31/10/06 Funding for university science
CaSE was today pleased to see movement on the Government's position on funding science teaching in the universities. "We were pleased that Parliament was having a debate on the issue, and of course, we briefed Members in advance," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE.

"What surprised us was that after years of denying that the funding formula was a problem, the minister for Higher Education, Bill Rammell, said there was an issue with the formula that needed to be addressed. That follows on from the Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury, saying a couple of weeks ago that he thought that the basic funding of university science departments had not yet been sorted out properly.

"We at CaSE could start saying 'We told you so', but we will resist that temptation and just hope this issue now gets addressed before any more university science departments are forced into closure".

30/10/06 Science in Wales
CaSE was today encouraged to discuss the Welsh Government's latest statement on science policy with senior researchers in Aberystwyth. After meeting with the Vice Chancellor, Professor Noel Lloyd, Pro Vice Chancellors, Heads of Departments and other senior staff from Aberystwyth University, the Director of CaSE, Dr Peter Cotgreave, said, "it is extremely useful to interact directly with the people who will be affected by the Welsh Assembly Government's disappointing decision not to implement some of the key recommendations of the Assembly's science review. In particular, we at CaSE are seriously concerned about the fact that no individual will be responsible for making sure science policies in Wales are carried out vigorously and effectively."

24/10/06 Royal support for science
CaSE was today delighted that the Queen was having a day of events highlighting British science. "We're especially pleased she is having a party at Buckingham Palace for scientists, because it was our idea," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE. In January 2004, CaSE wrote in the Times Higher Education Supplement that while the successful English rugby team had "earned [its] right to tea with the Queen" we should also be "shouting from the rooftops about our scientific successes" and that if we were, "perhaps the Queen would have got around to inviting" Britain's scientists.

23/10/06 Secretary of State
CaSE today congratulated the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry on his important speech about science, but urged him to work with colleagues to settle the issue of university funding he was quizzed about. "Alistair Darling gave an interesting speech," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, "but he was pressed about the closure of science departments in universities. He said it was all down to the arm's length Funding Council (HEFCE) and ministers had no power, but then he admitted that although the Research Councils are 'arm's length' bodies, ministers have 'influence' over their decicisions. His ministerial colleague Lord Sainsbury admitted that funding for the teaching of science and engineering in universities is not properly balanced. They should be using the influence they say they have to get HEFCE to revisit its crazy decision to reduce the proportion of available funding that is invested in science."

20/10/06 Tax credits for research
CaSE today urged the political parties to ensure that the UK's tax regime is competitive for science and engineering industry. Commenting in the Financial Times on suggestions that the tax credit for research and development should be abolished, CaSE said the proposals would "not make Britain a more attractive place for research-intensive companies. If it to be abolished, we need to think what to put in its place." Speaking later, CaSE's Director, Dr Peter Cotgreave said, "The UK economy needs innovative small firms and science-based multinationals, and to support them, we need a competitive tax regime. The tax credit for research and development go some way to creating an attractive environment for high-techology businesses".

19/10/06 European support for innovation
CaSE today urged the European Commission to rethink its plans to spend billions of Euros on an innovation project that is out of step with the technological and scientific communitites. Speaking on BBC World Service and commenting in the Times and Financial Times, CaSE pointed out that although the Commission has correctly identified a problem with the way the Europe economy applies science, engineering and technology to improve industrial productivity, its proposed solution - a European Institute of Technology - is not the right answer. CaSE's Director, Dr Peter Cotgreave, said "there are lots of good things already going on in places like Cambridge University – people talk about the Cambridge phenomenon – there’s a lot of innovative stuff going on. Investing in those existing things now would deliver more than creating a big new thing out of thin air. European science programmes have a bit of a track record of being very bureaucratic and not very flexible. The business community wants things that aren’t bureaucratic and are flexible. On the whole the business community thinks it could get better value by going straight to existing institutions that are already doing good things and partnering with them, rather than throwing its hat into the ring with this big new political white elephant."

18/10/06 University science teaching
CaSE was today delighted that the Science Minister acknoweldged the problems in funding university science teaching, but disappointed that he offered little hope of a swift resolution. "When Lord Sainsbury spoke to the House of Commons Science Committee this morning, it was the first time that a minister has publicly admitted that the Government funding for university science is less favourable than in other subjects, said Dr Peter Cotgreave. "He acknowledged that science departments cannot survive in the funding they receive to teach students, while other departments can. Sadly, he also admitted that the data to calcuate fair funding properly will not exist until at least 2007, so there is no chance of the problem being solved until 2008 at the earliest. That may well be too late for some universities."

17/10/06 Science in government departments
CaSE today urged other government departments to take a leaf of the Ministry of Defence's book in producing a report aimed at ensuring its science programme is world-class. Commenting in the Guardian as the MoD published a report that brought strengthened peer review into the MoD's research programmes, CaSE said that other ministries needed to be more serious about the research in their departments.

16/10/06 Science policy in Wales
CaSE today urged Welsh politicians to end the funding gap for science in Wales. Speaking to a conference on Science Policy in Wales organised by the Institute of Welsh Affairs, CaSE's Director said, "The First Minister has just told us that he wants Welsh universities to apply for more scientific grants from the Research Councils, to match the performance of researchers in Scotland. One reason they do so well in Scotland is that their national Funding Council puts in a great deal more money for the basic infrastructure - including technical support. If members of the Welsh Assembly want Wales to get more Research Council grants, they need to give them a stronger base from which to apply. This could happen tomorrow if the political will really existed."

CaSE also challenged the notion that Welsh politicians were powerless because science is not devolved under the devolution settlement. "Those are just words on a piece of paper, and in practice it means that the Research Councils retain a UK-wide remit, and that Wales cannot do what Ireland did and cut corporation tax to 12.5% to attract pharmaceutical companies. But it does nothing to stop the Welsh Government and the Welsh Assembly from doing whatever it wants in other areas. It has power over science education, it can invest in its universities, it can use its Development Agency to attract high-technology companies. The devolution settlement is no excuse to avoid doing these and other things."

11/10/06 Reform of research funding
CaSE today called for the Government to express clearly what kinds of research the Funding Councils are supposed to support before specifying the mechanisms by which the money will be distributed. "They're putting the cart before the horse," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, "until there is broad agreement about what this money is intended to be used for, there will never be a consensus about how it should be allocated. Everyone has become obsessed with trying to assess vaguely-expressed quantities like 'research quality' but to do it in a very precise way; it's crazy. What sort of research do we want to promote? Once we agree, we can think about how to support it. We at CaSE believe that adventurous, genuinely creative, novel research is not encouraged at present, and would like to see the Government thinking about ways in which that can happen, instead of chopping down acres of forests to produce the paper needed to publish this lengthy consultation document listing five proposals that are all very similar in philosophy."

read CaSE's evidence to the Government's review

10/10/06 Peter Cotgreave attended a Seminar in Parliament on the subjects of Scientific Research: Who pays? Who benefits?

4/10/06 Postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers
CaSE today engaged with the science policy concerns of postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers. Speaking at the University of Leeds on the subject of Science Funding in the UK, CaSE's director, Dr Peter Cotgreave, discussed with graduate students and postdocs the ways in which their scientific research is funded, and the implications of Government policies on their work and their careers. "Speaking to these young women and men about their research work is fascinating," said Peter Cotgreave, "because they are doing such amazing research. We at CaSE want as many of them as possible to get interested in policy debates, because it is only if the science community makes its views known that the public authorities can create funding structures that promote what these researchers are trying to do".

4/10/06 Conservative Science Policy
CaSE today was pleased to help with the Conservative Party's renewal of its science policy. At a science policy breakfast seminar at the Party Conference in Bournemouth, CaSE discussed options for the future with Ian Taylor MP, Chair of the Conservative task force of Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine, and with senior figures from Microsoft and other important elements of the scientific research field and high-technology industry.