Two former universities and science ministers have revealed their biggest mistakes in office

The Ex Ministers were discussing their biggest achievements and mistakes at an event, organised by Ex Libris

London, United Kingdom — February 20, 2020. Ex Libris®, a ProQuest company, gathered directors of leading research offices from across the UK at the first Research Professional Live conference. The event allowed for research directors to hear from former university and science ministers Jo Johnson, Sam Gyimah and David Willetts, and several scholars and academic peers.

Jo Johnson, who was in post between 2015 and 2018, and again for six weeks during 2019, and David Willetts, who was in office from 2010-2014, revealed their biggest mistakes and achievements during a panel debate at the event, held at the Royal Society on the 5 February.

Jo Johnson listed scrapping maintenance grants for the poorest students among his mistakes, while David Willetts regretted the impact the tuition fee increase had on mature students. Their comments can be read here .

Extended coverage of the event can be read on www.researchprofessionalnews.com and in the latest Research Fortnight .

Research Professional news service also includes the fortnightly European digital magazine Research Europe, and daily news and analysis from our specialist journalists reporting from the UK, Brussels, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordics, Ireland, Africa and Australia.

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Ex Libris provides several thematic recurring events and conferences that take place in different countries across Europe. Presentations from the event can be found on their dedicated website www.exlibrisevents.com which also provides information on future events.