Author: Kevin Pollock

Kevin Pollock
Susan Watts - ISS '09 Vienna

A journalists’ take on the post-election state of science in the UK

Susan Watts is Head of Public Engagement and Communications – MRC Clinical Sciences Centre and former Science Editor of the BBC’s Newsnight programme. She interviewed six science spokespeople (in fact all spokesMEN) from the major political parties before the general election for The British Science Association’s ‘Science Matters’ series.

In his interview, Rt Hon Greg Clark, Conservative MP and Minister for Science, Universities & Cities mentioned the importance of political consensus with regards to science. Watts took that to mean “that we shouldn’t be looking to create division when the parties agree.”

“That’s reasonable so far as it goes, but I don’t really understand the calls for ‘consensus’ on science policy, because in my experience there are plenty of issues in the world of science where a consensus does not exist, and healthy debate is the norm.

Subjects with such a spectra of views include the ethics of xeno-transplantation, the extent of gene-editing technologies, or how best to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

“I suppose I worry that the word consensus might imply that it’s not good to rock the boat, and I think it usually is.”

Budget cuts and growing restrictions on immigration are two other issues which are sure to affect science. A push for commercially-applicable research to support a growth in the economy is likely to be at the forefront of the new Conservative government. While this would be beneficial for some scientists, it could also spell the end for some publicly-funded basic science research projects.

“On the immigration issue, I think that all parties have taken on board the potential for harm to the UK science base of giving the impression that we are not welcoming to the best ideas, wherever they come from.”

 

Rt Hon Liam Byrne, Labour MP and Shadow Minister for Universities, Science & Skills said the issues (and potential solutions) with science and politics were as clear-cut as people, institutions, and money.

“Well it’s getting the mix of those right that’s the hard bit, but I would always put my faith in people ahead of institutions and money to come up with the most exciting and valuable science.

But people still need institutions and money to help them to do their best work.”

Several of the science spokespeople used the term ‘pro-science’ in reference to their own views (and the views of their respective parties).

“I’m not sure I know what that phrase means. It would have been a shock (and a story) if any of our Science Matters interviewees had said they were ‘anti-science’.

If it means a promise to listen to the science voice in the cultural mix then that’s critically important to the future of the UK, and welcome.”

Here’s another Mo’ Money Mo’ Science interview with a science journalist.

ODI discussion panel

A UK-based research project focused on international development

The data revolution: finding the missing millions

An Overseas Development Institute (ODI) research report

On Thursday 21 May, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) hosted a panel discussion about their recent Development Progress project’s research report The data revolution: finding the missing millions. The discussion was chaired by James Ball, Special Projects Editor at The Guardian and the panelists included Elizabeth Stuart, ODI research fellow and lead author of the report, Rufus Pollock, President and Co-founder of Open Knowledge, Pali Lehohla, Statistician General of South Africa, and Francesco D’Orazio, VP Product of Pulsar.

I spoke with Stuart before the discussion about the key findings of the report, what actions are necessary to ‘find’ the missing millions, and why developed countries should be funding projects largely concerned with the developing world.

If you liked this post and are itching for more, check out this live-blog about what projects are funded by The Wellcome Trust.

Where is all the UK’s science and research money going?

Ever wondered which government department was responsible for the science and research budget? Here’s a hint: it’s a department that doesn’t have either science or research in the title. If you guessed The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), well done.

BIS is responsible for allocating the UK’s science and research budget.

“Investment in science and research creates new businesses and improves existing ones; brings highly skilled people into the job market; attracts international investment and improves public policy and services. The UK’s world-class research base will be a key driver in promoting economic growth.”

-BIS report on the allocation of science and research funding (December 2010)

“Ring-fence” and “The Haldane Principle” are important terms when it comes to the UK government and it’s handling of moneys for science and research.

ring-fence definition

“Maintaining the ring-fence around science and research programme funding… is clear evidence of the Government’s commitment to science and research. The ring-fence provides stability and certainty to the research base.”

“The Haldane Principle means that decisions on individual research proposals are best taken by researchers themselves through peer review.”

-BIS report on the allocation of science and research funding (December 2010)

Dashboard 1

 

The BIS science and research budget is allocated to five main groups of institutions/programmes (in descending order of money allotted):

(1) Research Councils

The seven research councils fund research, provide research facilities and support postgraduate training in a range of academic disciplines: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC),  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Medical Research Council (MRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

There is cross-council cooperation coordinated by Research Councils UK (RCUK).

(2) Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) distributes funds as lump-sum grants (based on a ‘research excellence’ formula) to the various Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in the UK. The money is then spent in a manner decided-on by the individual schools.

(3) UK Space Agency leads the UK’s civil space activities.

(4) National Academies

The four UK independent National Academies; the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) and the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) receive funding to allow the most capable academics to work full-time on research. They also advise the government about science and research priorities, for example the jointly produced ‘Building a stronger future’ statement.

(5) Other Programmes include the Government Office for Science (GO-Science), Foresight, Science & Society and the International Programme.

*The Newton Fund is a new initiative to strengthen research and innovation partnerships between the UK and emerging economies. It is the main reason for the boost in funding for the ‘Other Programmes’ group which will surpass funding allocated to the National Academies for the first time.

Links to the data, tableau public interactive chart, and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) allocation of science and research funding reports (2011-2015, 2016).

Here’s another post from the Mo’ Money Mo’ Science team concerning the UK’s science budget.

Science Matters: Or at least why politicians think it does

The British Science Association organised interviews with science spokespeople from six of the major parties. The Science Matters series includes in-depth interviews hosted by science journalist Susan Watts with representatives from the Conservative Party, Green Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and Scottish National Party (SNP) to explain how voters would see a difference if their party were in charge of science after the election.

Top three priorities if _______________ were in charge:

Conservatives SNP Green Labour Plaid Cymru Liberal Democrats - science priorities

Interviewees & youtube clips:

For more on where the political parties stand on science and research funding, check out this post.

General Election 2015: Where do the parties stand on science & engineering?

Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) contacted Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) running in the General Election and invited them to share why science and engineering is important to the UK and how they would support this as a Member of Parliament.

CaSE has received over 100 responses so far. Below are 7 quotes representing responses of candidates from the 7 main political parties (in no particular order).

 

Labour

 

 

Antonia Zenkevitch, Green

Antonia Zenkevitch, Green

 

Neil Wilson, Conservative

Neil Wilson, Conservative

 

Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat

Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat

 

Roger Mullin, Scottish National Party (SNP)

Roger Mullin, Scottish National Party (SNP)

 

Philip Hyde, UKIP

Philip Hyde, UKIP

 

Tim Thomas, Plaid Cymru

Tim Thomas, Plaid Cymru

Check out this post for more election coverage concerning science and research funding.

Scienceogram: ‘Tell Them Science is Vital’ Campaign

Tell Them Science is Vital

Today marks the start of British Science Week and, hot on the heels of the release of new figures showing the UK at the bottom of the G8 for government-funded research, campaign group Science is Vital are launching a new campaign, Tell Them Science is Vital.

They are asking supporters of science to contact their local MP and parliamentary candidates during British Science Week, to let them know how important science is to them and the community. Visit bit.ly/tellthemSiV to spread the word and get involved!

Scienceogram has been helping out producing some graphics for the campaign, which you can find below. Feel free to share them on social media, send them to your friends or colleagues, or take them to show your MP!

Factsheet and poster

Scienceogram has produced a two-side summary of UK science funding to send to or show your MPs and candidates, and a poster (in colour and greyscale) to advertise this campaign for you to put up in your workplace or elsewhere. You can download the PDFs below.

Science is Vital Funding Factsheet 2015

Spread the word

Please help us get the word out about this campaign on both social media (the hashtag is #tellthemSiV) and through your workplace, patient groups or any other network of science supporters. Let’s get the word out to as many MPs and candidates as possible!

We’ve created some graphics specifically for social media which you might like to use:

Tell Them Science is Vital infographic: research funding as a percentage of GDP

Tell Them Science is Vital infographic: UK Science Budget

This is a blog post first published on The Scienceogram. Re-used under a CC BY-NC 3.0.

Live from the Science is Vital Annual General Meeting

Science is Vital (SiV) is a grassroots campaign of UK scientists and supporters of science who believe that a strong science base is vital to the UK’s economy and reputation.

Their annual general meeting (agenda) is tonight, 18:30-20:30, at Charles Darwin House and will include guest speaker Sir Colin Blakemore, Oxford neurobiologist whom The Guardian called “one of the most powerful scientists” in the UK. After the meeting there will be an opportunity to socialise, network, and grab a pint or two (or three).

Reserve your spot, follow along on twitter with #SiVAGM, or if you can’t make it to central London, get into your pajamas, grab a hot cup of tea, and enjoy the event live online and live blogged here at Mo’ Money Mo’ Science.

18:20 Off the tube and bracing for my chilly 10 minute walk to the Science is Vital Annual General Meeting.

Chancery Lane London Tube Station

18:30 Made it to Charles Darwin House in time for some drinks (non-alcoholic juice to start) and snacks before the official event begins.

18:35 Just paid my £3.14 SiV membership fee. Yeah 3.14, like π, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. I’m in science nerd territory now.

18:45 Call went out for anyone with experience with Google Hangouts, appears there are technical difficulties a-brewing.

18:50

18:54 Sir Colin Blakemore begins his talk by asking if he’s being streamed yet. If not, “am I being trickled?” #goodstart

18:58 Return on investment in research, not just science but also in humanities, is positive says Sir Blakemore.

19:00 There is a worrying trend of research funding being too top-down, and not transparent enough says Sir Blakemore.

19:02 Need for a comprehensive approach to science. From elementary and primary school education, university and departmental policies, and political funding. The comprehensive aspect shouldn’t be forgotten says Sir Blakemore.

19:05 Sir Colin Blakemore revealed

Sir Colin Blakemore

19:08 Talk of the academic ecosystem. Need for a better balance between basic research funding at UK universities and funding for vocational training says Sir Blakemore.

19:10 Now it’s getting personal. Sir Blakemore is bragging about the UK’s efficiency in scientific research. The UK is twice as productive per pound spent as the US. He’s talking about the International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base – 2013. Hmm, a little bit of #humblebragging by Sir Blakemore backed by real data.

19:13 Shout out to Israel! The start-up nation. Countries with limited natural resources must rely on discovery and innovation for well-being says Sir Blakemore. UK included.

19:17 Sir Blakemore concludes his remarks and the live stream is working for those refreshing on the Google Hangout.

19:20 Jenny Rohn, chair of @ScienceisVital says that lobbying government will have to wait until the lines of communication are rebuilt post-elections.

19:23 Treasurer Shane McCracken briefly goes over @ScienceisVital finances.

19:27 I got the scoop on you CNN, Breaking News alert: with a unanimous vote, the new @ScienceisVital vice-chair is Scienceogram‘s own Andrew Steele.

19:32 Push to contact your MP. Write letters, send an email, tweet a tweet.

19:35 Going around the room now with new ideas for publicising science

https://twitter.com/lahdiva01/status/562698518134288384

19:50 ScienceisVital Facebook site isn’t as up-to-date as they’d like. Don’t worry, it’s a stone age social media platform anyways.

19:56 @JennyRohn says there are friendly MPs. Hmm, where’s the scientific evidence for that?

https://twitter.com/TheLadBible/status/565103849888047104

19:58 Clever comment from the peanut gallery: “Finding a scientific spokesperson for UKIP is very difficult.”

20:07 Meeting adjourns with the last (and arguably most important) vote of the evening, which pub to retire to? Duke or Blue Lion…

20:08 And the winner is… Blue Lion.

20:10 So there you go, another year another Science is Vital Annual General Meeting. Highlights included a passionate speech by Sir Colin Blakemore emphasising the need for UK investment in science and research for future innovations and discoveries, Andrew Steele being voted in as the new vice-chair of SiV, and a call for more science advocation in the general community and communication with local MPs.

How to crowdfund your science research

WALACEA is vying to be the Kickstarter of science

Natalie Jonk is the founder of WALACEA, which helps scientists crowdfund their work. I spoke with her about where the name WALACEA came from, what types of projects & scientists are pursuing crowdfunding, and the challenges & opportunities in crowdsourcing science research.

Be sure to also check out our post about Nudge, the kickstarter-funded smart-wristband project based at City University London.

Get the data: UK disease research spending vs societal cost

At over 590 million GBP, research funding for cancer is the most for a single disease in the UK, but that amount is only 4% of the total cost of the disease to society (not to mention the loss of loved ones). The percentages are even lower for dementia, heart disease, and stroke.

tableau public interactive chart

How expensive are diseases? Societal costs vs research spending.

Links to data, the interactive chart (tableau public) and data source (Stroke Association).

Also check out this post which highlights the proportional discrepancies between disease costs and research spending.