Is Labour undermining Haldane principle?

Adam Afriyie, the Shadow Science Minister, ahead of a speech to science leaders at the Royal Society said 'the Government should stop pretending that the Haldane principle "stood affected" as ministers tried to use science to drive the economy', reports THES.

Mr Afriyie is quoted as saying, "It is... right that the Government sets the overall strategic priorities... but I am concerned that it may be nudging or picking particular projects within that".

The Haldane principle in British research policy is the idea that decisions about what to spend research funds on should be made by researchers rather than politicians.

Read the THES article in full.

Are research councils to blame for the fall in the number of UK Nobel Laureates?

Twenty eminent UK scientists have written to THES, calling for academics to 'rebel against new rules that state that the potential financial or social effects of research must be highlighted in a two-page "impact summary" in grant applications'. The letter's authors urge peer reviewer to ignore these summaries, arguing that the economic potential of "blue-skies" research is impossible to predict in advance.

The letter was coordinated by Professor Donald Braben (UCL) and Professor Philip Moriarty (University of Nottingham). Professor Braben is quoted as saying, "As soon as you identify a beneficiary for researh... the councils are going to turn it around and say, right, deliver. And then it is applied research... You can't have blue-skies research if you put caveats on it."

Speaking on behalf of the Research Councils, Philip Esler (chief executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Council) is quoted as saying in response, "The description of impact that the research councils work with is broad, encompassing not only the contribution research makes to the economy but also to society as a whole. It covers not only economic benefits, but also those related to public policy, quality of life, health and creative output. Research councils will not be disadvantaging blue-skies research, nor stifling creativity."

Read the THES article in full.

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.

Forthcoming Projects Peer Review Panel (PPRP) meeting

The next PPRP meeting of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) will take place on 23rd, 24th and 25th September at The Oxford Centre. The Panel will be reviewing 5 PRD applications on 23rd September, 2 major project proposals on 24th September and 2 major project proposals on 25th June. There will be open presentations on each of these bids and all members of the STFC community are welcome to attend.

Visit the STFC website to find out more

Particle Physics: Brain and money drain?

In a presidential address at the British Association for the Advancement of Science, David King called into question the extent of Britain's future investment in the Swiss particle physics laboratory. King suggested that the government's investment in research needs to be more strongly focused on global challenges such as climate change. King also suggested to Research Fortnight that 'the high level and consistent funding for projects such as Cern has resulted in many of the most talented scientists working in particle physics and cosmology - possibly at the expense of other fields.' King asks '"Can we as a global population continue to afford seeing those brilliant people working on those problems, or should we try and attract them into finding the renewable energy sources of the future?'"

Source: Research Fortnight.

Increased Competition For Grants

THES reports that research councils are showing large increases in the numbers of applications for grants, while the amount of awards available increases in much smaller amounts. Over the six research councils a 13% rise in the number of applications in the year 2007-08 can be seen. The chance of converting an application into a grant through the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council dropped from 30% to 29%.

The Medical Research Council was the exception, where the success rate rose from 24% in 2006-07 to 27% in 2007-08.

Read the THES article in full

ERC Starting Grants

The European Research Council was set up as part of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research. It has two main funding streams, aimed at invigorating the European landscape by funding the best blue-skies research in any EU member state.

This year's call for starting grants is initially worth EUR296 million but expected to increase in value. Research in all academic fields is eligible and the council again intends to award about 300 grants of up to EUR2 million each over five years.

Read the THES article in full

Visit the ERC website to find out more

Hopping Scientists

The Medical Research Council offers grants aimed at allowing scientists to "hop across" disciplines. THES reports that the grants are 'aimed at provoking new collaborations between the physical and life sciences'. The programme, which is worth up to £2 million this year, 'funds established researchers in the physical sciences to try their hands in the biological and medical science field.

The Discipline Hopping Grant is an annual competition. The deadline for this year’s competition is 4pm on 12th November 2008.'

Read more about the MRC grant

Survey Sparks Concern

After polling more than 2,200 US federally funded scientists, a report has found that the rate at which research fraud among scientists is reported is alarmingly low. The results (published in Nature) gave an estimate of 2,325 possible cases of research fraud each year. THES reports that the survey, 'said to be the most systematic to date, found that only 58% of all the cases were reported to university officials'.

Read the THES article in full

New Research Concordat Launched

A new "Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers" has been launched by Ian Pearson, Science Minister. The document aims to set out the responsibilities of research managers, funders and universities in supporting researchers' careers. However, their are concerns that the document does not fully address the problem of fixed-term contracts. The University and College Union have said 'when nearly 80 per cent of researchers remain on fixed-term contracts and were still "routinely under threat of dismissal" when individual research projects ended, the concordat should go beyond the letter of the law'.

Read the THES articles in full

The human side of grant rejection

David Scott, a lecturer in physical biochemistry at the University of Nottingham applied to the BBSRC for £588,000 to work on the Haloferax microbe from the Dead Sea. On learning that his time-consuming grant application had been turned down, Dr Scott recorded a short video. The video shows the human side of grant rejection, in contrast to the usual clinical portrayal. The video comprises part of a wider BBC project called 'Test Tube' which aims to give a behind-the-scenes view of science in the university.

Cash boost for applied infection research

A total of £16.5 million has been made available for research that helps to deal with the health threats posed by viruses and bacteria, largely earmarked for consortium grants. This funding is the second wave of cash from the UKCRC Translational Infection Research Initiative through a partnership of seven funders: the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Health Departments in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust. Proposals are particularly encouraged from those aiming to facilitate natural collaborations with industry.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=401239

http://www.idrn.org/translationinfectionresearch.php

EPSRC follows belt-tightening trend

Following in the footsteps of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (ATHC) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has warned researchers to expect a "slight reduction in real terms in the level of research volume over the period".

However, in contradiction with AHRC and STFC, THES is quoting Catherine Coates, EPSRC's director of planning and communication, as saying that the cuts were "nothing to do with" the additional financial burden posed by having to meet more of the "full economic costs" of grants that the councils fund.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=400525

Oxford University's scientific output analysed

THES is reporting that Dr Bruce Charlton from Newcastle University has found that the scientific output of Oxford University has more in common with the University of Minnesota that Harvard.

The number of times Oxford researchers were cited by their peers, the number of highly cited academics at the university and the number of Nobel prizes its staff have won were all taken into account. Dr Charlton acknowledges that, "People will argue that these are crude measures, but I can't think of any better ones." Dr Charlton also said that 'Rather than being encouraged to tackle tough problems where the risk of failure is high, the best of Oxford's scientists are being pressured to undertake easier, short-term research'. Although this ethos could be linked to the RAE, as this type of research has a higher chance of receiving funding, one Oxford scientist believes that 'the cause may be less the RAE than the practices of the research councils in choosing which research to fund. They tend to fund research they feel is sure to succeed in a three-year timescale.'

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=400169

The research period

Ruth Scurr, affiliated lecturer in the politics department, Cambridge University, and fellow of and director of studies at Gonville and Caius College writes in the THES about the impossible clash between the 14-week research period and the school summer holidays.

'Because I have small children whose school holidays fall inside the designated research period, I find myself pencilling in their play dates, day trips, sleepovers and so on, under the austere heading (of research period). While childless colleagues book themselves into tranquil libraries up and down the country, teasing out the nuances of little-known manuscripts, accumulating the raw material for another research-assessment-exercisable book, I am fraught beside the paddling pool, lucky if I've read the newspaper.'

She also states that although the University of Cambridge offer a playscheme the success of this provision is very much dependent on the child's attitude.

'When it comes to filling our RAE entry forms, the first question should be: Have you reproduced in the past seven years? If answering yes (male or female, since this is as a much a problem for fathers as for mothers) you should turn in a different coloured form where your research output can be measured talking into account the obvious fact that you have not, since the birth of your baby, spent 14 uninterrupted weeks in the library during the designated "research period"'.