The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is to give up its science diplomats. The extensive FCO Science and Innovation Network, consisting of attachés in 22 countries around the world, will be gradually transferred to the Department of Innovation Universities and Skills (DIUS) which will fund and jointly manage the network in the future. The FCO claims it is not ‘opting out’ of science but has nevertheless been criticised for the move, which is seen as sending a poor message to embassies and companies abroad. The long-standing FCO network is already supplemented by British Council activities promoting science as part of its broader cultural mission, and has also recently been joined on the global scene by several new international offices for Research Councils UK (RCUK) in major science and technology hotspots around the world.

You can read more stories like this one in the April edition of Science Insight.