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29/04/05 Public questions about science policies
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today published another indication of what the public wants to talk about in terms of science policies during the election campaign. At a meeting in Norwich, CaSE gave the public the chance to quiz politicians from the main parties about their science policies, and they chose to ask about issues as diverse as science in schools, nuclear power, and the effects of Europe on the international scientific endeavour. "This just proves that the public wants to know what the parties think about science, even if the party machines aren't too concerned to talk about these issues," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE.

meeting report

 

28/04/05 Government science policies
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today pointed out that although much has improved for the scientific community in recent years, there is a long way to go before British science achieves its world-leading potential. In a letter to the Guardian, CaSE highights the closure of university science courses and the increasing centralisation of science funding. The text of the letter is as follows:

 

Tom Blundell and his colleagues are right that doubling the Science Budget has delivered fresh optimism among scientists (Letters, April 26). They are also right that science and engineering are fundamental to the nation's future success, and should be major election issues.
However, it is not true that everything was rosy in the scientific garden during the last Parliament. For example, the Government blames the closure of university science departments on falling student demand for science courses. In fact several chemistry departments have closed recently despite having high and rising numbers of applicants. What they did not have was enough money to run their courses and research, following indefensible decisions by the Government and its quangos.
Whoever wins the election, we need continued investment coupled with better use of the finite resource of taxpayers' money. We could start by reversing the trend for science funding to be directed by central bureaucrats. When Labour came to power, just two per cent of the Science Budget was kept back from the Research Councils in this way. That figure has risen more than tenfold in the past eight years, which is one reason why physicists have seen their chances of winning research grants fall by 40 per cent in recent years.

 

27/04/05 Funding university science students
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today pressed the case for a reform of funding university science teaching. In a letter published today in Research Fortnight, CaSE points out that recent changes in the way students are funded has disadvantaged science, and were based on flawed assumptions and methods. The text of the letter is as follows:

 

You are right to observe that ‘we have yet to see a cogent defence’ of the decision by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to reduce the weighting for funding science subjects in universities (RF 13/4/05). But you do not mention the details of HEFCE’s attempted defence, which do not stack up.
Before the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee in February, HEFCE’s Chief Executive, Sir Howard Newby, proposed two reasons for reducing the weighting for science. First, he claimed that the costs of arts and humanities subjects have risen as they have started using computer technology in a way that was formerly restricted to science and engineering. It is absurd to propose that a history student needs anything like the computing power of someone studying electronic engineering.
Second, Sir Howard said that there had been a reduction in practical experimentation in university science courses. He attributed this to health and safety legislation and the decreasing cost of computer simulations as an alternative; he ignored the significant possibility that experiments have been cut because they are no longer affordable, as funding per student has fallen by around 40%. As the money fell, experiments were ditched, so the courses became cheaper, and now HEFCE is using this as justification to cut the money even more.
The decision to cut the weighting for science students was based on evidence of what the universities were actually spending. Given that universities can only spend what they have (which Sir Howard admits is not enough), this is a bizarre method of estimating the real cost of doing the job properly. HEFCE ‘accept[ed] that there would be merit’ in doing things differently because its method of determining subject weightings was ‘inappropriate’.
Official Government policy is that Britain should be ‘the best place in the world for science’. HEFCE should take note of this and reverse its decision immediately.

 

26/04/05 University research funding
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today highlighted some of the problems with the funding of university research. In an interview about the fall in British Nobel prizes, published in the Guardian today, Case points out that in funding has changed enormously since the current system was invented. "In the past, universities were handed dollops of cash and got on with it. There was no Research Assessment Exercise, the system was much smaller so there was plenty of money for everyone, and Research Councils' grants were an extra, not the bread and butter of funding. Nowadays, you have to do safe research to be sure of not messing up in the RAE and of securing your next grant, so people are not as willing to do the adventurous work that might win a Nobel.
"The universities can recover, provided a number of things are put right. These include improved funding for research (now coming onstream), restored academic trust and freedom, pay that is internationally competitive, and greater income than is current planned under capped top-up fees. We need to differentiate the missions of universities, instead of pretending they can all be like Oxbridge. As long as they are all trying to be the same, only a tiny number will succeed."

 

26/04/05 Science in Government ministries
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today published an assessment of how some of the major Government departments have fared scientifically over the course of the last Parliament. "Science is important across Government, so we have scored various ministries for their attitude to science, funding levels, their high points and their gaffes," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE.
"We found that some ministries, like the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs have made some real progress in imporving thei way they handle science, while others, like the Department of Culture, still seem to think it is some kind of joke."

scorecard

 

25/04/05 Science as a campaign issue
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today stressed the importance of science as a campaign issue of relevance to all the major manifesto pledges on areas from school meals to pensions and climate change. In an interview about science in the British election, CaSE pointed out that without strong science policies, the nation will not have a thriving economy, and no party will be able to deliver its promises.
"It's a bit of an indictment of the way science is treated as a campaign issue that this interview was broadcast by the ABC in Australia," said Dr Peter Cotgreave of CaSE, "It's plain that competitor countries understand the importance of science rather more than some of the UK's politicians do."

interview excerpts

 

22/04/05 Future funding mechanisms
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today highlighted the need for changes in the way science is funded in the UK. Publishing the text of a recent speech, CaSE pointed out that the rise of Big Science, increasing globalisation of science, and growing political interest in science would all need to be dealt with appropriately if the British science base was to maintain its competitive edge.
"This is not about the total amount of money, it's about what you do with it," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE.

speech

21/04/05 Science policies in Norfolk
GENERAL ELECTION
Half way through the election campaign, CaSE was today delighted to be holding one of its science hustings meetings in Norwich. "We're doing this in conjunction with the University of East Anglia, and have an excellent panel," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, CaSE's Director.
Dozens of scientists turned up to ask about top-up fees, the effect of European policy on science, cuts at a local laboratory and science in schools.
The panel included Dr Ian Gibson, a Labour MP who in the Parliament of 2001 was Chair of the House of Commons Science Committee; Andrew Aalders-Dunthorne, the Liberal Democrat candidate in Norwich South, Kay McCallum, a senior local Conservative and Dr Rupert Read, a senior member of the Green Party in Norwich.

 

20/04/05 Parties' policies on science
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today highlighted the lack of discussion among the party leaders about their policies on science. In an interview published in the Daily Telegraph today, CaSE points out that the manifestos of the some of the main parties barely mention science, and that engineering is only mentioned once in any of them. "Counting how many times words like science are mentioned may be a crude way of measuring things, but at least it cannot be spun and reinterpreted by the parties and their advisers".

 

19/04/05 Public questions about science policies
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today published the first indication of what the public wants to talk about in terms of science policies during the election campaign. At a meeting in Cardiff, CaSE gave the public the chance to quiz politicians from the main parties about their science policies, and they chose to ask about issues as diverse as the use of genetically-modified crops in the developing world, whether university education should be free and whether big business had too much influence on research. "This just proves that the public wants to know what the parties think about science, even if the party machines aren't too concerned to talk about these issues," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE.

meeting report

 

18/04/05 University research careers
GENERAL ELECTION
Today's issue highlighted by CaSE is the effect of recent policies on the attractiveness of university research as a career. Publishing the text of a recent speech, CaSE points out that the traditional attractions of an acaemic career are being eroded. "The ability to pursue one's own interests, and the academic lifestyle used to make up to the poor pay and other disadvantages of working in universities," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, "but Government policy has reduced the effect of those factors, but there has been no compensatory change in salaries or any of the other things that might make a university career attractive."

speech

 

15/04/05 Science in the Party Manifestos
GENERAL ELECTION
With the three main political parties having all published their election manifestos, CaSE today made a simple assessment of the prominance of science and engneering in the parties' policies. A word-count produced the following results.

 

Number of times the Party Manifestos use the words: Science/scientific/ scientist(s) Technology/ Technological Engineer(s)/ Engineering Research Conservative 0 1 0 0 Labour 11 8 1 8 Lib Dems 5 7 0 3

 

"Technology is the most popular scientific word; all the parties use that word at least once," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, "But engineering is pretty unpopular with all the parties; Labour manages to use the word once, but the others don't mention it at all."

press release

 

14/04/05 Commitment to science in schools
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today welcomed the Prime Minister's commitment to investing £250 million so that every secondary school can build or renovate at least one new science laboratory. "In his speech today, the Prime Minister said clearly that science in schools is important, because of the need to train scientists for the knowledge economy," said Rosemary Davies of CaSE. "When we surveyed secondary schools, we found that ill-equipped laboratories were a major problem, so it is good to see the leader of a major party raise this as a campaign issue."

report

 

13/04/05 University funding
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today highlighted the issue of university funding, urging the Deans of Science from the UK's universities to keep up the pressure for university funding for science to be calcuated more sensibly. At a meeting in Oxford, CaSE Director Peter Cotgreave enjoined the university professors to ask questions of their local policitians about the issue of students fees, public funding for research and incentives for private industry and individuals to support university endowments.

 

12/04/05 Science policies in Wales
GENERAL ELECTION
As the General Election campaign hots up, CaSE was today delighted to host the first of its science hustings meetings in Cardiff. "We're doing this in conjunction with Cardiff University, and have an excellent panel," said Dr Hefin Jones of CaSE's Executive Committee.
"We have Win Griffiths for Labour, who was MP for Bridgend in the Parliament that was dissolved yesterday; Delme Bowen for Plaid Cymru, whose not only a distinguished scientist himself but Deputy Mayor of Cardiff; Martin Shrewsbury is the Leader of the Greens in Wales; Simon Baker is hoping to win the Cardiff West seat for the Conservatives at the General Election; and Dr Simon Wakefield is a research scientists and City Councillor in Cardiff. This is a serious panel, which will be able to engage with the audience on a wide range of scientific policy issues."

further details

 

11/04/05 Political direction of science
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today highlighted how, in the Parliament that was dissolved today, political interference in research priorties threatened to reduce the effectiveness of new investment in science. In an article in Anticipations, the journal of the Young Fabians, CaSE argues that there are three reasons why scientific investment has not yet paid off as fully as everyone would like. First, when Labour came to power in 1997, there was huge backlog of investment in infrastructure that is only now beginning to be remedied. Second, the whole issue of financing the universities has been tackled piecemeal rather than head-on. And third, central interference in research has stifled creativity.

article

 

08/04/05 Politicians' views about science
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today republished the views of politicians from both ends of the politican spectrum concerning science. Ian Gibson from Labour and Ian Taylor from the Conservatives are both important figures in the world of science policy; Gibson has been Chairman of the Commons' Science Committee for the past four years, and Taylor was Science Minister up until 1997. "These articles show that science is an important political issue; the aims are not partisan - everyone wants world class science and economic growth based on technology - but the way to get there is a matter for debate, with different parties taking very different views," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE.

articles

 

07/04/05 Economic importance of science
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today highlighted the importance of investing in science if the economy is to thrive. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, CaSE points out that the stark choice facing the science museum - cut either the library or children's activities - is a sign that some departments, including the Department of Culture, need to take science much more seriously. The text of the letter is as follows:

 

Lord Waldegrave [in the Daily Telegraph, 6 April] writes cogently about the stark choice facing the Science Museum; it must disappoint researchers by dispersing its library to avoide cutting back its activities to engage children in science and engineering.
He points out that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has failed to increase funding levels in line with inflation. One of the organisations that will take part of the library collection, the British Library, has also seen falling investment levels, even though its economic value is more that four times as great as the funding it receives from taxpayers.
The Prime Minister and his Chancellor say they wish to stimulate a 'knowledge economy' by making Britain the best place in the world for science, so it seems bizarre that the DCMS is not investing properly in the nation's repository of knowledge.
The Culture Secretary showed her contempt for science by speaking disparagingly of 'fat chemistry teachers' having spare time to teach other subjects; in fact, there is a shortage of chemistry teachers (of all sizes). The Government's own review of its science has found that the DCMS 'has no systematic approach to horizon scanning' for future needs, and that it is not calling on the 'the widest base of relevant expertise'.
After the election, whoever wins power must put in place policies to ensure that Britain can maintain its scientific and technological leadership; otherwise our economy will suffer. We need a reversal of the policies that force a major scientific institution like the Science Museum to choose between important research and crucial activities for children.

 

07/04/05 Science in universities
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE today welcomed the House of Commons’ report on providing science courses in universities, and urged the party leaders to make funding reforms a priority in the next Parliament.

press release

 

06/04/05 Party Leaders' views
GENERAL ELECTION
CaSE wrote today the leaders of the main political parties, asking their views about three major questions of policy relating to science and engineering. "As we have in previous elections, we will publish the leaders' responses and circulate them as widely as possible among the science and engineering community, so that when people come to vote on 5 May, give everyone will have the chance to take an informed opinion about political attitidues to science."

 

05/04/05 Science Hustings Meetings
GENERAL ELECTION
As the Prime Minister finally announced the date of the General Election, CaSE launched its campaign to keep science on the political agenda by announcing the details of three meetings for scientists to interact directly with the politicians and candidates in their area. "We'll be in Cardiff on 12 April, Norwich on 21 April and Leeds on 22 April," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, with MPs, Parliamentary candidates, city councillors and others who represent the main political parties, making sure that they answer questions about their policies on science, engineering and technology.

 

04/04/05 Engineering
CaSE today engaged with the engineering community at the Royal Academy of Engineering. As a guest speaker at the President's dinner, the Director of CaSE, Dr Peter Cotgreave, raised the issues of engaging young people in science and engineering, poor funding of univesity research and the continued failure of some parts of British industry to invest in research and development.