cc: "H.J. Schellnhuber" , "Dr. Rachel Warren" ,e.tompkins@uea.ac.uk, larissa.naylor@geog.ox.ac.uk,tyn.all@uea.ac.uk date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 16:40:28 +0000 from: Mike Hulme subject: Advisory Board - and a look back to: P.M.Allen@Cranfield.ac.uk,"N.W.Arnell" , f.berkhout@sussex.ac.uk,j.kohler@econ.cam.ac.uk,m.cannell@ite.ac.uk, j.a.halliday@rl.ac.uk,jenkins@fs5.ee.umist.ac.uk, brian.launder@umist.ac.uk,t.markvart@soton.ac.uk,cnash@its.leeds.ac.uk, ,j.g.shepherd@soton.ac.uk, a.watkinson@uea.ac.uk,m.hulme@uea.ac.uk,n.adger@uea.ac.uk, mnt@soc.soton.ac.uk Dear Council and colleagues, We had I believe a positive, constructive and efficient (thank you Sam) 2nd Advisory Board meeting on Monday in London. The general sentiment was that we had progressed substantially since April with the aid of our strategic planning process (thank you Elaine). The Tyndall research strategy (thank you John and Council) was praised and endorsed (especially the Tyndall Highlights Matrix) - with some minor suggestions for amendment. The Tyndall Assembly event was regarded as highly beneficial and extremely well organised (thank you Gillian) and the project Fact Sheets were also praised (thank you Simon). The two issues of greatest debate revolved around 1) precise membership and representation on the Board and on the new Assessment Panel (the right mix of scientists and stakeholders was stressed, including more than just one NGO), and 2) where Tyndall should be positioned in the continuum between conducting policy-driven and research-driven research. Policy-relevant research is clearly in between these two extremes and we are somewhere in this middle territory, but there were different views expressed around the Advisory table, just as there are different views within Tyndall, about where Tyndall should be. This must be seen as a creative tension for us, since we will never be able to define precisely where we sit - and it will vary over time and with topic. In due course approved minutes from the meeting will be available on the Tyndall Intranet. The next Board meeting will be late November 2002 and will be preceded by a day meeting of the Assessment Panel (a sub-group of the Board) to review in more depth Tyndall research activities. Both events will be in London and I will be calling on several of you no doubt to contribute to the Assessment Day. Many thanks to you all for ensuring that Tyndall has got off to such a good start, and to Vanessa for getting HQ running so smoothly. We know that NERC are very pleased with our performance to date, that EPSRC are holding Tyndall up to the wider HE community as a model from which other new multi-site research initiatives should draw experience, and that OST are keenly following our progress in delivering a new form of research institution in the UK (we have not yet had any inferred commentary from ESRC - anyone else heard anything from that source?). Best wishes for Christmas and New Year. Mike