Sir Paul Nurse, eminent scientist, research leader and research advocate, will be in conversation with the Rector of Exeter, Professor Sir Rick Trainor. Their conversation, which will be followed by a Q&A session, will focus on the importance, and the means, of increasing public and private support for research, particularly in the UK in the 2020s.

They will interpret ‘support’ to mean appreciation and advocacy, as well as the making of grants and appropriations. The underlying assumption of the conversation will be that such support, in both senses, is particularly important to cultivate in times like the present which are characterised by sluggish economic growth, political uncertainty, and international tensions.

This occasion will be complementary to the talk that Sir Paul gave in 2013 on the history and future of Biology.