Science and the Senedd/Gwyddoniaeth a’r Senedd 2023

Jas Pal Badyal was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985, gaining his Doctorate (PhD) in 1988, both from Cambridge University. He held a King’s College Fellowship and the Oppenheimer Fellowship. In 1989 he moved to Durham University to take up a lectureship and was promoted to Full Professor in 1996.

He is internationally recognised for his pioneering research on the functionalisation of solid surfaces and deposition of functional nanolayers.

Jas Pal was appointed as the Welsh Government’s fourth Chief Scientific Adviser in February 2023.

Samantha is the Institute of Physics' Learning and Skills Manager in Wales, having joined in 2019. As part of her role, Samantha works with a wide range of stakeholders in the education and employment sector in Wales, fostering scientific literacy, developing essential skills, and creating pathways for meaningful employment for students in the realm of physics and related disciplines.
 
Having graduated with a Physics degree from Cardiff University and a Master’s degree from the University of South Wales in Renewable Energy and Resource Management, she has over fifteen years’ experience in the energy and sustainability sector prior to making the move to science education.

Dr Louise Bright is Executive Director of Engagement and Enterprise at the University of South Wales. While previously seconded to the Welsh Government Louise undertook a study on how the Government might work with Welsh Universities to increase the levels of Research Council income. The outcomes of the study formed the basis for a Ministerial approved report with policy implications. During her secondment she was also responsible for drafting a proposal to establish a National Science Academy for Wales. This was approved and Louise went on to work with Welsh Government on a consultancy basis including projects on the delivery of the National Science Academy and Welsh Government’s Innovation Policy. Louise was the Associate Director of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education with responsibility for Wales. This role built on her experience of developing research students and academics to become effective researchers. Louise is a peer reviewer for the HR Excellence in Research Award and was a member of the Chief Science Advisor for Wales Task and Finish Group which informed a report on women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine in Wales. Louise also leads the Wales Women in STEM Network and is a member of Welsh Government’s Equality in STEM Board. 

Vaughan was born in Zambia and brought up in Dorset. He was educated at Aberystwyth and Cardiff universities.  He has one son with his wife,  Michelle and is a largely retired cricketer who is also  a fan of both rugby and football.

Vaughan was a solicitor and former partner at Thompsons. He is a member of the GMB, UNISON and Unite unions, and was the youngest ever President of the Wales TUC. He has previously served as a county councillor, school governor and community service volunteer – supporting and caring for a student with cerebral palsy. Vaughan is also a former president of NUS Wales.

Between 1999 and 2001, Vaughan worked as a researcher to former AMs Val Feld and Lorraine Barrett and between 2001 and 2003, was the chair of Right to Vote – a cross-party project to encourage greater participation from black minority ethnic communities in Welsh public life. He is also a current member of the Co-operative Party.

Vaughan has held the following roles in government, before taking up his current role as Minister for the Economy in May 2021:

Cabinet Secretary/Minister for Health and Social Services
Deputy Minister for Health
Deputy Minister for Tackling Poverty 

Sean is an Associate specialising in Utility and Energy Infrastructure at Hoare Lea – a UK-based, multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firm. He has a background in research and development focussing on energy system optimisation and product development. Sean is particularly interested in bridging the gap between academia and the  private sector through initiatives at the Institute of Engineering and Technology where he is an expert panel member. Sean has a PhD from the University of Nottingham and was winner of the Association of Decentralised Energy’s Innovation Award 2018.

Mark was first elected to the National Assembly for Wales in 2003, before being re-elected in 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2021.
In the Second and Third Assemblies he was the Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister in a range of areas, including Finance, Education, Social Justice, Equality and Housing, as well as being the member of a number of Assembly committees and chairing the Assembly’s Legislation Committee No. 5. He also chaired Cross-Party Groups on Fuel Poverty, Neurosciences, and Funerals and Bereavement.

In the Fourth Assembly he was the Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Communities, Housing, Policing and North Wales, as well as sitting on the Assembly’s Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee and the Assembly’s Standards Committee.

Currently, he is the Shadow Minister for Social Justice and Shadow Counsel General. He is also the Chair of the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee as well as Chair of Cross-Party Groups on Autism, Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency, Hospices and Palliative Care, and Funerals and Bereavement.

Bill is Sêr Cymru Professor of Materials in Extreme Environments at Bangor University in Wales, and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of Security Science and Technology Imperial College London. His research interests include use of ceramics in extreme environments including as nuclear fuels and wasteforms. He has supervised 67 students to successful completion of their PhD and published over 450 papers and 5 books including An Introduction to Nuclear Waste Immobilisation (Elsevier, 3rd edition 2019). He has an h index of 57 (Web of Science) and 67 (Google Scholar including books) with over 20,000 citations. He was a member of the UK’s Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (NIRAB) from 2014-16 and Deputy Chair of the Government advisory Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) from 2007-2013. He served on a US National Academies Committee assessing the DOE Defense Environmental Cleanup Program (2017-19) which reported to Congress Feb 2019.

Paul Lewis is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) providing leadership to cross-organisational activities in support of the delivery of our strategy and business plans. Paul leads our international STM journals, books and data publishing business with supporting technology and, sales & marketing teams as well as overseeing our global operations. Paul has a wider organisational leadership role, developing RSC strategy and capabilities as well as representing the RSC in the UK and internationally. A qualified teacher with an MBA, he has substantial senior leadership experience in the educational assessment, adult training and, STM sectors with specialist government-to-government consulting and, international operating expertise. Paul is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and, Institute of Leadership & Management in the UK. He was born and lives in Cardiff.

Dr Geraint Morgan (FRSC, FRSA, FRAS) is highly active in analytical chemistry and the space technology translation agenda at The Open University, having developed instruments for the Rosetta and Beagle2 space missions. Since successfully analysing a comet, he has led research teams developing a wide range of high impact, sector disruptive solutions to terrestrial challenges, including developing the award-winning air quality monitoring system for use on all future UK submarines and instruments for the world’s largest flavours and fragrance company.  Funding has allowed him to work with end-users to develop novel sniffing solutions (mainly GC-MS and GCxGC-MS) for a diverse range of commercial partners, particularly in the food and drink sector.   The talk will concentrate on how these research instruments are helping a small Welsh distillery grow and develop their portfolio of distilled spirits, including  their Welsh Origin Whisky.

Personal history
As the son of a minister, Peredur had already lived in many different parts of Wales before he went to Glan Clwyd secondary school in St Asaph, including Pumsaint in Carmarthenshire, Moelfre in Ynys Môn, Lixwm in Flintshire. Peredur has a Masters Degree in Control Systems Engineering from the University of Sheffield, and now lives in Caerphilly.

Professional background
As a student in Sheffield, Peredur took a job in banking. After completing his degree, Peredur was fast-tracked into being a Bank Manager for Santander, and was able to move back to Wales to complete his training. Whilst with Santander, Peredur worked in branches across south Wales, including Newport, Monmouth, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Blackwood, Cwmbran, Barry, Tonypandy, and Cardiff. After Santander, came Principality Building Society, where Peredur worked as a Business Development Manager for the residential mortgage arm of the business. After 13 years in the Financial sector, Peredur joined Christian Aid as Regional Coordinator for South Wales and Legacy Officer for Wales as a whole. During this time, he joined the Board of Directors for Displaced People in Action, a charity working to place refugees. His next step was to join Cytûn: Churches together in Wales, where he worked with the many faith groups across Wales.

Political history
Peredur has been a Community Councillor for Trecenydd in Caerphilly since 2017 and served for two years as the Chair of Penyrheol, Trecenydd and Energlyn Community Council. He previously served as Chair of the Plaid Cymru Caerphilly Constituency. A long time campaigner for Plaid Cymru, Peredur was elected to the Senedd the first time he stood for election.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and former member of the Senedd, Eluned leads the IOP’s strategy and activities within Wales. She has more than 25 years’ experience of working in educational strategy and public engagement for organisations such as Techniquest, National Youth Arts Wales and Cardiff University.  
Eluned is particularly interested in how policy development in Wales can help to create a diverse and supportive STEM ecosystem for the future, encourage research and development to boost the economy and engage citizens in meaningful conversations about how science impacts on their lives.
In addition to her work with the IOP, Eluned is an Infrastructure Commissioner for Wales and Chair of the Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services.

Gill is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Southampton and served as Head of School between 2016 and 2020.

Born and raised in Central Scotland, Gill obtained both her BSc and PhD at the University of Edinburgh, before being appointed to a lectureship in Chemistry at Southampton in 1991. She became professor in 2006.

Her group’s research focuses on synthetic coordination and organometallic chemistry and is motivated by both fundamental studies of new ligand types that explore the influence of metal-ligand combinations on properties and reactivity, as well as more application driven targets. Particular areas of interest are developing reagents for use in chemical vapour deposition and electrodeposition for the controlled growth of functional semiconducting thin film and nanostructured materials. Metal chalcogenides, in particular, have important technological applications, such as solid-state memory, thermoelectric energy harvesting and battery materials. She also works on the development of metal-chelate scaffolds for binding the fluorine-18 radioisotope towards new positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents and has published over 350 research papers.

She is currently President of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2022 - 2024). She previously served as an elected Trustee of the Society (2011-15) and chaired the Outreach Working Group until 2018. 

Jack Sargeant is the Welsh Labour Member of the Senedd for Alyn and Deeside. Jack was born in Bodelwyddan and has always lived in Connah’s Quay. He attended Connah's Quay High School and went on to study for an engineering apprenticeship at Coleg Cambria before completing a degree course at Glyndŵr University in Wrexham, whilst working at a local engineering firm in Deeside.

Jack was elected as MS for Alyn and Deeside at a by-election held on 6 February 2018. At 23 years of age, Jack Sargeant became the youngest ever Member when he was elected to Welsh Parliament.

Jack is the current Chair of Petitions Committee at the Senedd and is a passionate advocate for Welsh manufacturing and engineering.

Head of Strategic R&D programmes for Tata Steel, I also look after a Technology Centre co-located with Swansea University. I have 30 years’ experience in the steel industry and have seen great change over this time.  We need good and passionate people to be ready for the challenges of the future and a robust talent pipeline to capture the knowledge and skills of our experienced workforce before they retire.  We have 297 new trainees starting with us in September 2023 and value close relationships with academia, to help us deliver apprenticeships, degree apprenticeships, graduates, and post-graduates into the business.  In operations, Tata Steel needs engineering, technical and manufacturing skills.  We need marketing and R&D skills to develop the materials of the future and commercial, finance and supply chain do deliver them, all founded on STEM.  Do we have the STEM workforce for the future?  I hope so!

Dr Emma Yhnell is a passionate and multi award-winning educator, science communicator and Senior Lecturer based at Cardiff University. Emma obtained a BSc degree in Biochemistry before completing a PhD in Huntington’s disease. She then began an independent research fellowship funded by the Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales to translate her findings on cognitive training into the patient clinic. Emma’s clinical research inspired her and demonstrated the need to provide accessible and engaging information. Working currently as a teaching and scholarship focused Senior Lecturer, Emma now teaches the next generation of budding scientists. Using her international expertise in science communication, she delivers engaging and interactive sessions with passion and infectious enthusiasm. Emma has built a reputation for her ability to untangle the academically technical and translate it into entertaining, relevant and engaging content. In 2022 she was elected to the Learned Society of Wales as the youngest ever Fellow. As a first generation academic with expertise in equity, diversity and inclusion, Emma is changing the typical image of academia, by making science more open, honest and fun.