Tag Archives: lord drayson

Delivery Plan

Posted on 12/12/2010 by

Posted on The Guardian 23/12/2010.

Posted in Politics, Science Policy | Tagged , ,

Keep calm, carry on, but don’t keep quiet

Posted on 04/10/2010 by

I have been dealing with cuts in science since 2007. It can be draining and depressing, but I have learned at least two important lessons. The HERA collider started up for the first time just as I was finishing my … Continue reading →

Posted in Physics Stories, Politics, Science, Science Policy | Tagged , , , ,

Labour and STFC

Posted on 29/04/2010 by

So shortly after I wrote about the parties’ science policies and what their attitude to STFC might mean (here and here), Gordon Brown did reply to the CaSE letter, and also produced a science manifesto. He even specifically referred to … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science, Science Policy | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Reality Check

Posted on 26/04/2010 by

I’ve been interviewing candidates for postdoc and PhD positions in particle physics at UCL. This against a backdrop of the start of high energy physics at the LHC, ongoing STFC cuts and government responses to them, and a general election … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science Policy | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

It’s the Future, Stupid*

Posted on 28/03/2010 by

Today there is a letter in the Mail on Sunday from a bunch of astronomers and particle physicists backing up Suzanne Moore‘s piece last week. Her article was great (even if the juxtaposition of Carla Bruni’s rear and the now … Continue reading →

Posted in Particle Physics, Politics, Science, Science Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Don’t give up on the Tories?

Posted on 18/02/2010 by

Roger Highfield wrote a piece in the S Word highlighting the promise by Adam Afriyie (the shadow science minister) of major cuts to science whoever wins the election. Afriyie’s response today is on the face of it pretty much an … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science, Science Policy | Tagged , , , , ,

Stay broad in science, but focus the exploitation.

Posted on 15/02/2010 by

I have another piece in the New Scientists S-Word blog today, discussing Lord Drayson’s recent speech on science and economic return. My comments are intended constructively from the point of view of a committed scientist who believes that science is … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science, Science Policy | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The STFC: what went wrong

Posted on 04/02/2010 by

There has been a great deal of speculation about how a major research funding body – the Science and Technology Funding Council – has lurched from one financial crisis to another. Yesterday in the evidence session of the Science and … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science, Science Policy | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Strategy and Responsiveness in Science

Posted on 19/01/2010 by

One strand in the disastrous history of the Science and Technology Facilities council (STFC) is a tension between “top-down” and “bottom-up” research funding. The science minister and the chair of STFC are currently reviewing the structures; this tension is something … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science, Science Policy | Tagged , , | 6 Comments