Next week (24 – 27 March), 30 UK scientists will swap places with politicians and civil servants for four days, exploring the world of politics as part of the annual Royal Society Pairing Scheme.
The scheme, which has been running since 2001 in partnership with the Government Office for Science's GSE Profession Team. It aims to help to build relationships between scientists and politicians, ensuring that policymakers can make decisions based on the best scientific evidence.
The scheme takes place in the week that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will give her Spring Statement, at a time when the role of science and innovation in driving economic growth has never been more important.
Scientists taking part this year are drawn from universities and research institutes across the UK, including the University of Nottingham, UCL Cancer Institute, and the University of Edinburgh.
They will be shadowing a range of parliamentarians and civil servants, including five newly elected MPs: Jayne Kirkham, Dr Scott Arthur, Laurence Turner, Ian Sollom, and Adam Thompson.
Dr Giovanna Martinez-Arellano, from the University of Nottingham's Faculty of Engineering, will be taking part in the scheme has been paired with Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, who has been actively involved in various environmental and technological initiatives throughout her career.
The Baroness is also a member of the cross-party initiative Peers for the Planet. Giovanna will be shadowing some of the daily activities of the Baroness during their time at Westminster. In return, the Baroness will be visiting the University of Nottingham to learn more about Giovanna's research activities as well as the University's strategic approach to Net Zero.
Giovanna is an Anne McLaren Research Fellow in Industrial AI at the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing. Her vision is to make AI accessible to everyone and in this way transform manufacturing industry into sustainable and resilient factories of the future, realising the UK's National AI Strategy.
The pairing scheme is a unique opportunity that will allow me to experience first-hand how policy and research intersect.
She added: "I am particularly interested in understanding how I can start taking the first steps towards ensuring that major outcomes of my research in AI can inform the establishment of new policies on the responsible, sustainable and human-centred use of AI in industrial contexts as we move towards a more digitalised production in the years to come."
Over the course of the week, scientists will get a behind the scenes insight into how policy is formed, shadowing policymakers to learn about their work and how they can best share their expertise.
The scheme will continue later in the year when parliamentarians visit their scientist pairs at their home institutions.
Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said: "At a time when science and scientists are under threat around the globe, programmes such as the Royal Society Pairing Scheme have never been more important. We must continue to strengthen links between scientists and policy makers. Having this group of UK scientists in Westminster to develop their understanding of policy making and share their expertise to shape it can help ensure research is translated into policy that improves lives."
