ROBOT SCIENTIST PROJECT

Early day motion 1323, tabled 22 April 2009 by Mark Williams (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 20 members.

That this House recognises the importance of research by higher education institutions into robotics to the scientific community and the UK as a whole; congratulates Professor Ross King of Aberystwyth University and the team of scientists from Aberystwyth and Cambridge led by him on their development of what they believe is the first robotic system, Adam, that can independently discover new scientific knowledge, developing its own hypotheses and testing these through experiments; welcomes the important practical applications this research could have for scientists across many different fields to allow them to carry out research more efficiently; acknowledges the wide coverage and respect that this work has generated for Aberystwyth University globally; further recognises the quality of the university's Computer Science department and the contribution that the department makes to the University's reputation, both nationally and internationally; and looks forward to the next phase of this work, which hopes through the project's second robotic system, Eve, to be able to assist scientists in the search for new drugs to combat diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis.

Signatures by party: Labour 13, Liberal Democrat 6, Plaid Cymru 1.