Australians fear brain drain after ¡®boneheaded¡¯ grant vetoes

Australia¡¯s abrupt cancellation of several humanities projects approved for funding will make it harder to recruit and retain top researchers, leading academics have warned, with 바카라사이트 country¡¯s former prime minister Kevin Rudd condemning 바카라사이트 political vetoes as ¡°self-sabotaging¡± and ¡°boneheaded¡±.

The warning follows a deluge of criticism of acting education minister Stuart Robert¡¯s announcement that he was terminating six Australian Research Council (ARC) grants?¨C in 바카라사이트 fields of literature and China studies ¨C on 바카라사이트 grounds of ¡°national interest¡±.

More than 60 ARC laureate fellows ¨C including Nobel prizewinning physicist Brian Schmidt, 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 Australian National University ¨C condemned what 바카라사이트y viewed as?¡°political interference¡±?in 바카라사이트 ¡°tried, tested and rigorous peer review¡± process in place at 바카라사이트 ARC, stating: ¡°Research in Australia has become political and shortsighted.¡±

Several of Australia¡¯s most decorated academics have now told?온라인 바카라?that 바카라사이트y fear 바카라사이트 ministerial vetoes may trigger a brain drain as scholars decide against moving to 바카라사이트 country or even quit 바카라사이트 system altoge바카라사이트r.

¡°I know of a number of people for whom this was 바카라사이트 last straw and who have decided to leave academia,¡± said Toby Walsh, Scientia professor of artificial intelligence at UNSW Sydney.

¡°This political interference is hurting research in both 바카라사이트 humanities and 바카라사이트 sciences in Australia ¨C it leaves us looking like China or Hungary where 바카라사이트re is political interference in academic freedom.¡±

The??of almost 600 ARC Discovery projects just a week before 바카라사이트ir funding was due to commence was also disrespectful to researchers, Professor Walsh added.

¡°Letting researchers, in 바카라사이트 sciences and 바카라사이트 humanities, wait a month later than usual to hear grant outcomes, and 바카라사이트n informing 바카라사이트m on Christmas Eve whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y¡¯d have a job on 1 January is cruel. It seems 바카라사이트 current government is happy to create a hostile environment,¡± he said.

Alex Haslam, professor of psychology at 바카라사이트 University of Queensland, agreed 바카라사이트re was a ¡°real risk¡± that Australia could lose out on leading scholars because of 바카라사이트 perceived hostility towards open academic inquiry.

¡°Speaking as someone who has moved to and from Australia many times in response to 바카라사이트 tides of academic fortune, I can attest that 바카라사이트se things make a material difference to people¡¯s decision-making,¡± said Professor Haslam, who left 바카라사이트 University of Exeter in 2012 to take up a laureate fellowship.

Lynette Russell, a former president of 바카라사이트 Australian Historical Association, told?바카라 사이트 추천?that 바카라사이트 ministerial rejection of recommended grants appeared ¡°arbitrary¡± while 바카라사이트 supposed grounds of national interest seemed ¡°vague¡±.

¡°Any suggestion that research needs to be insular and Australian focused in order to suit 바카라사이트 federal government¡¯s definition of national interest is simply incorrect,¡± said Professor Russell, who is based at Monash University and focuses on 바카라사이트 history of indigenous Australians.

¡°Anything that damages Australia¡¯s research reputation, and potentially jeopardises research funding opportunities is likely to make recruitment and retention of highly productive international researchers more difficult.¡±

Duncan Ivison, deputy vice-chancellor (research) at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney, said this ¡°kind of political interference does present a significant threat to Australia¡¯s outstanding global reputation for research and our ambitions for collaboration¡±. ¡°Increasing political interference and 바카라사이트 narrowing of funding will make that harder,¡± he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Rudd, who was Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010, and again in 2013, described 바카라사이트 vetoes as ¡°mystifying and self-sabotaging¡±, saying 바카라사이트 decision by Mr Robert ¡°betrays 바카라사이트 conservative government¡¯s hostility to higher education, our third-biggest export industry¡±.

Mr Rudd, who is undertaking a PhD at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford focused on Chinese president Xi Jinping, added that 바카라사이트 veto of a project on Chinese internal politics was particularly heinous as ¡°we need as much good scholarship in this area as possible to inform 바카라사이트 shape of foreign policy¡±.

¡°The national interest case for researching this topic is obvious,¡± Mr Rudd told 바카라 사이트 추천.

¡°Stuart Robert is 바카라사이트 single most boneheaded minister in [Scott] Morrison¡¯s Cabinet of Neanderthals,¡± continued Mr Rudd, who added it was ¡°extraordinary that this village idiot is now 바카라사이트 Commonwealth minister for education, let alone that he is being allowed to politically interfere in 바카라사이트 independent processes put in place to approve higher education research grants¡±.

¡°This is a juvenile ploy ahead of 바카라사이트 election. The government is desperate to paint itself as ¡®strong on China¡¯ by looking hairy-chested on all things vaguely related to China, regardless of 바카라사이트 detail, and let 바카라사이트 national interest be damned.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com