Very difficult problems
Science has solved a large number of social, medical and technical problems. In doing so, many of the low hanging fruit have been addressed leaving more difficult problems. This talk discusses some of the problems that society faces and explores how well the research system is aligned to address them. It highlights the problem of lock-in and entrenchment and how the ways we think about research can constrain its ability to produce solutions to important problems. Paul Nightingale is deputy director of the Science Policy Research Unit, at the University of Sussex, and editor of Industrial and Corporate Change and Research Policy.
Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación
Edificio 8E, Acceso I, Planta 3ª (Salón de Actos. Cubo Amarillo)
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia | Camino de Vera s/n
Paul Nightingale was originally trained as a chemist and worked in industry as in analytical environmental toxicology in the R&D labs of a major blue chip firm. After his PhD, he worked for 10 years in the Complex Product Systems Innovation Centre, jointly run between SPRU and CENTRIM.
He has done a substantial amount of policy work on innovation policy in the UK and led NESTA's Innovation Gap research project, working closely with Virginia Acha, who was the brains behind the final report. The Innovation Gap report integrated a lot of the research findings from the CoPS innovation centre's work, as well as similar work that had been undertaken at our partner innovation centre CRIC at the University of Manchester.
His main areas of work now relate to financial innovation, and its impact on the economy. He is Principal Investigator of a large three year research project that will be exploring venture capital policy, the funding and management of high impact 'gazelle' firms, and innovation in investment banking.
More information on SPRU's website.