Science is high on the agenda in Nottingham and this was officially recognised in 2005 when Gordon Brown hand-picked six UK cities to be given the official title of Science City.
Nottingham joins Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle and York in leading the science and technology sectors into the future.
The UK Minister for Science and Innovation at the time was Lord Sainsbury. He said: “’The government is committed to making the UK the best place in the world for science. UK science and innovation are key to meeting the challenges of an increasingly competitive global knowledge economy. Science Cities will be one of the focal points for transforming the best of British ideas and discoveries into new products and services.”
Nottingham has a history of science. The Nottingham Science City Board claims Albert Einstein once visited the city and said his work would not have been possible without the previous discoveries of Nottingham physicist and mathematician George Green. The first home video recorders were invented in Nottingham along with the MRI scanner.
Nowadays there are more than 7,000 science students studying at the city’s two universities. Research is taking place at the University of Nottingham to try to beat the fight against hospital bug MRSA. Scientists in the county are also in the process of inventing a type of broccoli that can fight cancer.
Professor Neil Gorman, vice chancellor of Nottingham Trent University and chairman of Nottingham Science City Board, said: “The time is right for Nottingham to take forward its ambitions as an international location for science. The Science City project has brought together all of the key players in Nottingham, and we are working together to deliver that ambition for the city and the region.”