Robert May: Science for the people

When Sir Robert May was appointed chief scientific adviser to the British government five years ago he knew he was heading for interesting times. But no one could have quite predicted what he would have to face: bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the so called ‘mad cow disease’ infecting humans; bitter resistance to the introduction of genetically modified crops; fears surrounding global warming; the implications of Dolly the sheep; and a raft of other issues which have seen the public and other interests pitted against researchers. But May has relished the challenges and the experience as he now steps down. “The job was in many ways better and different than I imagined but in no way disappointing,” he says. May believes his academic background of 15 years of theoretical biology in Princeton before moving to Oxford in 1988 has stood him in good stead for the political battles that lay ahead. “I’ve moved from one area to the next, often dealing with things that are complicated but where one believes that only a few of the many elements in the complex web are really essential.” Often when he has moved into a new area, he has found himself having to persuade his new colleagues to think in a different way — an experience he believes has been very helpful. May has found the job as much spokesperson as adviser. At the height of some of the heated debates he has found himself in the spotlight exposed to heavyweight mainstream political editors and journalists. As a straight-speaking Australian he sometimes made mistakes, he admits. “It was an extremely steep leaning curve but I learnt a lot from my errors,” he says. The post is actually doubly tricky as the chief scientific adviser is also head of the government’s Office of Science and Technology. But in the face of an often stuffy British civil service he found it “extremely useful to be Australian,” he says. He did not come into the office with a “messianic set of new big ideas,” he says. But the reality has turned out differently. May set up a major research project to look at different countries’ science spending and their output in terms of published papers. He found that British scientists were the most efficient, publishing the greatest volume of research for the lowest level of investment. The results have been well publicised and have achieved a breakthrough at a Treasury constantly questioning the value of funding for science. Subsequent funding has increased significantly and science now often gets a mention in some of the highest-level speeches by the prime minister and chancellor. May is also proud of the fact that he has concentrated on backing fundamental issues like improving postgraduate salaries and grants and investing in bricks and mortar. “I’ve avoided trying to support sexy areas of research,” he says. He is also pleased with his achievements in getting policy into the open. Much of his advice has been published and he hopes that this will continue. The job has also had its lighter moments. He was asked by the Queen to help her and her husband understand the significance of Fermat’s last theorem in the light of media coverage of an Oxford mathematician’s claim to have discovered a proof. The Queen was most grateful for his response but admitted later that the couple were little the wiser. May now returns to his academic base in Oxford to continue his research career but, notably, he will also become head of the prestigious Royal Society, Britain’s foremost science academy. He welcomes his predecessor, Aaron Klug’s, efforts to make the society more open and says he has no major plans for change. But with his record in government service: look out Royal Society. Magazine R727