For the Frederick Hood Memorial Event which was sponsored by Walter Scott and Partners Ltd, Professor Susan Greenfield was joined by Kirsty Wark as the interviewer. The discussion was labelled "Paradigm Shift: Battling for Success in Science".
After a brief introduction from Kirsty Wark, Professor Greenfield set out the areas that she was happy to discuss - "laying out her stall", as she called it - which generally seemed to be virtually anything!
Born in 1950, Greenfield grew up in the 'Swinging Sixties' in London. She came from a half Jewish background and went to a good school in London but she was the first member of her family to go to university gaining her PhD at St Hilda's College, Oxford.
She stressed that she had no 'O' levels in science and when she decided to change her course of study at Oxford this raised no eyebrows at home - she said her mother commented, "Oh, that's nice dear!"
She spoke of being poor while at Oxford, however, there was respect in her family and in her community for scholarship as well as for extra-mural activities. She played chess and this was an accepted thing to do in her family. Greenfield said she grew up in a family where things just had to happen as planned, there was no backing down - her mother was a dancer and had an optimistic mentality coupled with the ingrained philosophy that, "the show had to go on".
Kirsty Wark asked, "you have some thirty honorary doctorates, so what does success look like to you?"
Greenfield said that when she was young and had just graduated, getting a job was really important - then it was finding out what she really wanted to specialise in. She had always had a fascination with the brain so decided to specialise in neuroscience.
Wark then asked if she supported the view expressed by many, that social media and particularly video games helped to cause autism?
Greenfield said that her views on this were well known and that she did support this theory. She said that all parents would want the best for their children, so some degree of control would be sensible.
Asked if she resented criticism, she replied that this is all part of the scientific process where papers are challenged and the writer has to defend his or her theory, so criticism is not hurtful, it is healthy, and helps to prove or disprove theories put forward.
This was a fascinating hour with one of the world's most distinguished scientists and it was a privilege to hear her speak.