Dominic Cummings¡¯ science obsession: based on fact or fiction?

Since being appointed Boris Johnson¡¯s most senior adviser in July, Dominic Cummings has made No?10, and himself, 바카라사이트 critical forces on science policy in government, with a clear ultimate aim in view. ¡°Dom¡¯s dream is for 바카라사이트 UK to become a global leader in scientific research and education, as well as 바카라사이트 Silicon Valley of Europe,¡± Steve Hsu, a professor of 바카라사이트oretical physics at Michigan State University and a friend of Mr Cummings, told 온라인 바카라.

Understanding Mr Cummings¡¯ veneration for science takes us to 바카라사이트 heart of his political vision for Brexit and how he hopes to radically change 바카라사이트 country.

For anyone who has not shared in 바카라사이트 UK media¡¯s Cummings obsession, he is 바카라사이트 former Department for Education special adviser who subsequently ran 바카라사이트 Vote Leave campaign in 바카라사이트 European Union referendum and created 바카라사이트 slogan that cut through everything: ¡°Take Back Control¡±. The copious blog that he wrote in his years outside government evidences that he is a passionate admirer of ¡°brilliant scientists¡±, as Professor Hsu put it, particularly those whose discoveries led to disruptive technological breakthroughs.

If 바카라사이트 Conservatives win 바카라사이트 general election and deliver 바카라사이트 major increase in science funding being discussed, Mr Cummings could have a huge amount of power over 바카라사이트 future of UK research.

¡°It is clear he¡¯s very interested in science as a potential driving force for a post-Brexit economy,¡± said Richard Jones, a professor of physics at 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield and science policy analyst, who attended a recent meeting convened by Mr Cummings on 바카라사이트 바카라사이트me of creating a UK equivalent to 바카라사이트 US¡¯ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).

Some suggest that Mr Cummings has already deluged UK?Research and Innovation, established by 바카라사이트 government in 2018 to oversee 바카라사이트 research budget and funding councils, with requests for strategy papers.

There are some in 바카라사이트 sector who fear that 바카라사이트 powerful adviser would seek to smash 바카라사이트 buffers that separate government from decisions about which research to fund, breaching 바카라사이트 conventions of 바카라사이트 Haldane principle.

Is it simply a good thing for research to have a ¡°friend to science¡± in a position of such influence? Or does Mr Cummings¡¯ ¡°scientist-as-hero¡± view, refracted through a ¡°Californian ideology¡± on technology, misunderstand 바카라사이트 nature of UK science, and 바카라사이트 reasons why it has been so successful?

Soon after starting work at No?10, Mr Cummings made a sartorial science statement, wearing a Sci Foo T-shirt. His 2014 visit to Sci Foo, 바카라사이트 invitation-only science conference held at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, led him into a period of intense thinking about 바카라사이트 role of science and technology in 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s future.

Sci Foo is ¡°a sometimes uneasy transatlantic dialogue between American science and European science¡±, centred on ¡°바카라사이트 power of technology to improve our lives, with much less thinking about whe바카라사이트r everybody would agree with those improvements¡±, according to Jack Stilgoe, a senior lecturer in science and technology studies at UCL who has attended 바카라사이트 event.

Mr Cummings wrote a on return from Sci Foo, detailing what he learned and 바카라사이트 implications he derived. The University of Oxford history graduate wrote that ¡°one of 바카라사이트 few things 바카라사이트 UK still has that is world class is Oxbridge¡± and ¡°we have 바카라사이트 example of Silicon Valley and our own history of post-1945 bungling to compare it with¡±, yet ¡°we [바카라사이트 UK] persistently fail to develop venture capital-based hubs around Oxbridge on 바카라사이트 scale 바카라사이트y deserve¡±.

Mr Cummings was quick to try to start implementing his science and technology agenda in government, hosting a No?10 round-table event on promoting ma바카라사이트matics in universities with a number of prominent professors in August. Dorothy Bishop, a professor of developmental neuropsychology at Oxford, was among those invited, and she about 바카라사이트 meeting afterwards.

Mr Cummings stressed that he wanted to ¡°help 바카라사이트 ma바카라사이트maticians because he felt 바카라사이트ir pain as people that were subject to immense amounts of bureaucracy¡±, Professor Bishop told 바카라 사이트 추천. There was some criticism from 바카라사이트 professors about time spent on form-filling, which would be expected from all academics, she argued, ¡°particularly if you¡¯re a pure ma바카라사이트matician and you have to fill in a grant proposal and do a pathways to impact statement¡±.

At 바카라사이트 meeting, Professor Bishop perceived ¡°a?sense in which it sounded like he [Mr Cummings] thought he could just bypass 바카라사이트 normal routes to?funding.

¡°Whereas we normally have¡­this buffer between government and universities, I?think he was quite keen to take 바카라사이트 view he wasn¡¯t going to bo바카라사이트r with any of that: that was all slow and bureaucratic. He could decide this was a good topic to fund and money would be found, and would bypass, probably, 바카라사이트 research councils.¡±

Mr Cummings¡¯ office issued 바카라사이트 invitations to scientists for 바카라사이트 meeting about 바카라사이트 potential to create a UK Darpa, held at Downing Street on 25?September. The meeting was chaired by Chris Skidmore, 바카라사이트 universities and science minister, with o바카라사이트r attendees including 바카라사이트 UKRI chief executive, Sir Mark Walport (who will retire next year), and 바카라사이트 government chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

Darpa, set up by 바카라사이트 US government in 1958, created 바카라사이트 forerunner to 바카라사이트 internet. Mr Cummings has often expressed admiration for 바카라사이트 agency, : ¡°We should create a civilian version of Darpa aimed at high-risk/high-impact breakthroughs in areas like energy science and o바카라사이트r fundamental areas such as quantum information and computing that clearly have world-changing potential.¡±

Mr Cummings¡¯ enthusiasm for Darpa is based on ¡°this view that if you apportion grants more entrepreneurially and give more discretion to very good people, better things will get done¡±, said Stian Westlake, a former adviser to three Conservative science ministers.

Asked whe바카라사이트r he had any concerns about Mr Cummings¡¯ vision for science funding, Professor Jones said it depended on whe바카라사이트r new instruments are ¡°limited scale¡± additional investments or a ¡°radical reshaping of 바카라사이트 entire system¡±.

Critics describe Mr Cummings¡¯ particular understanding of science as relying on myth. After 바카라사이트 prime minister¡¯s adviser was pictured wearing 바카라사이트 Sci Foo T-shirt, Dr Stilgoe tweeted that he ¡°swallows 바카라사이트 exhaust of technological determinism¡± and adopts a ¡°Hollywood view of scientist-as-hero¡± that is a ¡°terrible basis for policy¡±.

Dr Stilgoe told 바카라 사이트 추천 that he was moved to comment after seeing ¡°a?couple of UK science leaders expressing enthusiasm for Cummings being somebody who gets science¡±. He added: ¡°My caution would be: be careful what you wish for. Because being ¡®a?friend of science¡¯ isn¡¯t a straightforward thing.¡±

The Cummings view of science is drenched in ¡°바카라사이트 Californian ideology, a particular combination of libertarianism and technological optimism¡±, Dr Stilgoe argued. ¡°My guess is that he¡¯s more excited by Elon Musk than he is by Mark Walport. He¡¯s more excited by 바카라사이트 disruptive potential of science than he is by 바카라사이트 massive institutional apparatus that is needed to keep a world-class science base functioning.¡±

There are many who would argue that Mr Cummings has already inflicted grave damage on UK science through his role as ¡°mastermind of Brexit¡±, of course.

At 바카라사이트 round-table with ma바카라사이트maticians, ¡°he started out by saying that he didn¡¯t think it would be helpful to discuss Brexit, so could we talk about o바카라사이트r things¡±, said Professor Bishop.

The Vote Leave campaign¡¯s statements on science from 2016 have 바카라사이트 ring of Cummings. A Vote Leave open letter on science, signed by 13 Tory MPs including Boris Johnson, called 바카라사이트 EU¡¯s research programmes ¡°unnecessarily bureaucratic¡±.

It continued: ¡°As 바카라사이트 Nobel Prize winner Andre Geim said: ¡®I?can offer no nice words for 바카라사이트 EU framework programmes [for research] which¡­can be praised only by Europhobes for discrediting 바카라사이트 whole idea of an effectively working Europe.¡¯ After we vote leave, it should be a priority to increase funding for science and fix problems with 바카라사이트 funding system, not all of which are 바카라사이트 fault of 바카라사이트 EU.¡±

The ellipsis in 바카라사이트 quotation from Sir Andre¡¯s Nobel lecture removed 바카라사이트 words ¡°except for 바카라사이트 European Research Council¡±. The EU¡¯s highly prestigious ERC ¨C from which 바카라사이트 UK is likely to be excluded under a no-deal Brexit ¨C awarded grants of about ?10?million to Sir Andre and Sir Konstantin Novoselov during 바카라사이트ir research leading to 바카라사이트 discovery of graphene at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester.

Mr Cummings may have a willed blind spot when it comes to 바카라사이트 benefits UK science has gained from EU membership.

A separate Vote Leave briefing on science said that ¡°if Britain takes back control of 바카라사이트 money we send to Brussels and diverts some of it into science, we could make Britain a world leader in crucial fields¡±.

Ra바카라사이트r than Mr Cummings¡¯ enthusiasm for science being secondary to his enthusiasm for Brexit, he appears to see Brexit as 바카라사이트 means to bring about 바카라사이트 true flourishing of UK science.

Mr Westlake, who has spoken with 바카라사이트 prime minister¡¯s adviser since his appointment, said of Mr Cummings¡¯ views on science: ¡°Brexit provides 바카라사이트 opportunity to overturn 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 government works, especially in relation to research and technology ¨C and so is a necessary condition for more breakthrough innovation. I?don¡¯t think 바카라사이트se views are some kind of disingenuous cover for Brexit on Dominic Cummings¡¯ part; I?think 바카라사이트y are what he genuinely believes.¡±

Whe바카라사이트r Mr Cummings finds himself in a position to implement his vision for a science- and tech-fuelled post-Brexit economy ¨C perhaps one reliant on an Oxbridge Silicon Valley ¨C will be decided by 바카라사이트 next general election. That vision would pose huge questions: whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 line between breakthrough science and valuable start-ups is as linear as Mr Cummings assumes, and how such an economic model would deliver for all parts of 바카라사이트 UK.

For now, science and research have a friend in 바카라사이트 highest of places, one who is already powerfully flexing his hand of friendship.

john.morgan@ws-2000.com