‘The Academy was founded in 2000 to provide a forum committed to open and robust public debate in which ideas can be interrogated, argued for and fought over. We organise intelligent public debates, on controversial topics, and most importantly challenge contemporary knee-jerk orthodoxies. One focus of our work is to ensure that new generations look behind the headlines and avoid over simplistic conclusions on difficult topics. We are especially concerned about the “dumbing down” of debate, and to this end we organise a range of high-profile public events.’ Events have included an annual Battle of Ideas Conference held in London in the Autumn.

'We are a volunteer group who organise events to promote science in the London community. We arrange debates, informal talks from scientists, group learning events and aim to have a presence at science festivals. The Branch is run by an elected committee. We hold monthly meetings, which any volunteers can attend, and are always open to ideas for new events.'