The President’s Lunch 2012

Professor Sir Howard Newby AcSS, President of the Academy, will host the Annual Lunch for members of the Academy and their guests on Tuesday 18th December 2012 in the elegant surroundings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (left and below).

This year it will be preceded by a drinks reception to allow for networking opportunities.

An optional special tour of the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood has been arranged for the first part of the morning. See below for more details.

Confirmed speakers are Mr Paul Grice, Chief Executive of the Scottish Parliament, and Professor Alice Brown CBE AcSS. Unfortunately a Cabinet meeting is now preventing John Swinney from speaking as originally confirmed.

Bookings are open online via the Events page of this website.

Tickets are £75 per head for a silver service three-course lunch with wine and coffee and an unparalleled opportunity to meet and network with other senior members of the social science community.

 

 

Programme

9.30am       Tour of Scottish Parliament and Building (optional) -

                    details below

11.30am     Launch of Making the Case for the Social Sciences:

                    Scotland

                           

Presenters:

Mr Paul Grice, Chief Executive of the Scottish Parliament
Professor Alice Brown CBE AcSS, General Secretary, Royal Society of Edinburgh

12.30pm     Drinks Reception

1pm       Lunch

2.30pm       Presentation of Certificates

                   to new Academicians

2.45pm       Close

 

 

Optional Special tour of the Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood

The Academy of Social Sciences is delighted to have arranged a private tour of the iconic Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood, Edinburgh.

For those Academicians from outside Scotland, this is where devolved social and economic policies are debated by the 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament; and where legislation is developed through a unicameral system. It is of course the centre of the debate on the forthcoming referendum in 2014 about whether Scotland should become independent.

The Architect Enric Miralles said that the new Parliament Building would be like many operas – hated at first, then becoming admired and eventually loved. The building has been described as one of the most innovative designs in Britain today and won the RIBA Stirling prize for Architecture in 2004.

This is an opportunity to visit both public areas such as the debating chamber (left) and committee rooms and behind the scenes in the Garden Lobby, the MSPs’ building and the 17th Century Grade A Listed Queensberry House (below), whose owners were involved in the abolition of the pre 1707 Scottish Parliament.

The building has been acclaimed for its integrated design, its artworks and its emphasis on sustainability. For our Scottish Academicians it is an opportunity to look with fresh eyes after the controversy surrounding its first years.

The tour will take place on the morning of 18th December before the President’s Lunch at the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Please email our administrator, Vicky McGuinness [administrator@acss.org.uk], if you wish to join the tour. Please note, places are limited.