27/06/06 Blue skies research
CaSE today emphasised the importance of campaigning for blue-skies research. Speaking at a reception in Parliament organised by SET for Britain for outstanding young researchers, Don Braben of CaSE's executive committee pointed out that the greatest scientists of the twentieth century would not get funding in today's target-driven regime. "People like Max Planck, Crick and Watson, Einstein, would simply not be allowed to do what they did if they had to work in a British university today," said Don Braben before pointing out that the American National Science Board is looking a wholly new funding stream for 'transformative research' of the kind that these great researchers produced. Speaking at the same event, CaSE's Director, Peter Cotgreave, said that the British science and engineering community needs to continue campaigning in Parliament and elsewhere, if we want to see blue skies research remaining as an important part of the UK science base.

27/06/06 Science in Parliament
CaSE was today delighted when the Prime Minister thanked us for our efforts on behalf of British science. CaSE was taking part in Parliamentary Links Day - organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry on behalf of the wider scientific community - with the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett MP, and various senior parliamentarians, including the Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, and Chair of the Science & Technology Committee, Phil Willis MP, who quoted from CaSE in his address to the hundreds of scientists, engineers and parliamentarians assembled in Portcullis House. Tony Blair sent a written message of support, in which he thanks CaSE by name for its work.

26/06/06 Political debate about science
CaSE today welcomed the growing interest in science policy by mainstream politicians. Commenting in the Financial Times, CaSE welcomed the Conservative Party's review of science policy, chaired by Ian Taylor MP, a former minister who is also a member of CaSE's Advisory Council. "For too long, science has tended to be ignored by the Opposition," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, "and because the Government has substantially increased the science budget, there has been relatively little criticism of its policies. But like any other set of policies, the Government's science policies are not perfect, and more scrutiny by the Opposition can only be a good thing."

22/06/06 Knowledge transfer
CaSE today stressed the need for fundamental research to feed into the economy. In a letter to the Financial Times, CaSE points out that a recent political dispute has failed to recognise the importance of basic research. The text of the letter is given below:

The claim by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne that the UK is not doing enough to link businesses with universities and its dismissal by Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, and others (Financial Times, June 19 and June 20) are all very entertaining, but the truth is more complex. Policies in this area are important for the UK’s economy.

Lord Sainsbury is right that in regard to their links with industry, universities have changed out of all recognition in the last ten years, and there is great deal more entrepreneurial activity coming out of academia than in the past; the UK is doing better than any of its European competitors. But Mr Osborne is equally right that we remain a long way from matching the USA’s performance.

Part of the reason that the USA is doing so much better is that it started this kind of activity decades earlier than we did, and it takes many years to turn a clever idea in the mind of a researcher to a major and successful enterprise.

The whole system relies on sufficient funding for the highest quality basic ‘blue skies’ research, which provides the seed corn for many future developments. The current Government has increased overall levels of funding very substantially, greatly improving the conditions for much university research. However, many research leaders feel that the traditional freedom to pursue novel and unfashionable lines of inquiry has been curtailed by increasing bureaucracy and peculiarities of the funding system. In particular, there is a mismatch between the level of funding for safe research that fits easily into existing programmes and genuinely novel or high-risk research with the potential to make big leaps forward in knowledge.

19/06/06 Science Minister
CaSE today met with the Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury, to talk about science education, the funding of the universities, and private sector research and innovation. "With next year's Comprehensive Spending Review fast approaching, we talked to the science minister about the areas that need attention if the Government is to achieve its aim of making the UK the best place in the world for science," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, after the meeting. "We believe that much more needs to be done to replenish the number of science teachers, we need to decide who is going to pay for the country's scientific aspirations for the universities and colleges, and crucially, we need to work out how to make Britain a more attractive place for the private sector to invest in research and development."

15/06/06 Knowledge transfer
CaSE today welcomed the House of Commons' endorsement of its policies on getting value for money for taxpayers' investment in science. The Science & Technology Committee's report on Research Council Support for Knowledge Transfer, published today, includes support for CaSE's positions that Regional Development Agencies need to work much harder if they are to fulfil their potential, that a bewildering array of schemes and initiatives is confusing for scientists and engineers and, most importantly, that focusing on knowledge transfer must not detract from the Research Councils' primary role of finding and funding the best scientific research. "We took part in a private seminar with the Committee and also gave written evidence to the inquiry," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, "and we're extremely pleased that the Select Committee seems to agree with everything we said".

read CaSE's written evidence to the inquiry
read the Committee's report

14/06/06 Research Assessment
CaSE today welcomed the Government's announcement of a firm intention to abolish the Research Assessment Exercise for science and engineering. Commenting in the Financial Times, CaSE's Director, Peter Cotgreave, said "The RAE served an important role when it was introduced 20 years ago but it has become an albatross around the neck of British science and I wish it was being abolished immediately."

05/06/06 Britain's scientific competitiveness
CaSE today highlighted the need for the UK to be scienitifically competitive at all levels. Speaking on Radio 4's today programme, CaSE's director said that "the only way that this country is going to make a living in the future is by being more scientific, by being more technological. We can’t compete with China and India on wage costs, and the only way we’re going to do it is by being really good at science, at every level – in school, in universities, in companies, right the way across the board." CaSE praised the Chancellor of the Exchequer for attempting to put together a package of policies that would help to make this happen.

01/06/06 University funding
CaSE today called on the Higher Education Funding Council to place greater emphasis on science and engineering in the national interest. In an article in Laboratory News, CaSE points out that two Parliamentary Committees have recently summoned representatives of the universities to explain why things are not going smoothly. But while the pay dispute investigated by the Education Committee seems intractable, the pressure on science departments examined by the Science & Technology Committee could be partially addressed immediately if HEFCE reversed its unjustifiable decision to downgrade science in the funding formula. The article concludes that as we work out how to meet the full costs of a world-class, mass Higher Education system, HEFCE "will need to ensure that taxpayers' money is used fairly in the national interest, and that will mean taking science and engineering more seriously".