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 […]
Is the Concept of Race Science’s Biggest Mistake?
There is a clear consensus among anthropologists that races aren’t real, that they don’t reflect biological reality, and that most anthropologists don’t believe there is a place for race categories in science.
The Research on Communicating Science in a Post-Truth Era
A new report from the National Academies on current science communication finds it’s going to need strategic and serious investment in the ‘science’ of science communication and demand much greater engagement and collaboration between those who study science communication and those who actually do it.
When Government is Not Enough for Research Funding
Two research executives from the University of Minnesota see there isn’t enough government funding to pay for all the innovative research that needs to be taking place. Might business take up the slack?
Fixing Peer Review, a Biologist’s View
Peer review clearly isn’t perfect, but rather than simply bypassing it and releasing even more information into an overloaded system, we should focus on making it better, says this life sciences editor. The first step is to reset and clearly state our standards for quality in both publishing and peer reviewing.
Why Did Contract Theory Deserve a Nobel Prize?
As technology improves and organizations become more complex, the theory and practice of contract design will only increase in importance. As such, we owe, we owe a great debt to this year’s Nobel laureates in economics for giving us powerful tools to structure effective contracts.
Inane Criticism of ‘Absurd’ Research Leaves No One the Wiser
Perhaps the solution to conflicting spending priorities, write Rod Lamberts and Will J. Grant, is simply to acknowledge that people will always have conflicting priorities, and think about how best to live alongside each other: mythical, homogeneous pub-goer and irrelevant, out-of-touch academic alike.
Free Advice: Do Some Homework Before Ridiculing Research
Shonkily researched assertions are okay if you enjoy the safe patronage of a major news organisation, argues Rob Brooks. But know, he adds, you would never get away with such abject laziness, or such contempt for professional disinterest in a grant proposal to a federal funding body.
University Decolonization: More Than Mere Iconoclasm
The decolonization debate in African universities raises critical issues about the relationship between power, knowledge and learning, argues Ahmed Essop. It also provides an opportunity to rethink the role of universities in social and economic development and in fashioning a common nation.
