Scientists must do more to debunk the ¡°myth¡± that science and innovation ¡°is run by and for the elite¡±, the new head of the UK¡¯s main research funding body is due to say today.

In an address to a virtual conference to mark the 20th?anniversary of the House of Lords¡¯ Science and Society report, Dame?Ottoline Leyser,?chief executive of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), will outline her desire to tackle ¡°current perceptions of science¡± as a ¡°domain of Einsteins¡± in which researchers are seen as ¡°clever people solving problems for you, often alone¡±.

¡°The ¡®clever scientist¡¯ narrative feeds the myth that the knowledge economy is run by and for the elite,¡± Dame Ottoline will explain at the event, due to be hosted by UKRI and the?, on 22 September.

¡°With our current perceptions of science as the domain of Einsteins, a knowledge economy sounds like one that is going to take jobs away from those left-out and left-behind communities and give them to the elite few,¡± she will add.

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Instead, the scientific community must share its commitment to establishing an ¡°inclusive knowledge economy¡± in which ¡°everyone has the opportunity to participate, and from which everyone benefits¡±.

Dame Ottoline, who took over the UK¡¯s ?7 billion a year research funding body in July, will say that scientists have made ¡°good progress¡± in their public engagement efforts since?the publication of the ?in 2000, which marked the start of ?a ¡°more open and transparent dialogue between scientists and the public¡±.

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However, Dame Ottoline will add that there ¡°remains a significant gap between those who feel able to make informed choices, to question, challenge and influence research and innovation, and those who feel disconnected, underrepresented and disenfranchised¡±.

¡°For this group, science is something that is done to you, not something in which you have a voice,¡± she is due to say, adding that, in the next 20 years, the ¡°next step¡± would involve talking about ¡°science in society¡± rather than ¡°science and society¡±.

¡°Science needs to be a normal part of cultural life,¡± Dame Ottoline will add, saying it was unfortunate that science and research was sometimes seen as ¡°an elite and alien world inhabited by boffins¡±.

Research and innovation are currently, ¡°if they were a sport¡­polo¡±, Dame Ottoline is due to say. ¡°We need to reclaim them as normal. Research and innovation have to be football ¨C a national sport in which anyone can participate.¡±

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com