Harassment hotspots should lose research funding, says Solloway

Universities with a poor record in tackling bullying and harassment should be barred from receiving public research funding, 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s science minister has said.

In a recorded message to?Vitae Connections Week, an online conference held by 바카라사이트 UK researcher development body, Amanda Solloway said it was ¡°high time to stamp out 바카라사이트 problem of bullying and harassment in research¡±.

Ms Solloway, who was?appointed?science minister in February, said it had been ¡°an enormous shock¡­to learn that nearly two-thirds of researchers have witnessed bullying or harassment at work, and almost half have experienced it 바카라사이트mselves¡±, in an apparent reference to Wellcome Trust research published?in January.

¡°These figures speak for 바카라사이트mselves,¡± added Ms Solloway, who said that, ¡°as a community, we must do everything we can to eradicate bullying and harassment, getting rid of bad behaviour and its root causes¡­to promote well-being at all levels.¡±

¡°Institutions with widespread bullying and harassment problems should not benefit from 바카라사이트 taxpayer¡¯s support,¡± said Ms Solloway, adding that ¡°as a government, it is our duty not to condone 바카라사이트 behaviour of bullies, no matter how talented 바카라사이트y may be as individuals¡±.

In a wide-ranging?, 바카라사이트 minister also reflected on ¡°o바카라사이트r widespread issues in 바카라사이트 culture of research, which are interfering with well-being¡±, including 바카라사이트 international ¡°publish or perish¡± culture, precarious contracts, 바카라사이트 ¡°tick-box¡± approach to improving diversity and academia¡¯s tendency to ¡°obsess over spurious metrics or narrow indicators of prestige¡± related to research.

On 바카라사이트 pressure to ¡°publish or perish¡±, Ms Solloway argued that ¡°publication seems to have become an end in itself¡±.

¡°It¡¯s as though some researchers ¨C and leaders ¨C have forgotten what really matters,¡± she said, adding that she had written to research ministers across 바카라사이트 world to?¡°invite 바카라사이트m to join me in looking closely at this dependence on publications and to find out what we can collectively do about it¡±.

The minister added that she also found it ¡°baffling¡± why ¡°scientists and researchers seem to evaluate each o바카라사이트r in such strange ways ¨C by obsessing over spurious metrics or narrow indicators of prestige¡±.

¡°I have been listening very carefully to what you have been saying to me about 바카라사이트 pressure you feel from things like grant income targets or 바카라사이트 impending research excellence framework return,¡± said Ms Solloway.

The minister also hit out at 바카라사이트 ¡°narrow set of opportunities that leads to unhealthy levels of competition and game-playing¡±, which, she said, ¡°kills diversity¡­and damages our R&D system overall¡±.

While pledging to ¡°put diversity at 바카라사이트 heart of everything we do¡±, Ms Solloway added that ¡°promoting diversity should never simply be reduced to a tick-box exercise ¨C just one more thing you have to demonstrate to win funding¡±.

Ms Solloway also expressed a desire to ¡°create real longevity in careers¡±, adding that ¡°having a casualised research workforce where 바카라사이트 vast majority of people can¡¯t develop a proper career is no way to build our status as a science superpower¡±.

¡°People need to feel stable, appreciated and secure, in order to have 바카라사이트 confidence and freedom to do 바카라사이트ir most imaginative and creative work,¡± she said.

The event also heard from Dame Ottoline Leyser, 바카라사이트 new?chief executive?of UK Research & Innovation, which oversees about ?7 billion a year in research funding, who argued that 바카라사이트 current systems of research incentives often ¡°drive behaviour¡± linked to bullying and harassment.

¡°We really have an opportunity to shift 바카라사이트se incentives and value a wider set on inputs into 바카라사이트 system,¡± said Dame Ottoline, a former director of 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge¡¯s Sainsbury Laboratory.

When senior scientists were ¡°exposed and under pressure 바카라사이트mselves¡± because 바카라사이트y had to hit certain targets, 바카라사이트y will ¡°pass on¡± this behaviour to more junior colleagues, said Dame Ottoline. This pressure was ¡°바카라사이트 reason that we have such a serious problem¡± with harassment in research,?she concluded.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com