Nature: In the wide-ranging shake-up of government that accompanied Gordon Brown’s arrival as Britain’s new prime minister, science got both a new home and a new minister in charge. Although the move had not been announced at the time Nature went to press, the new minister will be Ian Pearson, previously Minister of State for Climate Change and Environment.In a complex game of departmental division and recombination, Pearson will take office not in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which used to be home to the science brief, but in the newly formed Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). This department marks a fusion between parts of the old DTI and part of the old Department for Education, and will also contain a new Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser.
For the UNESCO section chief, “striking a balance between global coherence and respect for national ownership and cultural diversity is both essential and complex.”
May 13, 2026 01:46 PM
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