Advice to the Prime Minister on creating an ambitious,
goal-oriented research and development programme as part of a UK
research and innovation strategy.
From: Council for Science and
Technology
Documents
Principles for science and
technology moon-shots: letter from Council for Science &
Technology to Prime Minister
PDF, 192
KB, 5 pages
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Principles for science and
technology moon-shots: Response from Prime Minister
PDF, 106
KB, 4 pages
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Principles for running a
successful mission
PDF, 257
KB, 4 pages
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Details
The Prime Minister invited the Council for
Science and Technology to offer advice on moon-shots
that could showcase the UK as a science superpower.
The CST has provided
advice on how a moon-shot might be defined and highlights 7
principles for formulating and choosing a moon-shot theme.
- Excite and inspire the public, academia, and industry
- Help solve an important societal issue
- Be truly disruptive and ground-breaking
- Focus on areas where the underpinning science is at a stage
to make a major breakthrough feasible
- Be specific and well-defined in what it sets out to achieve,
with a clear timeframe for completion
- Take advantage of areas where the UK is, or is poised to be,
a world leader
- Generate significant additional benefits.
The letter also highlights factors that the government should
consider for delivery of a successful moon-shot programme.
In October 2018, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser
and CST developed
advice on principles for running a successful mission.
