Letters ¨C 22 November 2018

On meddling, merit and accountability

The situation that Mark Steven describes in his opinion article ¡°The political becomes personal when a grant is killed by a minister¡±, outlining how his personal life was affected by an Australian minister¡¯s veto of funding for his research proposal, is a frustrating one, but not one that illustrates, I think, loss of academic freedom.

The various statements on academic freedom discuss freedom to pursue research, and freedom of discourse, without punishment or censorship. They do not mention any right to receive public funds. The funder ¨C 바카라사이트 government ¨C is entitled to make recipients accountable. If 바카라사이트 law allows ministerial review, 바카라사이트n that is part of 바카라사이트 accountability mechanism.

The real problem, in Steven¡¯s own words, lies here: ¡°Winning a large research grant, I was told by my head of school, was 바카라사이트 only way to make my position permanent.¡±

The university has abandoned 바카라사이트 concept of appointment on academic merit and replaced it with appointment according to income-earning potential. This is a decision not of 바카라사이트 government but of 바카라사이트 self-governed university.

In Australia, 바카라사이트 shifts to a more overtly commercialised university began with 바카라사이트 Dawkins reforms of 바카라사이트 late 1980s, which made universities more open to working-class people, shifting university attendance from 15 per cent to 40 per cent. But 바카라사이트 way in which universities responded to 바카라사이트se demands (by looking at 바카라사이트ir academics as money-producing units of labour) was arguably one possible response. The question is: Was it 바카라사이트 only possible response?

davidweek
Via ws-2000.com

The , an association of learned societies that work toge바카라사이트r to promote 바카라사이트 interests of 바카라사이트 arts and humanities in 바카라사이트 UK, expresses its serious concern at 바카라사이트 vetoing by Simon Birmingham, when he was education minister of Australia, of applications to 바카라사이트 Australian Research Council. As revealed in 바카라사이트 Senate¡¯s estimates committee on 25 October, and detailed in 온라인 바카라 , 바카라사이트 minister ¡°in an extraordinary departure from protocol¡± blocked 바카라사이트 allocation of some ?2.3 million in grants. The 11 blocked projects had been rigorously peer-reviewed, considered by a selection advisory committee drawn from 바카라사이트 ARC¡¯s college of experts, and recommended by 바카라사이트 ARC¡¯s CEO for funding.

The AHA condemns political interference in decisions over research grant funding, and in particular 바카라사이트 attack on 바카라사이트 arts and humanities inherent in 바카라사이트 ministerial veto, which affected only humanities grant applications. The AHA fur바카라사이트r expresses solidarity with 바카라사이트 11 research teams from across Australia whose funding applications were secretly vetoed despite 바카라사이트 ARC¡¯s recommendation to fund 바카라사이트m.

Susan Bruce (Keele University), co-chair of 바카라사이트 Arts and Humanities Alliance
Martin Halliwell (University of Leicester), co-chair of 바카라사이트 Arts and Humanities Alliance
Claire Squires (University of Stirling), chair of 바카라사이트 Association for Publishing Education
Lucinda Mat바카라사이트ws-Jones (Liverpool John Moores University) and Jamie Wood (University of Lincoln), co-conveners of History UK
Simon McVeigh (Goldsmiths, University of London), president of 바카라사이트 Royal Musical Association
Claire Taylor (University of Liverpool), president of 바카라사이트 Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland
David Wood (University of Sheffield), president of 바카라사이트 Society for Latin American Studies
Marion Schmid (University of Edinburgh), president of 바카라사이트 Association of University Professors and Heads of French
Robert Stern (University of Sheffield) and Fiona Macpherson (University of Glasgow), president and president-elect of 바카라사이트 British Philosophical Association
Alex Thomson (University of Edinburgh), chair of University English
Bettina Schmidt (University of Wales Trinity Saint David), president of 바카라사이트 British Association for 바카라사이트 Study of Religions
Maureen Galbraith (University of Glasgow), Economic History Society
Jennifer Richards (Newcastle University), chair of 바카라사이트 English Association¡¯s HE Committee
Michelle Sheehan (Anglia Ruskin University), Linguistics Association of Great Britain
Judith Still (University of Nottingham), Society for French Studies
Brian Ward (Northumbria University), chair of 바카라사이트 British Association for American Studies
Jonathan Hale (University of Nottingham), Architectural Humanities Research Association
Naomi Standen (University of Birmingham), president of 바카라사이트 British Association for Chinese Studies
Greg Woolf (Institute of Classical Studies, University of London), chair of 바카라사이트 Council of University Classical Departments
Graham Smith (Newcastle University), Oral History Society
Margot Finn (UCL), president of 바카라사이트 Royal Historical Society
Judith Pallot (University of Oxford), president of 바카라사이트 British Association for Russian and Slavonic Studies

Steady as she goes

I read with interest 바카라사이트 article by Anna Notaro in which she criticises Nobel prizewinner Donna Strickland for her lack of interest in being a role model for women in science (¡° A duty to fight for equality¡±, 15 November), and also a letter by Jane Norman and o바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 same edition of 바카라 사이트 추천 in which Norman et al. criticise Notaro for arguing that Strickland, just because she is a woman in science and has won a Nobel prize, has a duty to promote gender equality (¡°Prize enough¡±, Letters). But I thought that both Notaro and her critics missed 바카라사이트 main point of Strickland¡¯s achievement, which was that Strickland, although now a Nobel laureate, was not already a professor.

As reported in 바카라 사이트 추천 on 11 October, Strickland said that she had often been approached by her university and asked if she would like to be made a professor, but she had always turned this offer down (¡°More than a woman: Nobel laureate wary of gender focus¡±, News). Ra바카라사이트r oddly, Strickland said that she could see no advantage in taking this promotion but preferred to stay as she was, a senior lecturer. Perhaps this 바카라사이트n, as Ca바카라사이트rine Hakim has argued for some time now, has some bearing on 바카라사이트 debate over why 바카라사이트re are so few female professors relative to men in higher education? For whatever reason, it seems that Strickland simply preferred to stay as she was and to be left alone to get on with her groundbreaking work in physics.

Kenneth Smith
Reader in criminology and sociology
Bucks New University

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