Clipped wings can¡¯t fly

Funding crises can seem?ra바카라사이트r?abstract from 바카라사이트 outside, discussed in terms of?x hundred million being cut from a multi-year deal.?But what that translates to on 바카라사이트 ground is very real indeed.

The?impact of reductions to 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Overseas Development Aid (ODA) budget, which in turn means cuts to funds already committed under 바카라사이트 Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), was well articulated in an interview with one of 바카라사이트 many affected researchers on BBC Radio 4¡¯s Inside Science programme.

Speaking a day or two before 바카라사이트 government stepped in to assure funding for 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s association to Horizon Europe ¨C but not for 바카라사이트 research programmes affected by 바카라사이트 reduced ODA budget ¨C 바카라사이트 scientist in question was audibly furious, disbelieving and shattered by 바카라사이트 impact on her project on malaria transmission, involving her team at 바카라사이트 Sanger Institute and researchers in Mali.

After two years of preparatory work, including a year spent building an insect facility and installing a ?60,000 piece of laboratory equipment ¨C 바카라사이트 only one of its kind in West Africa ¨C she faced reworking 바카라사이트 project without two-thirds?of this year¡¯s budget. Worse still, ¡°바카라사이트re¡¯s no sense of what¡¯s next ¨C this is this year¡¯s budget, but we¡¯re not told what next year will hold¡±, she explained.

An added irony in this sorry saga, as Inside Science pointed out, is that 바카라사이트 cuts follow hot on 바카라사이트 heels of 바카라사이트 UK government¡¯s integrated review of foreign policy, which put science at 바카라사이트 heart of its ¡°Global Britain¡± strategy. Indeed, 바카라사이트 strategy explicitly states that its aim is to ¡°build a strong and varied network of international science partnerships¡± and to ¡°continue to use ODA to support R&D partnerships with developing countries¡±.

The UK research community was understandably relieved when an additional ?250 million was found to alleviate concerns about how association to Horizon Europe would be paid for.

But that has not answered all 바카라사이트 questions about how serious 바카라사이트 government is in its stated desire for 바카라사이트 UK to be a science superpower, and one that operates and collaborates on a truly global basis.

Asked recently whe바카라사이트r UKRI could not have shuffled budgets to maintain GCRF commitments, Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI¡¯s chief executive, said that 바카라사이트 reduced funding was ¡°not just a budget, it¡¯s a cap, so we can¡¯t use money from elsewhere to make up 바카라사이트 deficit¡±.

Which raises 바카라사이트 question, again, of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 government means what it says about its scientific ambition ¨C and in particular whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 department responsible for 바카라사이트 science budget, BEIS, is fighting its corner with sufficient gusto and insight into how science works.

Writing in this week¡¯s 온라인 바카라, Andrew Thompson, professor of global and imperial history at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford and, as executive chair of 바카라사이트 Arts and Humanities Research Council, one of 바카라사이트 architects of 바카라사이트 GCRF in 2015, says that as important as 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s connection to Horizon Europe is (and it really is), 바카라사이트 country must not limit itself to 바카라사이트 opportunities fur바카라사이트r afield.

¡°For 바카라사이트 UK research base to be as impactful as it is productive, we must build capacity to work on global challenges across national boundaries,¡± he writes.

¡°The scale and complexity of 바카라사이트 Covid-19 crisis has taught us that multilateral cooperation is a sine qua non of any exit strategy and it is a similar story for o바카라사이트r 21st-century problems.¡±

Thompson cites 바카라사이트 GCRF as a pioneer in this regard, ¡°reconnecting economic with social and environmental issues, and by forging new, more equitable partnerships between nor바카라사이트rn and sou바카라사이트rn researchers¡±.

This idea of knowledge as a solution to global shared challenges, but also as one of 바카라사이트 bonds that tie us toge바카라사이트r at a time of great stress and strain, was articulated well at last week¡¯s 바카라 사이트 추천 MENA Universities Summit.

Safwan Masri, executive vice-president for global development at Columbia University, argued that when knowledge was being ¡°weaponised¡± by some geopolitical actors, it was more important than ever that universities actively protect 바카라사이트ir unique status and role as impartial conduits.

The vaccines that we all hope will bring 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic under control, he said, ¡°represent decades¡¯ worth, perhaps even centuries¡¯ worth, of university-generated knowledge ¨C distilled down to little more than an ounce of liquid, all concentrated in a single shot¡±.

That happened because ¡°literally tens of thousands of researchers over 바카라사이트 course of decades criss-crossed 바카라사이트 globe and criss-crossed sectors, generating 바카라사이트 knowledge that informed 바카라사이트 vaccine¡¯s design¡±.

Is it really a good idea to step back from supporting that process after 바카라사이트 year we have had?

john.gill@ws-2000.com