Scientific vacuum

Several research council chief executives last week told the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee they knew little of the workings of the Council for Science and Technology, set up after the 1992 science white paper.

The following day Margaret Beckett, president of the Board of Trade, published the council's views on university research and promised more openness. The council's role is being reviewed, but in case you (or they) have forgotten, it is chaired by Margaret Beckett, with Sir Robert May, the chief scientific adviser, as deputy chairman. Other members are: Kumar Bhattacharyya, professor of manufacturing systems at Warwick University; Sir Aaron Klug, president of the Royal Society; Sir Robin Nicholson, director of Pilkington; Dame Bridget Ogilvie, director of the Wellcome Trust; Sir Ralph Robins, chairman of Rolls-Royce; Alan Rudge, chairman of EPSRC; Sir Stewart Sutherland, principal of Edinburgh University; Sir Richard Sykes, chief executive of Glaxo Wellcome plc; John Towers, managing director of Rover Group and Peter Williams, chairman of PPARC.