The Science Media Centre is not restricted to reacting to the headlines, and has helped scientists to more proactively set the agenda by bringing new science or evidence to journalists. This comes from our regular briefings, which take a variety of forms and cover a wide range of topics. Many are background briefings introducing journalists to the best experts and science on controversial issues like nuclear waste, nanotechnology, emerging diseases, or animal research, for example. They may also be news briefings where the SMC works with scientists to give the national media a new story on developments within science, whether it’s a report on climate change, a paper on stem cells being published in a leading journal, or science funding cuts in the latest budget. In addition, the SMC encourages leading experts to ‘speak out’ to the media about developments they believe may pose a threat to scientific research – not something science has been renowned for.
The University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute (PSI) will formally launch this week. It will draw together academics and experts … read more
For a long time, climate scientists have struggled to link extreme weather events to climate change. This has changed. The … read more
The Vaccine Response On Off Methotrexate (VROOM) trial investigated immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines in adults with autoimmune inflammatory conditions … read more
Today, Moderna have published in a press release their top-line findings looking at neutralising antibody responses from their Omicron-containing bivalent … read more
Floods and droughts are among the costliest impacts of climate change, and changes to rainfall patterns will affect everyone on … read more
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for fertiliser and livestock feed, and hence food security. However inefficient use and lose of … read more
Today, Moderna have published in a press release their interim top-line findings looking at antibody responses from their Omicron-containing bivalent … read more
The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill is due to be introduced in the House of Lords on Wednesday 25 May. … read more
A new study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases looks at the clinical features and treatment of seven cases of … read more
A research team led by scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have genetically edited tomatoes to produce vitamin … read more
We’ve had questions from journalists about the hepatitis cases in children, and some indicated a Q&A press briefing would be … read more
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s world-leading system for assessing the excellence of university research. The REF outcomes … read more
A new study from the COV-BOOST trial looking at fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccine has been published in the Lancet … read more
The UK government has committed to protecting 30% of the land and sea of the four nations to support nature … read more
The REACT-1 team from Imperial College London has now completed round 19 of their study – this is the final … read more
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published the Working Group 3 part of its Sixth Assessment Report on … read more
The British Pharmacological Society and Royal College of Physicians have written a joint report on the role that pharmacogenetics – … read more
There continues to be a lot of interest and concern around the role that social media plays in the lives … read more
Researchers have carried out a study which looked at disease severity and death data from adults who had been hospitalised … read more
Energy prices are rising, the west is trying to detach from Russian fossil fuels, and we have net zero pledges … read more
