MP exchange scheme brings politician to Chemistry

20 January 2006

Wantage MP Ed Vaizey visited the Chemistry Research Laboratory on Friday 20 January as part of a nationwide scheme which pairs academics with Members of Parliament.

Dr Simon Titmuss, Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, spent a week in Westminster in November shadowing Mr Vaizey in his parliamentary and constituency business. On Friday the MP made a return visit to the University to find out more about Dr Titmuss’s research on the physics and chemistry of surfaces.

During his visit to Oxford’s Chemistry Research Laboratory Mr Vaizey was shown the facilities used for preparing surfaces for experiments conducted at ISIS, the world’s leading pulsed neutron and muon source based at CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. He was also given a tour of the state-of-the-art building and learnt more about the research conducted at the largest Chemistry department in the Western world.

Dr Titmuss, who is also a Research Fellow and Tutor at Keble College, said: ‘Visiting Westminster has given me an insight into the issues involved in formulating public policy and convinced me that I can contribute. I hope I’ve given Ed an idea of what we do when we go to ISIS, which is in his constituency, and why it is necessary to have such facilities.’

The pairing scheme, launched in 2001 as part of the Royal Society’s ‘Science in Society’ programme, seeks to build bridges between parliamentarians and some of the best science researchers in the UK. By pairing up MPs with scientists, the Royal Society hopes to give politicians the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the process of scientific understanding and topical research, and ultimately to use this new knowledge in their parliamentary discussions. The scheme also helps scientists to understand the pressures under which MPs operate, and to become aware of the potential methods and structures through which they can influence the science policy process.