science and evidence in the hands of the public founded 2013 founder lord taverne type charitable trust no. 110111 location london united kingdom area served england and wales revenue 457 368 2014 16 % from 2013 1 website senseaboutscience.org board of trustees 2011 lord taverne chair sense about science is a uk charity that promotes the public understanding of science . sense about science was founded in 2002 by lord taverne bridget ogilvie and others to promote respect for scientific evidence and good science . sense about science was established as a charitable trust in 2003 with 14 trustees an advisory council and a small office staff . tracey brown has been the director since 2002 . 2 sense about science aims to work with scientists journalists and others to ensure that scientific evidence is at the forefront of public discussions about science and to correct unscientific misinformation . 3 they encourage and assist scientists to engage in public debates about their area of expertise to respond to scientifically inaccurate claims in the media to help people contact scientists with appropriate expertise and to prepare briefings about the scientific background to issues of public concern . contents 1 projects 1.1 the sense about science annual lecture 1.2 the john maddox prize 2 supported causes and campaigns 2.1 alltrials 2.2 ask for evidence 2.3 keep libel laws out of science 3 reception 4 funding 5 people 5.1 trustees 5.2 advisory board 6 references 7 external links projects edit sense about science publishes guides to different areas of science in partnership with experts . these include making sense of uncertainty 4 making sense of allergies 5 making sense of drug safety science 6 making sense of crime 7 making sense of statistics 8 making sense of screening 9 and making sense of gm . 10 sense about science maintains database of over 6 000 uk scientists willing to use their expertise to help inform public debate . 11 it also runs the voice of young science programme to help early career scientists engage in public debates . sense about science hosts an annual lecture . since its founding sense about science has contributed to uk public debates about such subjects as alternative medicine detoxification products and detox diets genetically modified food avian influenza chemicals and health electrosmog vaccination weather and climate nuclear power and the use and utility of peer review . 12 sas encourages scientists to explain to the public the value of peer review in determining which reports should be taken seriously . director tracey brown describes such critical thinking as crucial to preventing public health scares based on unpublished information . 13 the sense about science annual lecture edit sense about science hosts an annual lecture . past speakers have been tracey brown 2015 14 professor steve rayner 2014 15 cory doctorow 2013 16 lord taverne 2012 17 professor richard evans 2011 18 dr fiona godlee 2010 19 dr olivia judson 2009 20 professor alan sokal 2008 21 professor raymond tallis 2007 22 sir john krebs 2006 23 the john maddox prize edit sense about science also promotes the john maddox prize 24 the john maddox prize for standing up for science rewards an individual who has promoted sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest . its emphasis is on those who have faced difficulty or hostility in doing so . nominations of active researchers who have yet to receive recognition for their public interest work are particularly welcomed . past winners are fang zhouzi david nutt simon wessely emily willingham david robert grimes edzard ernst and susan jebb . supported causes and campaigns edit sense about science launched the ask for evidence campaign in 2011 to help people request for themselves the evidence behind news stories marketing claims and policies . 25 alltrials edit main article alltrials the alltrials campaign calls for all past and present clinical trials to be registered and their full methods and summary results reported . 26 alltrials is an international initiative of bad science bmj centre for evidence based medicine cochrane collaboration james lind initiative plos and sense about science and is being led in the us by sense about science usa dartmouth s geisel school of medicine and the dartmouth institute for health policy & clinical practice . 27 as of november 2015 the alltrials petition has been signed by 86734 people and 626 organisations . 27 ask for evidence edit ask for evidence was launched by sense about science in 2011 . it is a campaign that helps people request for themselves the evidence behind news stories marketing claims and policies . 25 the campaign has received funding from the wellcome trust 28 and is endorsed by figures such as dara briain 29 and derren brown . 30 keep libel laws out of science edit sense about science launched the keep libel laws out of science campaign in june 2009 31 in defence of a member of its board of trustees 32 author and journalist simon singh who has been sued for libel by the british chiropractic association . they issued a statement entitled the law has no place in scientific disputes 33 which was signed by many people representing science medicine journalism publishing arts humanities entertainment sceptics campaign groups and law . in april 2010 the bca lost this case 34 with the court accepting that criticism of the bca concerning its promotion of bogus treatments was fair comment . in december 2009 sense about science index on censorship and english pen launched the libel reform campaign . 35 the defamation act 2013 received royal assent on 25 april 2013 and came into force on 1 january 2014 . the trust actively campaigns in support of various causes . it has issued a statement signed by over 35 scientists 36 asking the who to condemn homeopathy for diseases such as hiv . 37 reception edit sense about science and their publications have been cited a number of times in the popular press 38 39 most notably for encouraging celebrities and the public to think critically about scientific claims 40 41 criticizing marketing unsupported by research 42 43 44 decrying the unsubstantiated claims of homeopathy 45 46 supporting genetically modified crops 47 criticising do it yourself health testing 48 49 denouncing detox products 50 51 warning against miracle cures 52 53 and promoting public understanding of peer review . 54 they have received positive coverage in publications from the royal society 55 and the u.s. national science foundation 56 and in the writings of scientists such as ben goldacre 57 and steven novella . 58 lord taverne chairman of sense about science has criticised campaigns to ban plastic bags as counter productive and being based on bad science . 59 anti genetic modification campaigners and academics have criticised sense about science for what they view as a failure to disclose industry connections of some advisers 60 and private eye reported that it had seen a draft of the making sense of gm guide that included monsanto company s former director of scientific affairs as an author . 61 tracey brown managing director of sense about science rebutted these claims on the sas website . 62 journalist george monbiot has commented on the connections tracey brown dr michael fitzpatrick assistant director ellen raphael and others working with sense about science have with the former revolutionary communist party and living marxism magazine . 63 claims of a living marxist network have been denied . 64 65 homeopath peter fisher criticised sense about science who have been working closely with nhs primary care trusts on the issue of funding for homeopathy for being funded by the pharmaceutical industry ; sas responded in a statement to channel 4 news that peter fisher s desperate comments show about as much grasp of reality as the homeopathic medicine he sells . 66 funding edit sense about science s principal funding is through grants and donations in respect of its core aims . 67 in its funding policy it states donations do not entitle any individual or organisation to decision making authority . external funding will not divert sense about science from its agreed aims and values . 68 funding for the trust has been increasing . some is derived from industrial organizations engaged in scientific dispute clinical trials and research for which sas is supportive e.g. genetically modified crops as well as major publishing houses . for example for the fiscal year ending 5 april 2008 the trust received 145 902 in donations . disclosed corporate donations comprised 88 000 with pharmaceutical company astra zeneca donating 35 000 . 69 previous donations included other pharmaceutical industries such as pfizer . 69 this dependency has now been diminished since for the fiscal year ending april 2010 the trust received 183 971 in donations of which 17 500 was derived from the pharmaceutical industry unilever and g e healthcare . in 2011 the amount diminished further to less than 6 % funding derived from industry sources the trust received 268 184 in donations with 15 000 from industry with the rest derived from science bodies and individuals . 69 70 people edit trustees edit as of november 2015 the trustees of sense about science are 71 professor paul hardaker chair professor dame bridget ogilvie fmedsci frs vice chair dr michael fitzpatrick ms diana garnham professor robin lovell badge dr julie maxton mr nick ross rt hon sir stephen sedley dr simon singh advisory board edit the charity has an advisory board which includes professor john adams mr richard ayre professor peter atkins professor sir colin berry fmedsci professor colin blakemore fmedsci frs professor gustav born frs professor sir robert boyd fmedsci professor john coggins professor phil dale obe professor adrian dixon fmedsci dr simon festing dr ron fraser mr david allen green dr irene hames dr evan harris lord hunt of chesterton frs lord jenkin of roding professor trevor m jones cbe sir david king frs professor sir peter lachmann frs fmedsci dr stephen ladyman ms prue leith obe dr robin lovell badge frs professor julian ma professor alan malcolm professor vivian moses professor sir keith peters frs pmedsci lord plumb of coleshill dl dr ian ragan dr matt ridley fmedsci professor raymond tallis fmedsci professor anthony trewavas frs lord turnberg of cheadle fmedsci dr roger turner professor simon wessely fmedsci and professor michael wilson . 72 references edit funding sense about science . sense about science . 2014 . office team sense about science . www.senseaboutscience.org . retrieved 2015 11 17 . sense about science voice of young science workshop ellen raphael talked about sense about science discussing projects and the ways we correct misinformation with examples from the last five years . making sense of uncertainty the university of manchester . www.manchester.ac.uk . retrieved 2015 11 17 . making sense of allergies . allergy uk . mrc medical research council 2014 03 04 . making sense of drug safety science . www.mrc.ac.uk . retrieved 2015 11 17 . making sense of crime after an election full of crime fiction the alliance for useful evidence . www.alliance4usefulevidence.org . retrieved 2015 11 17 . making sense of statistics straight statistics . straightstatistics.fullfact.org . retrieved 2015 11 17 . making sense of screening testing treatments interactive . testing treatments interactive . retrieved 2015 11 17 . making sense of gm john innes centre . www.jic.ac.uk . retrieved 2015 11 17 . about us sense about science . www.senseaboutscience.org . retrieved 2015 11 17 . health & medicine . sense about science . retrieved 1 june 2012 . butler declan 2004 . academics seek to cast peer review as a public service . nature . 430 6995 7 . doi 10.1038 430007b . pmid 15229573 . brown tracey . science and sensibility on the untrustworthy nature of truth podcast . the guardian . retrieved 2015 11 17 . science technology and democracy sense about science lecture podcast .