The Scottish Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) held a Workshop on 19 October 2006 to inform the ongoing work of the SSAC in relation to identifying areas of scientific excellence in Scotland (background paper) The SSAC believes that Scotland can enhance its research capability through multidisciplinary research centres, or networks, that will promote Scotland’s research excellence to the rest of the world. During the Workshop, delegates heard views from:

Introduction (Professor Wilson Sibbett, Chair – SSAC)

Technology (Professor Duncan Maskell, Head of Cambridge Veterinary School)

Animal Disease (Professor Quintin McKellar, Principal of the Royal Veterinary College )

Food Safety (Professor Tom Humphrey, Professor of Veterinary Zoonotic Bacteriology, University of Bristol)

Comparative Medicine (Professor James Neil, Professor of Virology and Molecular Oncology, University of Glasgow)

Biosecurity and Surveillance (Professor Dirk Pfeiffer, Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology, Royal Veterinary College)

Welfare, Ethics and Society (Professor Christine Nicol, Professor of Animal Welfare, Farm Animal Science, University of Bristol)

During the Workshop, delegates were asked to consider a number of questions:

Should there be a Centre/Network of Scientific Excellence for animal bioscience in Scotland?

What form should it take? Should it be regional or cover all of Scotland?

Decision makers/ Governance/ Funding

Which areas should be covered? Existing expertise? New opportunities?

Next steps? What should be done to advance the idea?

The SSAC would welcome further views on these issues and nwo invites the delegates and other stakeholders to feed in their views to the SSA by 1st December 2006 to Dr Marc Rands at mrands@scottishscience.org.uk

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