Could Distributed Peer Review Better Decide Grant Funding?
The landscape of academic grant funding is notoriously competitive and plagued by lengthy, bureaucratic processes, exacerbated by difficulties in finding willing reviewers. Distributed […]
Fairer Funding in Social Sciences Masks Gender Imbalance
Even when the news is good — women win grants from the ESRC at the same rate as men, and those grants are actually a bit larger on average — it’s tinged with bad — because there are so few senior women in academic social sciences men still get majority of the money.
Honoring High Achievements in ‘Hypsographic Demography’
Two decades ago two curious scientists from very different fields wondered how many people live at various altitudes. Aided by federal funding, their inquiries have helped in area ranging from disaster preparedness to cancer research to fresher snack foods. Now the duo have been honored with a Golden Goose Award.
Did the REF Ultimately Measure Who Got Most Grant Money?
If the funding allocated to universities on the basis of the REF is correlated to the amount of grant income universities already receive, what is the point of the output assessment process? Jon Clayden suggests this apparent double-counting exercise is not the best we can do.
Japan’s Education Ministry Says to Axe Social Science and Humanities
Citing an aging population and concerns about economic competitiveness, Japan’s education ministry offers a drastic solution for the national universities: Get rid of social science and humanities departments, and do it now.
The Waves of the Metric Tide
While the initial splash made by ‘The Metric Tide,’ an independent review on the role of metrics in research assessment, has died down since its release last month, the underlying critique continues to make waves.
Who Should Decide Cuts for UK’s Research Councils?
Objective outsiders focused on the purse or knowledgeable insiders focused on the scholarship — who should decide the best way to derive the productivity and innovations sought from Britain’s Research Councils?
Bill: Make ‘National Interest’ Explicit in NSF Grants
In February officials with the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Board trooped up […]
Matt Owens on Obscure Research That Makes a Big Impact
‘Don’t judge a book by its cover – federal funding for odd or frivolous sounding research pays enormous societal, health, security, and economic dividends to the American taxpayer,’ argues a member of the steering committee for the Golden Goose Award.
