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 […]
Shine a Light on Academic Journals’ Dark Arts
When McDonald’s came under sustained criticism from campaigners in the 1980s, the company responded by constructing a carefully crafted image of corporate […]
The Tyranny of Excellence is Hurting Research
Nick Butler and Sverre Spoelstra argue that the game-playing that accompanies Britain’s Research Excellence Framework to achieve better appearances is harming the intent of the exercise.
U.S. Presidents Have Long Touted the Joys of Junior Colleges
While critics of President Obama’s call for universal community college for Americans imply federal intrusion into the local institutions was unprecedented, there’s actually a long line of feds who have seen the benefits of the two-year schools.
In the Anthropocene, Every Discipline Has a Role
Grappling with climate change going forward won’t be so much grappling with climate as it will be grappling with human reactions to the forces already in motion. Universities have a role to play in marshaling all their disciplines in this endeavor, says Matthew Nisbet.
MOOCs + Meetups = Better Learning
The man behind the ‘Beyond Silicon Valley’ MOOC is very enthusiastic about these massive online courses, but he sees adding a dash of the human touch as making the resulting learning experience even better.
Make a Charitable Donation of Your Personal Data
You donate your money to charity, your blood to other and your time to special causes. So why not give of your data for science research?
When Chasing Prestige Becomes the Prize
A survey by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics suggests that researchers appreciate the benefits of competition but also fear how it can emphasize prestige over quality
Colin Firth: Author, Actually
Authorship of an article seems like it ought to be straightforward, but of course it’s not. Even with greater scrutiny, abuse of the process — both adding the wrong people and subtracting the right ones — continues.
