Send us a link

Subscribe to our newsletter

Collective allocation of science funding: from funding agencies to scientific agency

Collective allocation of science funding: from funding agencies to scientific agency

The NSF and the NIH award tens of billions of dollars in annual science funding. How can this money be distributed as efficiently as possible to best promote scientific innovation and productivity?

Global R&D funding 2014 forecast

Global R&D funding 2014 forecast

Battelle and R&D Magazine jointly released the 2014 Global R&D Funding Forecast indicating that the combination of private and public global R&D spending was flat for 2013.

DFG richtet neun weitere Sonderforschungsbereiche ein

DFG richtet neun weitere Sonderforschungsbereiche ein

Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) richtet neun weitere Sonderforschungsbereiche (SFB) ein.

What's so special about science? (And how much should we spend on it?)

What's so special about science? (And how much should we spend on it?)

Presidential address on why society is willing to support an endeavor as abstract and altruistic as basic scientific research and an enterprise as large and practical as the R&D enterprise as a whole.

The end of written grant applications: Let's use a formula

The end of written grant applications: Let's use a formula

Hours spent writing grant applications could be spent actually doing research with a grant-determining formula.

White House unveils big data projects, round two

White House unveils big data projects, round two

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Networking and Information Technology R&D program (NITRD) on Tuesday introduced a slew of new big-data collaboration projects aimed at stimulating private-sector interest in federal data.

Large NIH projects cut

Large NIH projects cut

Big science is under big pressure at the NIH. Gone are the glory days of the early 2000s, when a doubling of the agency's budget over five years allowed it to establish dozens of programmes with their own large, dedicated budgets.

Why research assessment is out of control

Why research assessment is out of control

Universities and academics cannot live without the Research Excellence Framework, but we need to go back to a simpler form of measurement, argues Peter Scott

Does UK science have a fetish for the short-term?

Does UK science have a fetish for the short-term?

Many of the biggest problems in science are tackled through sustained efforts over years or decades. But if science is a long-term endeavour, why are funding and careers so fixated on the now? Guest post by Andrew Holding.

Spanish science still suffering

Spanish science still suffering

Despite Friday's €70m rescue of the Spanish National Research Council, Spain's scientists are still in mourning. Amaya Moro Martín sets the scene as a range of commentators identify the challenges still facing Spanish science

Scientists' public engagement work should be generously funded

Scientists' public engagement work should be generously funded

Public engagement should be an integral part of research, not an unpaid hobby, which is why the Wellcome Trust has decided to invest £4.5m a year in it.

Sao Paulo's success story

Sao Paulo's success story

The success of Sao Paulo's way of funding science has made it a model throughout Brazil: Sao Paulo produces 50 per cent of Brazilian science through FAPESP which receives one per cent of state tax revenue. The model allows for long-term planning and other states are now emulating it.

Why You DON'T "Fucking Love Science"

Why You DON'T "Fucking Love Science"

So you think you love science, do you? What does that mean to you, exactly? For most people, I'm guessing it means something like data, and like countless "Principal Investigators" of the science world, you're confusing data with science.

What is good science? And what gets public funding?

What is good science? And what gets public funding?

I've heard that we should stop talking about "pure" science and "applied" science; that we should only be talking about "good" science and "bad" science. Last year, CSIRO Chief Executive Megan Clark said as much during question time at her National Press Club address, and this year I heard it recommended again at the Universities Australia Conference.