RAE 2009

Analysis done by the Times Higher Education suggests that the results of the 2008 RAE show no major changes to the overall research landscape, 'the biggest research-intensive-intensive universities are still clustered at the top of the table of excellence, followed by the smaller -research-intensive institutions'.

However, there were some significant ranking changes for individual institutions. Cardiff University dropped out of the top ten to 22nd place. THES reports that it may have sacrificed its quality rating my submitting a high volume of staff which may help when it comes to research funding allocation. Southampton fell from 11th to a tie at 14th while Hertfordshire rose from 93rd to 58th.

Research top 20: (Average research score on numbers - source The Guardian)

1. Cambridge 2,975
2. Oxford 2,959
3. London School of Economics 2,957
4. Imperial College 2,943
5. University College London 2,844
6. Manchester 2,823
7. Warwick 2,799
8. York 2,780
9. Essex 2,772
10. Edinburgh 2,747
11. Queen Mary and Westfield 2,726
12. St Andrews 2,724
13. Bristol 2,723
14. Durham 2,721
15. Southampton 2,715
16. Leeds 2,715
17. Sheffield 2,715
18. Bath 2,711
19. Lancaster 2,711
20. King's College London 2,693

The Guardian reports that 'some of the best universities have large numbers of low-performing researchers... About a third of research by the top six universities was rated two-star or one-star. Some 28% of Cambridge's researchers scored one and two stars, as did 34% of UCL's.' However, Cambridge has the highest proportion of outstanding research in the UK. Of the 2,040 staff whose work was submitted, 71% was deemed to be world-leading or internationally excellent.

Information about subsequent funding allocation will be released on 4 March 2009.

Read The Guardian article in full.

Read the THES article in full

Visit the official RAE site.

Birmingham is the chosen one

HEFCE has selected the University of Birmingham to host the national higher education programme for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The programme aims to increase the number of graduates with skills in these disciplines in order to fulfil employer needs and boost the UK economy.

The bid was coordinated by one of the largest integrated STEM teams in the UK, the University's College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The College comprises the Schools of Chemical Engineering, Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry and Computer Science .

Read more information on the University of Birmingham website.

The results are in...

A survey by Laboratory News and Science World have found that 'life as a scientist in the UK is a mixed bag'. Some key results include:

• Nearly 70% said that life in their lab was good


• Only 5.7% said that salary attributed to job satisfaction


• 40% said it is harder to get funding for work compared to five years ago

Read the survey results in full at the Laboratory News website.

Science from inside

Scientists at the University of Dundee have been collaborating with artist Gordon Dawson, 'to convey to the widest possible audience through the art-form of film, and web video accessible from anywhere in the world, films about research, research technologies, collaboration and inspiration that enable advances in medical science and human health.'

The six short films are aimed at providing a non-scientific audience a real sense of what scientists do and how they do it. The subjects of the six films are:

• Research


• Microscopy


• Proteomics


• Computing


• Communication


• Inspiration

All films can be watched online, free of charge at the GRE - Sharing Science website.

Lab coat off, dancing shoes on.

The winners of the 2009 AAAS/Science "Dance your PhD" contest have been announced. The contest encourages science PhD students to think about their research from an entirely different perspective, the medium of dance. There are four categories:

• Graduate student
• Post-Doc
• Professor
• Popular Choice

The winners are paired with a professional choreographer and a dance piece is created, interpreting one of the winners peer-reviewed research articles. The piece is performed at the 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago in February 2009.

2009 Graduate Student Winner - Sue Lynn Lau (University of Sydney, Australia)
PhD Title: "The role of vitamin D in beta cell function"



See all the 2009 AAAS/Science winners.

EPSRC funds new wave of scientists

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has today announced plans to fund 44 new centres for doctoral training which will train over 2000 PhD students over the next five years.

The centre for doctoral training will 'bring together many areas of expertise, building relationships between teams in universities and with industry. Students receive taught coursework to develop their technical knowledge and broaden their skills as well as carrying out challenging PhD-level research projects'.

Read the story in full on the EPSRC website.

Welcome to the Blogosphere!

Doug Kell, Chief Executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, has started a blog. In his first post, he outlines the purpose of the blog, "I shall almost certainly use this space to discuss issues of general interest to our community, and to complement my discussions with colleagues at institutes and universities."

The blog is fully moderated and comments can be made, after first completing a quick registration form.

Visit Doug Kell's blog.

HEFCE appoints new Chief Executive

Sir Alan Langlands, currently the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. He will take up post on 1 April 2009.

The current Chief Executive, Professor David Eastwood, is to become Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham.

Read more on the HEFCE website.

Teaching to the test

The Independent reports on research undertaken by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), in which 1,600 of the country's brightest 16 year olds took "The Five Decade Challenge" - a two-hour exam which included questions from past science papers spread over the past 43 years.

The overall average score was 25 per cent, but the RSC reports that some pupils scored no marks at all. In highlighting what the RSC calls a "catastrophic slippage" in exam standards, the average score for the 2005 paper questions was 35 per cent, compared to 15 per cent for the 1965 questions. Dr Richard Pike, chief executive of the RSC is quoted as saying, "The fact that highly intelligent youngsters were unfamiliar with these types of questions, obtaining on average 35 per cent from recent papers and just 15 percent from the 1960s, points to a systematic failure and misplaced priorities in the education system."

Read The Independent article in full.

Do boys put girls off science?

The new Schools minister is advocating a return to single-sex education in an attempt to get more girls interested in science and engineering reports The Independent. Sarah McCarthy-Fry is quoted as saying, "Girls do much better in science in single-sex classes. They sometimes feel intimidated in mixes-sex classes, with the boys hogging the limelight and putting their hands up to answer all the questions."

Sarah McCarthy-Fry goes on to say that she feels science needs to be presented in a manner which is more "girl-friendly" in order to make careers in science more attractive. At present more boys choose to study chemistry, biology and physics at both GCSE and A-Level.

Read the Independent article in full.

Science not seen as helpful

A new Eurobarometer report shows that the UK has some of the lowest figures for making a positive choice to study science and some of the highest figures (71%) for not being interested in a science profession. Of those respondents that said they were considering studying natural sciences and/or mathematics, the preferred professions in science were engineers and health professionals. Only slightly more than one in 10 wanted to become a researcher in the private or public sector.

In a similar piece of research undertaken by the Science Council, just one third of the 16-18 year olds surveyed believe that science qualifications will help them later on in life. The publication of both results is timely as the Science Council launches a new careers website, Future Morph which aims to demonstrate how a career as a scientist or engineer can help the world tackle major global issues such as health and the environment.

Read the Eurobarometer report in full.

Find out more about Future Morph.

Success for British scientist

Athene Donald from Cambridge University has become the second British scientist to be made a laureate of the For Women in Science awards (which are sponsored by L'Oreal-Unesco) in their 11-year history, reports The Observer. Professor Donald is quoted as saying, "It's hugely prestigious and a great honour, but the role model aspect is probably the most important thing. Having very visible, successful women who have not become complete anoraks is really important to keep girls doing science."

These awards were established in 1998 as the first international awards dedicated to women scientists around the world and celebrate their achievements in science as well as their committment to inspire young female scientists.

Read the Observer article in full.

Beddington questions homeopathy funding

John Beddington, Government's chief scientific adviser, is to look into the funding of homeopathy as a treatment on the NHS, saying that he sees "no scientific evidence" that it works, reports THES.

This commitment, made at a hearing of the Commons Universities Select Committee, will go some way to placate the MPs who believe that the continued NHS funding of homeopathy calls into doubt the Government's commitment to "evidence-based" policy. MPs have questioned why this issue was not a concern during a recent review of the Department of Health by Professor Beddington's office.

Read the THES article in full.

Focus on nanomaterials

The Commission for Environmental Pollution has called for more safety testing and tighter regulation on nanomaterials reports the Financial Times. Although there is no evidence of harm to either health or the environment it warns, "The pace at which new nanomaterials are being developed and marketed is beyond the capacity of existing testing regulatory arrangements to control the potential environmental impacts adequately." These sentiments are echoed by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering who have both called for more research into the harmful effects of nanomaterials.

The commission chairman has said that the widely used nanomaterials, nanosilver, carbon-60 and carbon nanofibres are of particular concern.

Read the Financial Time article in full.

Mandelson speaks on science

Research Fortnight reports that whilst addressing the House of Commons Business and Enterprise Select Committee on 21 October, Peter Mandelson said that he would have made a strong argument against the decision to shift science to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Referring to his time in the DTI (when it had responsibility for science and business) he is quoted as saying, "What I promoted at the time was a bridge between the research that took place in universities, the excellent science base that we have in this country and the commercial sector."

Adam Afriyie, shadow minister for science and innovation has interpreted Mandelson's views as a clear criticism of Gordon Brown and his reorganisation of Whitehall. However, Phil Willis, chairman of the House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee is quoted in Research Fortnight as saying, "I find it quite amazing that someone who has been out of the loop for the last three years can come in making such statements about another department."

Research Fortnight (registration required)

European Commission proposal on animal testing

After eight years in the making, the European Commission has announced plans to strengthen the protection of animals across the EU, including a ban on experiments using great apes. The proposal would extend the ethical evaluations required before experiments with animals were authorised and set minimum requirements on housing and care, reports the Financial Times.

Opinion on the proposals are, as expected, divided. While animal rights activists feel the Commission should have gone further, researchers are worried about unnecessary regulatory burdens, and warned that testing could migrate to countries with lower standards.

Read the Financial Times article in full.

DIUS faces shortfall

THES recently reported that DIUS is facing a £100m cash shortfall in funding for student grants. "Whitehall has blamed a "legacy problem" for the deficit, but some commentators have pointed to a failure to properly cost last year's expansion in the number of students entitled to maintenance grants."

However, in an update to this story, John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, admitted the department was facing a funding shortfall of £200m after DIUS underestimated the numbers of students eligible for a full maintenance grant. As a result, the threshold of family income below which a student is eligible for a grant will drop from £60,000 to £52,020.

Read the THES article in full.

MPs criticise DIUS

Research Fortnight reports that the House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee summoned DIUS permanent secretary Ian Watmore to discuss the department's first year of existence. "The permanent secretary admitted that he felt it was more important for the general public to be familiar with the individual services on offer than with the department itself, despite working to develop a DIUS '"story'" to clarify its goals".

Liberal Democrat chairman of the committee, said "the group were disappointed with Watmore's defence of his brand." The committee also feels strongly about the department's use of jargon and Willis warns that this approach to communication needs to change. Research Fortnight quotes Willis as saying, "They have to stop the flimflam and concentrate on what really matters", moving science and research up the agenda.

Research Fortnight

Changes afoot at the BBSRC

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has announced changes to the way its peer review committees are organised, the way new research and policy priorities are highlighted and a reorganisation of funding structures for its five sponsored Institutes.

The changes are:

• The creation of four new research committees from the existing seven


• The setting up of a mixed economy of peer review membership, including core committee members and a pool of reviewers able to be called on flexibly for their specific expertise


• New research and policy priorities that will overarch all of BBSRC’s activities. The policy priorities will help BBSRC researchers to consider the strategic relevance of their proposals when they make applications


• A system of highlight notices that BBSRC will use to generate demand when it identifies the need for more applications in certain areas


• Institute Strategic Programme Grants to replace Core Strategic Grants to the BBSRC-sponsored Institutes
  

BBSRC Chief Executive Doug Kell has said, "These changes are not about abandoning responsive mode or about forcing researchers to work in industry. It is a fallacy that responsive mode research is only for blue skies or fundamental science. The criteria for peer review will not change. BBSRC will always fund excellent science. What we want the new system to do is to encourage our research community to think about the strategic focus of their applications and then ensure that when we fund excellent science we are able to capture the impact of the outcomes."

Read the BBSRC News Release in full.

Lord Drayson takes on role of Science Minister

The replacement in the October reshuffle of Ian Pearson as Science Minister by Dr Paul Drayson suggests a significant change in Government thinking on science policy. Unlike Pearson, Drayson is a scientist, graduating from Aston University with a degree in Production Engineering before completing a PhD in robotics. Drayson believes the upgrading of the position to a cabinet post demonstrates Brown’s commitment to the subject and, on confirming his appointment, he said: “To have the opportunity to have responsibility for UK science is an honour and I’m very excited about it.” Pearson moves to the Treasury as Economic Secretary and also Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

The appointment of Drayson has been largely received with enthusiasm. “He’s a carbon copy of David Sainsbury” says Ian Gibson MP, as quoted in Research Fortnight, “He’s a scientist, he’s had the experience of running a business – and he drives fast cars.” Drayon’s passion for racing looks set to compliment his new role as he promises to ‘put pedal to metal’, moving away from a culture of reviews and reports instead focusing on implementing change.