Update: see the cover sheet presented to Downing Street on 14 October (PDF).
Notable signatories include:
Professor Tim Blackburn, Director, Institute of Zoology
Dr Petra Boynton, Academic and Writer
Dr Michael Brooks, Science Journalist, Founder of the Science Party & former Parliamentary Candidate
Professor Tanya Byron, Clinical Psychologist, Journalist, Broadcaster
Dr Philip Campbell, Editor in Chief, Nature, Nature Publishing Group
Professor Brian Cox, Physicist and Television Presenter
Professor Andrew Geim, Nobel Laureate (Physics)
Dr Ben Goldacre, Guardian Columnist, Author
Professor Malcolm Grant, UCL Provost (in a personal capacity)
Pamela Goldberg, Chief Executive of Breast Cancer Campaign
Mark Henderson, Science Editor, The Times
Roger Highfield, Editor, New Scientist
Robin Ince, Writer and comedian
Dr Kirstine Knox, Chief Executive, Motor Neurone Disease Association
Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK
Sir Patrick Moore, CBE HonFRS FRAS
Lord Lewis of Newnham, Emeritus Prof Chemistry University Cambridge
Professor Denis Noble, FRS, Co-Founder, Save British Science
Sir Paul Nurse, FRS, President, Rockefeller University, Nobel laureate
Professor David Nutt, former Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
Dara O Briain, Comedian
Lord Martin Rees, PRS, Master, Trinity College Cambridge
Dr Simon Singh, Author
Judith Willetts, Chief Executive, British Society for Immunology
Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive, Alzheimer’s Research Trust
Members of Parliament who have signed the petition:
Heidi Alexander MP (Labour)
Luciana Berger MP (Labour)
Paul Blomfield MP (Labour)
Malcolm Chisholm MSP (Labour)
Vernon Coaker MP (Labour)
Jim Cunningham MP (Labour)
Tony Cunningham MP (Labour)
Jack Dromey MP (Labour)
Don Foster MP (Lib Dem)
Mary Glindon MP (Labour)
Mike Hancock MP (Lib Dem)
Sharon Hodgson MP (Labour)
Sir Gerlad Kaufman MP (Labour)
Mark Lazarowicz MP (Labour)
Ian Mearns MP (Labour)
Graeme Morrice MP (Labour)
Ian Murray MP (Labour)
Andy Slaughter MP (Labour)
Andrew Smith MP (Labour)
Stephen Twigg MP (Labour)
Hywel Williams MP (Plaid Cymru)
The following distinguished scientists and engineers have signed the petition:
Professor Michael Akam FRS
Professor Wiebke Arlt MD DSc FRCP FMedSc
Professor Fraser A Armstrong FRS
Professor Michael Ashburner FRS
Professor Alan Ashworth FRS
Professor David Attwell FRS
Professor Alan Baddeley FRS, CBE
Prof Sir David Baulcombe FRS FMedSci
Professor Mariann Bienz FRS FMedSci
Professor Colin Blakemore FRS FMedSci, Hon FRCP
Professor Michael R Blatt FRSE
Professor Tim Bliss FRS FMedSci
Professor Andrea Brand FRS FMedSci
Dr John M Brown FRS
Professor John Cardy FRS
Professor Richard Catlow FRS
Professor Keith F Chater FRS
Dr Cyrus Chothia FRS
Professor Stephen Clark FRSE
Professor Nicola S. Clayton FRS
Professor Graham Collingridge FRS
Professor David Colquhoun FRS
Professor Eleanor Dodson FRS
Professor Guy Dodson FRS, FMedSci.
Professor Peter Dornan FRS
Professor John Dowell FRS
Professor Julian Downward FRS
Professor Dougal Drysdale MRSC, FIFireE, CEng, FSFPE, FRSE
Professor George Efstathiou FRS
Professor John H D Eland FRS
Professor Philip Evans FRS
Professor Malcolm Ferguson-Smith FRS
Professor Chris Frith FRS
Professor Uta Frith FBA, FMedSci FRS
Professor C Robin Ganellin FRS
Professor David M. Glover FRS FRSE
Professor Michael Green FRS
Professor Hugh Griffiths FREng
Professor Stephen Halford FRS
Professor Roger Hardie FRS
Professor Graham J Hart FMedSci
Professor Cyril Hilsum CBE FRS FREng
Professor Herbert Huppert FRS
Professor John Kilmartin FRS
Professor Michael Land FRS
Professor Christopher J. Leaver CBE, FRS, FRSE
Professor David Leigh FRS
Professor Guy C Lloyd-Jones FRSC
Professor Andrew Lumsden FMedSci FRS
Professor Michael H. Malim FRS
Professor Martin McKee CBE FMedSci
Professor John G McWhirter FRS FREng
Professor Michael Morgan FRS
Professor Richard Morris CBE, FRS
Professor Philip Mountford FRSC
Lord Lewis of Newnham FRS
Professor Denis Noble FRS
Professor Dame Linda Partridge FMedSci FRS, DBE, CBE
Professor Laurence H. Pearl FMedSci FRS
Dr Hugh Pelham FRS
Professor Mark Pepys FRS FMedSci
Professor Terence Rabbitts FMedSci FRS
Professor Martin Raff CBE FRS
Professor Wolf Reik FRS FMedSci
Professor Daniela Rhodes FRS
Professor Elizabeth Robertson FRS
Professor Matthew Rosseinsky FRS
Professor Peter J. Sadler FRS
Professor Tim Shallice FRS
Professor David Sherratt FRS
Professor John P Simons FRS
Professor Sir David Smith FRS, FRSE
Professor Geoffrey L. Smith FRS
Professor Steve Sparks FRS
Professor Brian G. Spratt FRS
Professor Godfrey Stafford FRS
Professor Claudio D Stern FIBiol FMedSci, FRS
Professor Kenneth Alexander Strain FRSE
Dr Jesper Svejstrup FRS
Dr Martyn Thomas CBE FREng
Professor Chris Thiemermann FMedSci
Professor David Tollervey FRS
Professor Anthony Trewavas FRS
Professor Alan Watson FRS
Professor Cornelis J Weijer FRSE
Professor Lawrence Weiskrantz FRS
Professor Robin A Weiss FRS
Professor Thomas Wirth FRSC
Professor Lewis Wolpert CBE FRS FRSL
Professor Phil Woodruff FRS
Professor Eric Wright FRCPath FRSE
Professor John A. Wyke FRSE FMedSci
The following Vice-Chancellors and Deans of Research have signed the petition:
Professor Stephen Holloway, Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, University of Liverpool
Professor Richard Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, and Innovation, University of Sheffield
Professor Koen Lamberts, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, University of Warwick
Professor John MacIntyre, Dean and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sunderland
Professor Trevor McMillan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Lancaster University
Professor Don Nutbeam, Vice-Chancellor, University of Southampton
Professor David Phoenix OBE, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Central Lancashire
Professor David Shepherd, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), Bangor University
Professor Phil Stephens, Vice-Dean of Research, School of Dentistry, Cardiff University
Dear Friends,
I’m glad to say that I can definitely come to the rally on 9 October. If you want me to carry a banner or to say something, I’d be more than happy to do so.
Best wishes,
Colin
Dear Sir/Madam,
The petition is doing well, but if you really want the government to listen and not cut science funding, but perhaps increase it, this petition needs at least 100,000’s of signatures. My evidence that this will work is as follows. The Romanian people rose up agaist their dictorial leader in 1989, and threw him out, and changed they country for the better. Tens of millions of Romanians rose against the government. Why don’t you hold off handing the petition in, and try and publicise it better, and get another 100,000 people so sign it?
F Hooton, Theoretical Molecular Biophysicist: BSc Honours, MSc(Biochm, Mol Biophys), MRSC.
We could possibly get 100,000 signatures after a few more months. But the CSR is next week, and we have to act now.
Dear Colin
We would be delighted if you would say a few words. That’s wonderful news. I will send you an email about it right now!
Many thanks
Jenny
Science is knowledge, innovation and future.
The new generation will depend on funding for studying and for research, we need to invest on it rather then shrink the budget!
Save British Science (now CaSE), founded in 1986, had to work hard to help restore the science and engineering investment to begin to approach the levels in other leading nations. Even the splendid progress made over the decade or so when David Sainsbury was science minister was not enough to actually reach those levels. We always argued that such a catch-up needed to be done gradually and carefully. To see that careful and convincing work put at risk is not just painful, it would be short-sighted from a national point of view.
It is a shame that, in an advanced society, scientists are driven to having to protest in the streets to communicate a message that is so evidently in the national interest. The problem is not only one of lack of resource, but a collapse in the ability of Government funding agencies to recognise and support scientific excellence in the UK.
Denis,
You are absolutely right. It is really frustrating to see the modest gains of the last 10 years put at risk.
All it needs for ignorance to prevail is for intelligent people to do nothing. Scientists and engineers are all our futures.Good luck on Saturday.
It is absolutely vital that resources should continue to support the the scientific excellence that exists within the Universities of the UK
Am I the only Tory that supports this campaign?
No, Henry.
Colin Blakemore’s speech at the Science is Vital rally was inspirational, as were those of the other speakers. It was a wonderful feeling to be there with so many educated, concerned and passionate people. It was a good natured meeting but one which showed the genuine anger bubbling under the surface at the possibility of cutting science budgets. It cannot be allowed to happen, in fact the reverse must happen, we must increase science investment. Keep up the good work Science is Vital campaigners.
It is vital ,keep up the support.
Dear Friends,
I’m relieved and proud of your effectiveness on such a brief time scale. You took a very creative grass-roots approach. And I’m proud of UK leadership for listening. If the UK system is actually responsive to the activist approach, with coverage by BBC News amplifying the effect, then perhaps we should have more events, like the rally earlier this month and the march for climate preservation two summers ago.
The UK response may have illustrated an important way of the future for scientists to enlist the influence of the common man! Namely, by exhibiting the popular exuberance that makes it so clearly a human endeavour, instead of some difficult magical conjuration of iffy powers! Maybe we should run wide-spread advertising campaigns celebrating our homely, human side of science! We should certainly also not underestimate the effectiveness of Dr Who and the wonderful BBC science programmes.
BTW The popularity of movies such as Iron Man, and Sherlock Holmes, and TV shows such as Dr Who indicates the genuine admiration of the people for active science as a force for good.
All the best, Darryl
I wish I could be in Britain to protest with fellow colleague on this BAD DECISION being propound.
Just would like to mention that it is appalling that scientists have to fight for their jobs. But, if scientists are having to go through this, then I would not even want to imagine about what is happening in the Arts and Humanities sector within academia. The forgotten lot!!
Instead of taking action against rising unemployment and inflation, our Leaders have forced the neighboring countries and the UN for war on Libya!! Was this really necessary at this point in the country’s crisis? I wonder!! We suffer for their decisions…. When would this ever end??
Save science for the future of the planet