Nineteenth issue of our RESEARCH MANAGEMENT BRIEFING
1. AUSTRALIAN AUD3M BOOST FOR NEW INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH LINKS
2. UK UNIVERSITIES NEED GBP500M FOR ARTS AND HUMANITIES
3. US LAW COULD RESULT IN SEGREGATION OF FOREIGN SCIENTISTS
4. RESEARCHERS REQUEST MORE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FROM CAMEROON
5. INDIA AND US PLEDGE RESEARCH CO-OPERATION
6. AFRICAN UNION LAUNCHES BIOTECHNOLOGY ADVISORY PANEL
7. NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY TO LEAD NATIONAL NETWORK TO ADVANCE STROKE RESEARCH
8. PAKISTAN HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION REJECTS CRITICISM
9. NORTHERN IRELAND FIRM ANNOUNCES NEW ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTRE
10. INDIA AIMS TO REVITALISE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
11. AUSTRALIA, CANADA AND NZ COME TOGETHER FOR INDIGENOUS HEALTH RESEARCH
12. UK AND CANADA PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR AFRICAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
13. NEW BUSINESS UNITS AT JOINT AUSTRALIAN AND NZ FORESTRY RESEARCH
ORGANIZATION
1. AUSTRALIAN AUD3M BOOST FOR NEW INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH LINKS
Australia's international research networks will receive a funding boost of nearly AUD3 million from the Australian government under the Australian Research Council's linkage International scheme.
The Australian government will provide a further AUD2,972,440 to fund 42 new awards for Australian-based researchers to participate in joint research projects with their overseas counterparts.
Twenty new ARC International Fellowships will also be funded allowing both Australian researchers to work in leading overseas institutions and researchers from other countries to come to Australia for periods of up to 12 months.
The awards and fellowships will support collaborative research projects with prospective benefits in a diverse range of areas.
2. UK UNIVERSITIES NEED GBP500M FOR ARTS AND HUMANITIES
Infrastructure for arts and humanities research needs around GBP500 million to address years of under-investment according to a recent report. It calls for the money to be provided by government, allocated by formula rather than competition, as part of an overall package for university infrastructure. The conclusions appear in a report commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England looking into the infrastructure needs of universities across the UK.
3. US LAW COULD RESULT IN SEGREGATION OF FOREIGN SCIENTISTS
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has proposed a rule that would make it difficult for universities to engage foreign scientists in any work the department funds, reports SciDev.net. The initiative is intended to minimise the risk of sensitive technology falling into the hands of countries viewed as security threats by the US.
In practice this would mean that universities and companies doing work for the DoD would need special licences to employ non-US scientists, and control their access to project information. Foreign nationals working on DoD-funded projects could be forced to wear badges and made to work in segregated areas.
4. RESEARCHERS REQUEST MORE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FROM CAMEROON
The director of a pan-African postgraduate programme in economics has met with the Ephraim Inoni, prime minister of Cameroon, to request financial support, reports the Cameroon Tribune.
Taladidia Thiombiano, who is responsible for the inter-university course, met Inoni to discuss his programme which to date has trained over 150 Cameroonian postgraduate students as well as 20 PhD holders and lecturers in the field of economic research and management in Africa.
Thiombiano explained at the meeting that the programme, which covers 18 African nations, needs more material support from the countries that directly benefit from it.
5. INDIA AND US PLEDGE RESEARCH CO-OPERATION
India and the US have agreed to expand scientific cooperation in a wide array of fields including agriculture, space and nanotechnology, reports SciDev.net. But the signing of a full-blown India-US agreement on science and technology cooperation has been postponed.
The announcement came during a visit by Manmohan Singh, prime minister of India, to the US last week.
The two countries have agreed to launch a 'second generation' of co-operation in the agricultural sciences, focusing on the issue of agricultural productivity under drought conditions. India and the US also launched a joint 'energy dialogue' intended to promote and facilitate affordable and environmentally friendly energy supplies in India.
6. AFRICAN UNION LAUNCHES BIOTECHNOLOGY ADVISORY PANEL
A panel chaired by Calestous Juma, the Kenyan former secretary of the UN Convention on Biodiversity, has been set up to advise the African Union on ways of building capacity in biotechnology, reports SciDev.net.
The African Panel on Biotechnology will include senior scientists and policymakers from across the continent. The panel will be co-chaired by Juma and Ismail Serageldin, former vice-president of the World Bank.
Juma said, "Africa must take charge of its future and assess the usefulness of all existing technological options for meeting its needs. More specifically, there is an urgent need to look at African universities as vehicles of community development, and one of the key technological opportunities for this is biotechnology."
7. NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY TO LEAD NATIONAL NETWORK TO ADVANCE STROKE RESEARCH
Newcastle University has been chosen by the Department of Health to coordinate a GBP20 million UK Stroke Research Network. The network will comprise a National Coordinating Centre, based in the university, and eight local research networks around the country.
The networking will be carried out in collaboration with the Universities of Birmingham, Glasgow, Nottingham and Oxford, and is part of UK medical research funders' UK Clinical Research Network initiative.
The aim is to establish a world-class research network to facilitate the conduct of randomised prospective trials and studies, including for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of stroke.
Sally Davies, Director of Research and Development at the Department of Health, said, "The UK Stroke Research Network will provide a world-class health service infrastructure to support clinical research and speed up patients' access to the best treatment and care in all parts of the country."
The GBP20m funding stretches over five years.
8. PAKISTAN HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION REJECTS CRITICISM
S Sohail H Naqvi, executive director of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) has written an article in Pakistan Dawn rejecting criticism of the HEC's new funding processes by Pervez Hoodbhoy.
Hoodbhoy had accused the HEC of corruption, dishonesty, incompetence, and cronyism.
Naqvi rejects all of Hoodbhoy's criticisms one by one, disputing the examples he used and attempting to show how the HEC is working towards improving Pakistan's higher education system. He acknowledges that some of the current situations are not ideal but says that the HEC "does not have the luxury of living in a perfect world."
9. NORTHERN IRELAND FIRM ANNOUNCES NEW ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTRE
Northern Ireland's technology infrastructure has received a boost with the opening of a new GBP6 million engineering research centre at FG Wilson Engineering in Larne.
The Caterpillar Electric Power Engineering Centre of Excellence is a multi-disciplinary facility that will study electrical generators and create 29 high value jobs.
Invest Northern Ireland has offered over GBP1.5 million to support the centre, which was officially opened by the enterprise minister, Angela Smith. At the opening event, Smith said, "The centre will provide an opportunity for engineering graduates to develop skills in a demanding career. By increasing the level of expertise in this sector we will accelerate innovation and technology transfer and raise the profile of Northern Ireland’s engineering expertise in the global arena."
10. INDIA AIMS TO REVITALISE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
The Indian government has announced plans to revitalise scientific research in universities, reports SciDev.net. The plans include the creation of 1,000 new research positions and the establishment of centres for the promotion of collaborative research.
The changes come are among the recommendations of a committee set up to suggest ways of improving basic science research in India. The government said it would implement all the committee's suggestions, at a projected cost of 6 million rupees (USD137.4m) per year.
Networking centres for physics, chemistry, biology, material sciences and mathematics will be set up to promote collaborative research and provide both training and access to advanced research facilities.
The committee also highlighted the need to fill the large number of vacant faculty positions and to create 1,000 additional research posts including lecturers and professors.
11. AUSTRALIA, CANADA AND NZ COME TOGETHER FOR INDIGENOUS HEALTH RESEARCH
Australia, Canada and New Zealand have teamed up for the first time on a collaborative research project to improve indigenous health. Under the agreement between the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) and New Zealand's Health Research Council (HRC), the three countries will support complementary indigenous health research.
Funding of AUD1.7 million will be provided by the Commonwealth government through the NHMRC, with the CIHR contributing AUD1.65m and the HRC contributing AUD1.66m towards the program.
Under the program, the University of New South Wales has been awarded AUD1.7m to work with scientists in Canada and New Zealand to investigate prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in indigenous communities.
12. UK AND CANADA PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR AFRICAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Britain and Canada have pledged to enhance science and technology capacity in Africa during a conference hosted in London, reports SciDev.net.
Hilary Benn, UK minister for international development, announced that the UK Department for International Development's GBP86 million annual budget for research would be "significantly increased" in the near future. Priority areas for the new money will include Africa, climate change and improving governance in the poorest countries.
Arthur Carty, science adviser to the Canadian prime minister, said that Canada would play its part by allocating 5 per cent of the country’s research spending to international development research. He said that he hoped other countries would also adopt similar targets.
Benn told delegates that international donors had in the past not always "acted in harmony", which had left developing countries "overwhelmed by a sea of unfocused goodwill".
13. NEW BUSINESS UNITS AT JOINT AUSTRALIAN AND NZ FORESTRY RESEARCH ORGANIZATION
Ensis, the joint venture between CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products (FFP) and New Zealand's Scion (formerly Forest Research), has become one of the world's largest integrated forestry and forest products research organisations by establishing three new business units.
Ensis has incorporated FFP's remaining R&D units to create three new strategic business units - Forest Biosecurity and Protection, Sustainable Productive Forestry and Integrated Environmental Forestry.
The addition of the new units almost doubles the number of ensis staff to 320 and increases its projected annual income to around AUD55 million.
The new strategic units will complement the work of ensis’ four original business units - Papro (pulp, paper and packaging), Wood and Fibre Quality, Wood Processing and Products, and Genetics.
FFP chief, Rick Ede, said that ensis has enhanced the forestry sectors of both Australia and New Zealand
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