The Oblivion of Biofuels

By James Smith

2011 is witnessing another crisis over rising food prices. In turn, concerns over food insecurity have intersected with ongoing anxiety over water and energy insecurity to create visions of perfect storms and future threats. All have meant the West is facing the very real possibility that it may no longer be able to import or buy its way out of tomorrow’s problems. The dawning realisation of the true global nature of these risks has ignited action: investment, innovation and policy. And biofuels have been presented as one of the key solutions.

What lessons learnt from herding cats?

By Dave Stevens, Marrella Communications

Written for the QUEST project team

“A new vision is required to promote organisational learning for interdisciplinarity within and across the Research Councils.”

So said Catherine Lyall, when she presented at a Royal Society workshop on Challenges in Policy Relevant Interdisciplinary Science.

To conclude her talk, she floated five ideas as to what RCUK might do to facilitate greater organisational learning around interdisciplinarity based on findings from a recently-concluded project funded by NERC and conducted with Innogen colleagues Ann Bruce, Wendy Marsden and Laura Meagher.