Let’s hear it for the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee.

In fact I take back all the things I was thinking a few weeks ago (probably unfairly) about it being ponderous, having too many on-going inquiries (16 at the moment  I think) and only ever hearing from the great and the good.

The Committee has just announced that it wants to hear from the science community and the wider public with suggestions of topics it should look into.

The initiative is called ‘My Science Inquiry’ and you can submit ideas in writing or in a tweeted video using the hashtag #MyScienceInquiry.   Full details of criteria and how to do this can be found if you follow that last link.

Those people whose topics are short-listed will be asked to pitch to the Committee in a sort of Dragon’s Den like exercise. Which is sort of fun although some have suggested there should be a public vote on the short-list.

Leaving this aside it would be really cool if a few ideas from the public were adopted by the Committee.  I am thinking of one along the lines of: How can we better involve the public in decisions about what science is funded and how it is done?

Anyway, deadline for ideas is January 4th.