Three UCL academics named British Science Association 'Section Presidents'

The new elected section presidents are Professor Louise Archer (UCL Institute of Education), President of the Sociology and Social Sciences section, Professor Jon Butterworth (UCL Physics and Astronomy), President of the Physics and Astronomy section and Dr Andrew Morris (UCL Institute of Education), President of the Education section. They are among 17 new section heads that were this week announced by the BSA. 

Professor Louise Archer is the Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education at UCL Institute of Education. Her research focuses on educational identities and inequalities, particularly in relation to gender, ethnicity and social class. She is the Principle Investigator of a number of large national projects, including the ten year ESRC funded Aspires / Aspires2 study (a mixed-method longitudinal tracking of students' science and career aspirations from ages 10-18).  

Professor Jon Butterworth is a professor of physics working on the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. He leads the UCL High Energy Physics group and is the author of Smashing Physics: The Inside Story of the Hunt for the Higgs and, A Map of the Invisible: Journeys into Particle Physics, which was published in October 2017.

Dr Andrew Morris is an honorary senior lecturer at UCL Institute of Education. He specialises in the interaction of research, policy and practice. He was previously a director at City & Islington College and the Director of the National Educational Research Forum (NERF) in England. He now plays leading roles with several education organisations, including the Learning and Skills Research Network, the Coalition for Evidence Based Education and the EIPPEE European evidence initiative.

The BSA's sections play a key role in developing content for the British Science Festival, advising the BSA on key topics in their subject areas, as well as suggesting leading figures who could be involved. Comprised of science professionals, the sections contribute to the events programme and arrange activities such as talks, demonstrations, and debates.  

Each year, the sections nominate an individual who has made a significant contribution to their scientific field for presidency of the section. The elected presidents are also invited to give their Presidential Address at the British Science Festival in September to mark the start of their year-long Presidency. 

Professor Louise Archer said: "I am delighted to have the honour of taking on this prestigious role of President of the Sociology and Social Sciences section. Sociology and the social sciences are offering us valuable insights and perspectives on key science-related issues, such as the persistence of inequalities in STEM participation, which will be the topic of my presidential address at the British Science Festival in Hull this September. We warmly welcome everyone to join us at this exciting celebration of science - it promises to be a lively, engaging and rich programme."  

Dr Andrew Morris said: "I am delighted to be President for the BSA Education Section for 2018. It comes at a time when, not only are scientists reaching out as never before to engage with the public, but educators are reaching out to scientific evidence to inform their practice. I look forward to the opportunity to support both these trends." 

Links

• Professor Louise Archer's academic profile
• Professor Jon Butterworth's academic profile
• Dr Andrew Morris
• UCL Institute of Education

Image

• Isabelle Adams (Flickr)

Source

• British Science Association