A symposium celebrated a roadmap for the American scientific enterprise laid out 75 years ago. What should be included in a US research plan that would last through the rest of this century?
Education minister Dan Tehan has been making funding announcement gradually, increasing uncertainty for researchers.
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The EU’s next research programme needs to change how universities and business work together.
The amount of funding countries allocate for research is important. Equally important is spending those funds in ways that promote research excellence and innovation.
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The interests of pharmaceutical companies and public health are not the same. Industry dollars can distort research agendas, while framing health challenges and solutions in ways that benefit corporations.
South Africa’s research and development funding must be spent for public good.
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Today, universities fulfil many of the science councils’ roles at a much lower cost while also training postgraduate students.
Revolutionary technologies like CRISPR are founded on discoveries uncovered through basic research that attracts very little attention.
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On average, important new lab techniques like CRISPR take 23 years to develop – but there is a public expectation that scientific breakthroughs occur quickly and efficiently.
The shockwaves of this cut will be felt for years to come at Australian universities.
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A 90-minute presentation in 1968 showed off the earliest desktop computer system. In the process it introduced the idea that technology could make individuals better – if government funded research.
Even privately run colleges and universities get money from the federal government.
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The scientific community always wants more cash to fund research. A new study examines whether more concrete knowledge of science or more general interest in it is likelier to loosen the pursestrings.
In 2016, it cost A$12.4 billion to operate the Group of Eight universities, of which public funds from the government provided A$6.7 billion. The London Economics report reveals that the work of the Group of 8, delivered a return of over A$66 billion to the nation.
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A new report found that every one dollar of public funding spent on Go8 university research generated A$9.76 across the Australian economy, a roughly 10 fold return on the government’s investment.
It takes time to see which finding might be a golden egg.
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Basic research can be easy to mock as pointless and wasteful of resources. But it’s very often the foundation for future innovation – even in ways the original scientists couldn’t have imagined.
Global South-based scholars are often not part of major debates and conversations.
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China’s government is prioritizing world-class science and tech. An expert describes the Chinese research landscape – and questions its sustainability.
Money doesn’t grow in flasks – scientists have to find funds outside the lab.
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Money always seems tight for university scientists. A sociologist conducted hundreds of interviews to see how they think about funding sources and profit motives for basic and applied research.
Diseases low on the hierarchy of prestige are often difficult to diagnose and treat.
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In the hierarchy of diseases, those suffering from ‘high prestige’ diseases benefit from strong community and clinical support, while others are left in the dark.
Despite the Federal Government’s teacher education reforms and the push for evidence-based teaching, less than 2% of ARC research funding is directed to educational research.
Director, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute & Professor of Medical Biology, and an honorary principal fellow in the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Previous Vice President of the Academy of Science of South Africa and DSI-NRF SARChI chair in Fungal Genomics, Professor in Genetics, University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria