Following an at times impassioned debate about the best way to promote good practice in science communication in the UK, the three bodies that formed the Committee for the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) — the Royal Society, the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Institution — have decided to disband COPUS as it is currently constituted.

COPUS was formed in 1985 in response to the perceived need for better communication of science. In recent years, as the emphasis has shifted from the idea of public understanding of science to one of engaging the public in scientific decision making, critics have suggested that COPUS is old fashioned in its approach.

In particular, Dame Bridget Ogilvie, former head of the Wellcome Trust and chair of COPUS until she resigned in June this year, wanted to see COPUS become an umbrella organization with a strategic overview of science communication. She thought it could co-ordinate the efforts of the many groups now involved in science communication. When she resigned she said that the Royal Society dominated COPUS and was blocking her attempts to turn COPUS into an umbrella body, a charge denied at the time by the Royal Society.

Nevertheless, Ian Gibson, chair of the House of Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology was generally sympathetic to Dame Bridget's view and was critical of the Royal Society during hearings this summer.

Then, in September, the Office of Science and Technology, which supplies public funds to COPUS for science communication programmes, commissioned the British Association to give advice on the best way for the government to promote science communication in the UK. The BA's report — Science and Society — appeared with a number of recommendations at the end of November and seems to have led to the announcement earlier this week of the disbandment of COPUS.

What happens next, said a spokesman for the Royal Society, depends on the Office of Science and Technology. In the meantime, the disbandment of COPUS does not affect the current round of grant applications for former COPUS programmes, These will continue to be administered by the Royal Society.