Braemar: the best exploration…
by Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, Professor of Sleep Physiology
Attending the Braemar Summit 2022 on “Future and exploration” was among the best explorations I ever had, and unlike any other meeting I attended before. I was lucky to be invited to this “by invitation only” conference, thanks to my interest in neurobiology and applications of sleep and hibernation. These subjects were uniquely fitted the main theme of the Braemar summit 2022 “Future and exploration”, where neuroscience and space travel were among the main topics discussed.
Strangely, I found myself quite comfortable mingling among true pioneers and leaders in their respective fields, who would enthusiastically share their ideas and were equally keen to listen. On the first evening, I was asked to raise a toast to science – which I did in English and my native language of Ukrainian. The meeting was happening at rather poignant time and place for the topic of the present and future of humanity - in the world that was changed after the invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022 and in the location of a picturesque Scottish village, Braemar, just a short drive from Balmoral Castle.
During the two days of the Summit, we progressed from diving into the microscopic world of genes and neural circuits in the brain, which give rise to consciousness and define who we are, to remote expanses of the Universe, where extra-terrestrial life possibly lurks on planets, which may forever remain beyond our reach, and where new rules of the physical world are still awaiting to be discovered. What is clear is that advancing knowledge is impossible unless funding agencies and governments supporting research take us, scientists, into account, as the key “tool” in this endeavour. Struggling for career progression, balancing research with other demands, is neither easy nor fair. This was the key message in the opening remarks of a renowned astronomer Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who I had the pleasure of introducing at the dinner after my toast.
The future of research funding is also gloomy, but fortunately the problem is well recognised, as new initiatives are launched, such as the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) – an independent science funding body, which aims to find talents and fund new transformational research. At the first dinner, I sat next to the chairman of ARIA, an investor and entrepreneur Matt Clifford, who was invited to give a brief introduction into the initiative in his keynote speech. Of course, I could not miss the opportunity and did my best to make him interested in sleep and hibernation, as areas worth being funded!
Events like Braemar Summit often help to connect with colleagues living and working literally next door, and this is how I met Sonia Antoranz Contera, a biological physicist from Oxford, who is also greatly interested in philosophy, literature, architecture and science communication. I hugely enjoyed our discussion – from consciousness and the choice of materials for brain electrodes to Taoism and teachings of Nikolai Fyodorov – a philosopher and one of the founders of transhumanism, who was among the first to predict the possibility of human space travel.
All in all, the Braemar Summit was an exceptional meeting. It provided a unique platform for exchanging knowledge and ideas, making new contacts, building bridges between disciplines and discovering something new. But additionally, it reminded us how precious and fragile our world is, and that it is our responsibility to safeguard the future of life on Earth. On the last evening, I bumped into Doug Gurr, the Chairman of the board of trustees of the British Heart Foundation and current President of the Natural History Museum, and we talked about the vast collections and unique specimens they have in their possession. He told me about a nest of some obscure bird, now extinct, which he held in his hands, knowing that this is the last nest remaining in museum collections from a bird that no longer exists, and I must say I had to work hard to control my emotions.