Scientists meet writers
12 October 2007
Authors and MRC scientists are joining up online to chat about science and inspire the next wave of science-related fiction. The scientists are sharing their knowledge and experience with fiction writers, in a project in collaboration with the writers’ organisation English PEN.
PEN, which supports writers and readers worldwide, is hosting on its website a collection of profiles of MRC scientists, with details of their day-to-day activities – what kind of environment they work in, who they work with and what they are trying to find out.
Many writers want to include science in their fiction, because characters in their novels are scientists or they are writing about scientific topics. Now they can be inspired and check their facts by contacting scientists via the profiles.
For MRC scientists, interacting with authors offers the opportunity to communicate and promote their science to an audience that doesn’t usually hear about it.
MRC scientists work on a huge range of topics with the aim of improving human health, from brain diseases and drug addiction to cancer and infections like HIV – both here and in the developing world. They are problem-solvers and pursuers of knowledge, driven by a passion for their subject, a desire to improve people’s lives and the satisfaction in being the first person in the world to find out something new.
They may work in laboratories in large teams, in hospitals with patients or in offices with just computers or robots for company. But all have one thing in common; they stick at tasks for weeks and months and years to get the results they need and want.
Based in environments with dramatic potential, scientists make cutting-edge and world-changing discoveries. Their lives have the potential for scandal, rivalry, jealousy, power and ambition, as well as love, obsession and disappointment – providing endless opportunities for an intriguing fictional plot.
The profiles are on the PEN website at: http://www.englishpen.org/aboutenglishpen/partnerships/medicalresearchcouncil
If you are an MRC scientist and would like to take part please email writers@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk.
Press contact
Phone: 020 7637 6011
press.office@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
