Colin Blakemore honoured with the 2005 Science Educator Award
14 November 2005
Professor Colin Blakemore, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council (MRC), was recognised for his commitment to public engagement and communication with a major prize from one of the world's largest scientific organisations.
The Society for Neuroscience presented Professor Blakemore with the Science Educator Award at a ceremony in Washington DC. The prize is presented annually to an outstanding scientist who has made significant contributions to education and to informing the public about science.
Colin Blakemore said: “I am delighted to be honoured in this way by the Society for Neuroscience, which has itself done so much to promote public understanding of brain research. It has been a privilege to work with other scientists, the media and the public in spreading the word about the joys and the challenges of science. When I first became involved in science communication 30 years ago, it wasn’t considered part of the mainstream of academic life. Now, through the support of organisations such as the Society for Neuroscience, public engagement is seen as vital part of the research process. It is particularly important in areas of practical and ethical concern about the applications of science.
“In my new position at the Medical Research Council, I am pleased to have new opportunities to explore ways of increasing public awareness and public involvement around the issues thrown up by the rapid advances of biomedical research. Public engagement takes time and effort, but it helps scientists to see their own research in a broader context as well as helping to build public confidence and trust, which are essential for scientific progress.”
Professor Blakemore became the MRC’s Chief Executive in 2003. He studied Medical Sciences at Cambridge and completed a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. After 11 years in the Department of Physiology at Cambridge, he became Waynflete Professor of Physiology at Oxford in 1979 and was Director of the MRC Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience for eight years. His research centres on vision and the early development of the brain. He has been President of the British Neuroscience Association, the Physiological Society and the new Biosciences Federation. He has also been President and Chairman of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and is currently President of the Association of British Science Writers.
Colin Blakemore is strongly committed to public communication through radio and television broadcasting, popular writing, lecturing and debate across a wide range of scientific subjects. He also works with science museums, science centres and science festivals, and he was closely involved in establishing the Dana Centre for public engagement at the Science Museum in London. He is Vice-Chairman of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain and helped to promote Brain Awareness Week as a global public celebration of basic and clinical neuroscience. Colin Blakemore has been awarded the 1978 Award in Science from Phi Beta Kappa for his contribution to the popular literature of science, the 1989 Royal Society Michael Faraday Award for the furtherance of the public understanding of science, and the 1990 John P McGovern Science and Society Medal from Sigma Xi. Earlier this year, he received the Edinburgh Medal for his achievements and contributions toward the understanding and well-being of humanity.
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