Tonya Nelson

Tonya Nelson is Director of Museums and Cultural Programmes at University College London. A former barrister, she has been Chair of Trustees for the Bomb Factory Arts Foundation since 2016. She is currently interim Chair of the UK Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and was formerly a Trustee of the Collections Trust.

Molly Stevens

Molly Stevens is Professor within the Departments of Materials and Bioengineering at Imperial College London. She is currently the Director of the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform focussed on smart materials. Her research has been recognised by over 20 awards, including the 2017 Harrison Medal from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

The roles are not remunerated. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last 5 years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. The candidates have declared no such political activity.

On Friday 8 June 2018, a road-rail maintenance vehicle ran away towards Bradford Interchange terminal station.

The maintenance vehicle was a mobile elevating working platform (MEWP) that was equipped with both rubber wheels for road running and steel rail wheels for operation on the railway. That night, it was intended to be used for examination work on a section of track which was under possession (temporarily closed to normal train services).

The runaway started at the Britannia Street road-rail access point, which provides a flat surface allowing road-rail vehicles to be manoeuvred on to the track. This access point is on a section of railway which slopes downwards at a declared gradient of 1 in 50 towards the station before running onto level track as it enters the platforms.

Shortly after 01:30 hrs the MEWP was being transferred from its rubber-tyred road wheels onto its rail wheels. During this manoeuvre, known as on-tracking, the machine operator was controlling the machine using a remote control unit which was connected to the machine by a cable. As the rail wheels were lowered onto the track the MEWP started to run down the gradient towards the station where it stopped about 340 metres from the access point (and before reaching the buffers at the end of the platform).

No-one was on board the MEWP as it started to run away. The machine operator and machine controller attempted to stop the runaway. They were unable to do so, but they kept up with the machine during its travel to warn other staff working in the vicinity.

Initial evidence suggests that the runaway occurred because the on-tracking was not carried out correctly and the rail wheel brakes, intended to hold the vehicle on the gradient, provided insufficient brake force to do so.

The RAIB’s investigation will identify:

• the sequence of events that led to the runaway
• the factors influencing the actions of those involved in the operation of the machine as it was being placed onto the track
• the actual capability of the rail wheel brakes
• the rail-conversion and maintenance history of the MEWP
• the standards and design approval processes that were applied to this type of MEWP
• any relevant management factors

Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This report will be available on our website.

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The Department for Education has up to £125,000 to invest in a series of studies into ways of using data on graduate salary and employment to create digital tools that help prospective students make informed choices.

Students often make uninformed decisions about what and where to study. The department wants to create a free, accessible and commercially sustainable digital tool for students that uses existing data about graduate employment and salaries.

Up to 5 studies could be funded in the first phase. The best ideas could share £300,000 to develop their ideas further in a second phase.

Proposals must include plans for user discussions or testing to ensure solutions meet students needs, and they must use graduate outcomes data.

The competition is run under SBRI (the Small Business Research Initiative), which helps the public and private sectors come together to solve challenges facing government.

• the competition opens on 25 June 2018, and the deadline for registration is at midday on 8 August 2018
• it is open to any organisation that can demonstrate a route to market for its idea
• we expect phase 1 contracts to be worth up to £25,000 and to last up to 1 month
• successful projects will attract 100% funded development contracts
• a briefing event and innovation day will be held on 18 July 2018 at the Open Data Institute in Leeds