To mark the fifty year anniversary of Solly Zuckerman’s appointment as the first Government Chief Scientific Adviser, CSaP came together with the Royal Society, GO-Science and SPRU to host an event on the past, present and future of scientific advice. The event took the form of two panel sessions, the first being retrospective, focusing on the formation and evolution of the role of GCSA, and the second prospective, looking at how the role is changing and where it might go from here.