifer Cameron Communications and IT Support Officer Dr Lesley Campbell Fellowship Officer Dr William Duncan Executive Secretary Miss Kate Ellis Head of Administration (part-time Financial Manager from 1/09/01) Ms Jennifer Etchells Conference and Facilities Coordinator Mrs Anne Ferguson Research Fellowships Secretary Mr Graeme Herbert International Affairs and Policy
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Seminar Officer (seconded from Scottish Executive) Miss Vicki Ingpen Journals Officer/Accounts Assistant Mr Robert Lachlan Accounts Assistant Miss Sandra McDougall Special Projects Manager Mr David Murray Accounts Administrator Dr Marc Rands Research Officer Ms Wendy Saunders Events Co-ordinator Dr Harinee Selvadurai Education Officer Mr Brian Scott Facilities Assistant
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The Royal Society of Edinburgh Review 2002 (Session 2000-2001)

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ORDINARY MEETINGS

Review of the Session 2000-2001

Proceedings of the Ordinary Meetings

PROCEEDINGS OF THE STATUTORY GENERAL MEETING

Review of the Session 2000-2001

Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting

Review of the Session 2000-2001

Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting

Review of the Session 2000-2001

Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting

Review of the Session 2000-2001

Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting

Review of the Session 2000-2001

Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting

Review of the Session 2000-2001

Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting

Review of the Session 2000-2001

ACCOUNTS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING 31 MARCH 2001

Auditors Report to the Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Review of the Session 2000-2001

BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2001

76,815 112,188 44,224 250,000 483,227

76,040 109,473 404,279 589,792

(240,886) 242,341 7,359,030 7,359,030

(402,381) 187,411 7,563,443 (6,413) 7,557,030

212,683 5,779,526 1,366,821 7,359,030

199,815 5,923,574 1,433,641 7,557,030

Review of the Session 2000-2001

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2001

52,333 1,005,282 13,267 511 -

1,771,044 1,419,593 13,267 511 20,041 4,263

7,364 7,364 30,198 23,139 12,428 73,129 (20,796) 13,778 (7,018)

1,860,685 1,636,968 (89,641) (217,375) 13,778 24,304 (75,863) (193,071)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2001

(74,568) 89,192 14,624

(7,018) (89,192) (96,210)

(75,863) (193,071) (75,863) (193,071)

558 (735) (177) (1,579) 12,868 199,815 212,683

15,194 (20,019) (4,825) (43,013) (144,048) 5,923,574 5,779,526

23,041 (30,358) (7,317) (65,226) (66,820) 1,433,641 1,366,821

38,793 (51,112) (12,319) (109,818)

50,597 (17,009) 33,588 26,776

(198,000) (132,707) 7,557,030 7,689,737 7,359,030 7,557,030

Review of the Session 2000-2001

CASH FLOW STATEMENT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2001

(75,863) (13,778) (104,412) (107,551) 81,517 (28,360) (140,044) (205,835) (594,326)

(193,071) (20,041) (104,942) (48,934) 77,873 56,780 195,249 (37,086)

(294,351) 513,752 219,401

(90,229) 603,981 513,752

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2001

Review of the Session 2000-2001

5,500 82,225 9,562 97,287

4,000 76,090 80,090

304,507 139,045 35,115 188,130 54,619 103,791 825,207

263,703 169,691 21,185 158,763 21,499 634,841

1,419 13,335 667 240 412 590 25,000 88,594 130,257

2,116 11,680 8,000 12,000 3,749 262 952 26,333 65,092

90,326 14,086 18,446 511 123,369 511 122,858

88,381 16,561 18,339 4,263 127,544 4,263 123,281

18,437 7,380 7,972 33,789 6,141 39,930

13,584 11,060 9,784 34,428 10,078 44,506

Total Central Costs