Programme

Carole Mundell Chief Scientific Adviser, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Professor Carole Mundell was appointed Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in October 2018. She is Professor of Extragalactic Astronomy, Head of Astrophysics at the University of Bath and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. Her career highlights include: Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2011 to 2016) for the study of black hole-driven explosions and the dynamic Universe; FDM Everywoman in Technology Woman of the Year (2016); Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Board Member and STFC Skills and Engagement Advisory Board Chair (2015). Carole studied at the University of Glasgow where she gained a BSc in Physics before working at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, University of Manchester, where she completed a PhD in Astrophysics. She later moved to the University of Maryland before joining Liverpool John Moores University, where she received her first professorship in 2007. A world-leading scientist, she is a frequent guest speaker at international conferences. She sits on a number of strategic advisory panels for UK and international groups, is a committed communicator of science, and is an advocate for diversity in science.

Massimiano Bucchi Full Professor of Sociology of Science and Communication, Science and Technology, University of Trento

Massimiano Bucchi is Full Professor of Sociology of Science and Communication, Science and Technology at the University of Trento and has been visiting professor in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. Since 2018, he is director of the Master in Communication of Science and Innovation. He is the author of several books (published in more than twenty countries) and papers in journals such as Nature and Science. Among his books in English are Science and the Media (Routledge, 1998); Science in Society (Routledge, 2004); Beyond Technocracy (Springer, 2009). He is the editor of the international peer reviewed journal Public Understanding of Science (Sage) and regularly contributes to newspapers and TV programmes.

Marco Cappato Treasurer, Associazione Luca Coscioni

Marco Cappato is Coordinator of the World Congress for freedom of scientific Research, Treasurer of Luca Coscioni Association and one of the promoters of Science for Democracy. Former member of the European Parliament (1999-2009) and EP Rapporteur on: privacy in electronic communication; human rights in the world for 2007; production of opium for medical purposes in Afghanistan; public access to EU documents. Nominated for the `Politician of the year' award organised by Wired in 2003; winner of the `European of the Year' award organised by the European voice. He is a former member of Milano City Council (2011-2016), and leader of the Italian campaign for euthanasia legalization. He is a civil disobedience activist on science, drugs and end-of-life decisions.

Carlo Rinaldi Dr, University of Oxford

Carlo Rinaldi completed his medical education in 2005 and his residency in adult neurology in 2010 both with distinction at the University of Federico II, Naples, Italy. In 2009 he joined the Neurogenetics Branch at the National Institute of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) under the supervision of prof. Fischbeck, to work on the mechanisms of pathogenesis of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA or Kennedy's disease) and other genetic diseases of the motor unit and where he also obtained a PhD in Neuroscience with the thesis entitled: 'From Disease Gene Identification to Therapeutic Targets in Neuromuscular Diseases'. In 2015 he joined the lab of prof. Wood at the University of Oxford as a Clinical Research Fellow and in December 2016 was awarded a Stage 2 Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship. He is an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London.

Silvia Chiappa Staff Research Scientist, DeepMind

Silvia Chiappa is Staff Research Scientist in Machine Learning at DeepMind. She received a Diploma di Laurea in Mathematics from University of Bologna and a PhD in Machine Learning from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (IDIAP Research Institute). Before joining DeepMind, she worked in the Empirical Inference Department at the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schölkopf), in the Machine Intelligence and Perception Group at Microsoft Research Cambridge (Prof. Christopher Bishop) and the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge (Prof. Philip Dawid). Her research interests are based around Bayesian & causal reasoning, graphical models, variational inference, time-series models, deep learning, and machine learning fairness and bias.

Riccardo Luna Editor-in-chief, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI)

Riccardo Luna is editor in chief of Agi Agenzia Giornalistica Italia since October 2016. He is the Italian protagonist in the transformation of journalism in the digital age: from 2014 until last summer he was Italy's Digital Champion, a figure responsible for leading national initiatives to “help every European become digital”. In 2009 Riccardo Luna has promoted the candidacy of the Internet for the Nobel Peace Prize; in 2012 he has founded Wikitalia, the association that endeavors to promote transparency, open data and participation in Italian politics using the internet; he is vice president of Make in Italy Foundation since 2013. He has worked for the most important Italian newspapers, such as Repubblica (for more than 10 years), and he founded and has been editor of three magazines: Campus, Il Romanista and Wired, the online magazines CheFuturo! and StartupItalia!, outlets and community dedicated to startupper. Luna is a presenter of tv and radio programs and he is a protagonist of several initiatives and connected events in the world of digital start-ups.