Science and democracy: a peculiarly British disease?
Two recent programmes on BBC Radio 4 highlight a worrying anti-democratic bias in discussions of science and technology.
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Two recent programmes on BBC Radio 4 highlight a worrying anti-democratic bias in discussions of science and technology.
Italy - Two well-known Italian scientists have been appointed "senator for life" by President Giorgio Napolitano to honor their contributions to society. Physicist Carlo Rubbia, 79, and brain stem cell biologist Elena Cattaneo, 50, received the honor along with conductor Claudio Abbado and architect Renzo Piano on 30 August. Senators for life—o...
British and Australian scientists compile a list of tips to help policy makers better understand the 'imperfect nature of science'
The only U.S. senator to receive a research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) says one of her top priorities in her first term is to increase federal support for academic research and eliminate restrictions on NSF funding for political science research.
Universities need a "cultural change" towards teaching, the universities minister, David Willetts, has argued, as a survey of UK undergraduates showed they were being set less work and received notably less tutor feedback than did their peers 50 years ago.
Just another talking club or a genuine attempt to give science more weight in policy matters of global importance? Time will tell whether the United Nations' newly created scientific advisory board, whose members were announced last week, will indeed influence the business of international policy-making in practice.
Schon mancher Wissenschaftler ist an der politischen Praxis gescheitert. Andere fühlen sich dort wohl. Auch diesmal haben wieder einige Akademiker den Sprung gewagt.
The just-elected parliament will face several key decisions on research funding, which will have far-reaching consequences for German scientists. Several big funding programs run out between 2015 and 2019, and the next government will shape their replacements. There is broad support across parties, however, for continuing the programs in some form.
A leading sociologist has attacked the application of so-called "'evidence'-based policy" - and much of the research lying behind it - to education
The increasing concern about unreliability in scientific literature is a problem for people like me - I am the science adviser to DEFRA, the UK government department for environment, food and rural affairs. To counsel politicians, I must recognize systematic bias in research.