cover:Layout 1 07/01/2010 15:16 Page 1 The Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh Review 2009 Review 2009 (Session 2007-2008) Printed in Great Britain by Henry Ling Limited, Dorchester, DT1 1HD ISSN 1476-4342 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH REVIEW OF THE SESSION 2007-2008 PUBLISHED BY THE RSE SCOTLAND FOUNDATION ISSN 1476-4342 The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George Street Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ Telephone : 0131 240 5000 Fax : 0131 240 5024 email : [email protected] Scottish Charity No SC000470 Printed in Great Britain by Henry Ling Limited, Dorchester, DT1 1HD CONTENTS ACTIVITIES – SESSION 2007-2008 Proceedings of the Ordinary Meetings .............................. 3 Proceedings of the Statutory General Meeting ................. 5 Prize Lectures .................................................................. 45 Lectures ........................................................................... 91 Conferences, Workshops, Symposia, Seminars and Discussion Forums ......................................................... 207 Publications ...................................................................289 Policy Advice .................................................................. 291 Scottish Bioinformatics Forum ....................................... 295 Events for Young People ............................................... 297 Research and Enterprise Awards ................................... 299 Medals, Prizes and Prize Lectureships ............................. 305 Grants Committee ........................................................ 307 International Programme ..............................................309 Fellows’ Social Events ....................................................317 Schedule of Investments................................................ 319 Grants, Sponsorship and Donations .............................. 323 Changes in Fellowship during the Session ..................... 325 Staff .............................................................................. 327 OBITUARY NOTICES ............................................................ 329 TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND ACCOUNTS TO 31 MARCH 2008 .. 359 INDEX .................................................................................. 407 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ORDINARY MEETINGS Monday 3rd December 2007 Gyongy had acted as Scrutineers for the postal ballot for the Chairman election of President and for the Sir Michael Atiyah OM FRS election of new Fellows for 2008. HonFREng HonFMedSci HonFRSE PRSE They reported that 31% of the Fellowship returned papers for the Ballot ballot for the election of Presi- The President announced that the dent. Lord Wilson of Tillyorn was scrutineers for the forthcoming elected by ‘an overwhelming ballot for RSE Council vacancies majority. 43% of the Fellowship would be Professor Mary Gibby returned papers for the election of and Professor Istvan Gyongy. new Fellows and the names on Formal Admission to Fellowship the list were elected by “an Professor Ole Laerum CorrFRSE, overwhelming majority”. President, Norwegian Academy of Lecture Science and Letters and Professor Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg, CEO, of Experimental Pathology and Aquapharm Bio-Discovery Ltd, Oncology, The Gade Institute, New Antibiotics: From the Sea Bed University of Bergen signed the to the Hospital Bed. Roll and was formally admitted to (Gannochy Trust Innovation the Fellowship. Following the Award Lecture) (p64). signing of the Roll, the President presented Professor Laerum with a ceremonial Quaich to commem- Monday 1 September 2008 orate the 150th Anniversary of the Norwegian Academy of Chairman Science and Letters. Sir Michael Atiyah OM FRS HonFREng HonFMedSci HonFRSE Lecture PRSE. Professor Ole Laerum, Cellular Clocks. (p130) Formal Admission to Fellowship Professor Jose Torero Cullen Lecture Monday 3 March 2008 Professor Miles Padgett FRSE, Professor of Physics, University of Chairman Glasgow, Does God Play Sir Michael Atiyah OM FRS Dice?.(p129) HonFREng HonFMedSci HonFRSE PRSE. Ballot Sir Michael announced that Professors Mary Gibby and Istvan 3 PROCEEDINGS OF THE STATUTORY GENERAL MEETING Minutes of the Statutory General Meeting held on 6 October 2008, ending the 225th Session The Annual Statutory Meeting took place in the Society’s Wolfson Theatre on Monday 6 October 2008 at 6 pm. Sir Michael Atiyah OM, President, took the Chair. Sir Michael reported that the meeting was being recorded and would be available to listen to on the Fellows only section of the Society’s web site on the following day. A. Briefing by Professor Gavin McCrone CB on the Future of Scotland’s Hills and Islands Inquiry ........................................... 6 B. Formal Business 1. Minute of the ASM held on Monday 1 October 2007 ................ 6 2. Matters Arising ............................................................................ 6 3. Report on Activities for Session 2007/08..................................... 6 4. Office-Bearers’ Reports a. General Secretary’s Report....................................................... 7 b. Treasurer’s Report .................................................................. 10 c. Fellowship Secretary’s Report ................................................ 12 d. Discussion of Office-Bearers’ Reports ................................... 16 5. Law changes .............................................................................. 17 6. Election of Council and other Office-Bearers for 226th Session 18 C. Handover of Presidency from Sir Michael Atiyah OM, FRS, HonFREng, HonFMedSci, HonFRSE to Lord Wilson of Tillyorn KT GCMG FRSE ................................................................. 19 Appendix I - Presentation by Professor Gavin McCrone on the Hills and Islands Inquiry ......................................................................... 20 Appendix II - Report on Activities for Session 2007-2008 .................. 30 Appendix III - Changes to Laws ........................................................... 44 5 Review of the Session 2007-2008 A. The Future of Scotland’s Hill and Island Areas The President invited Professor Gavin McCrone CB to brief the meeting on the Inquiry which he had chaired. Professor McCrone said that the Report had been well received and commented that a good report enhances the reputation of the Society. He thanked the Committee for their commitment and expertise, which had contributed much to the quality of this Inquiry. The presentation and the discussion that followed is available as Appendix I (p.20). The full report is available on the RSE website. Sir Michael thanked Professor McCrone for his presentation and for suggesting and taking on this important Inquiry. He agreed that it had been well received and hoped that it would influence opinion and govern- ment policy. B. Formal Business 1.MINUTES The Minutes of the Annual Statutory Meeting held on Monday 1 October 2007 were taken as read, approved by those Fellows present and signed by the President as a correct record. 2.MATTERS ARISING There were no matters arising. 3.REPORT ON ACTIVITIES FOR SESSION 2007/08 The meeting noted the Report on Activities for Session 2007/8 prepared by the General Secretary, which had been distributed to Fellows in advance (Appendix II). The President suggested that any discussion of the report should take place after the Office Bearers’ Reports had been delivered. 6 Proceedings of the Annual Statutory Meeting 4.OFFICE BEARERS’ REPORTS a) General Secretary’s Report Professor Geoffrey Boulton delivered the following report: During the past year, the Society has, once again, advanced learning and useful knowledge through a wide range of public benefit activities, which reached many people and places across Scotland and beyond. My report covers activities during the Society’s annual Session, which began on 1 October 2007 and ends today with this, the Annual Statutory Meeting. The Society is required, by charity law, to report on its performance during the fiscal year from April to March - and that has been done through our Annual Trustees’ Report and Accounts for 2007/08 – which has been approved by Council in its capacity as the Society’s Trustees. This is available to any Fellow who would like a copy. As with previous years, along with papers for the evening, all Fellows should have received an illustrated Annual Review which covers the fiscal year, summarises the main activities described in the Trustees’ Report, and includes an approved summary of Accounts. Your papers for this evening also included a report of the full and varied programme of activities delivered during the Session by the Fellowship, supported by staff of the Society. I do not propose to talk about every one of the very many activities in the report, but would like to mention a few highlights. Thereafter, I would like to look ahead to how we propose to increase the benefit the Society can bring to wider society. Activity Highlights ♦ Securing the funding through the Spending Review to enable us to implement the Enderby Review recommendations; ♦ Further expanding our international partnerships, which now include India, Pakistan and Malaysia; and supporting more interna- tional exchange visits than ever before; ♦ Renewing our contract with Scottish Enterprise, which has enabled us to launch Phase III of the highly successful Enterprise Fellowships scheme which contributes outstanding value to the Scottish economy; 7 Review of the Session 2007-2008 ♦ Continuing our relationship with the Gannochy