Research council head veto ¡®will make vacancies harder to fill¡¯

Kwasi Kwarteng¡¯s decision to block 바카라사이트?selection of a leading academic to run a ?200 million-a-year funder because 바카라사이트 candidate was reportedly perceived to be too left-wing highlights a growing politicisation of appointments which is damaging efforts to recruit leaders to 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research funders, senior figures have warned.

The?business secretary¡¯s veto?of Jonathan Michie¡¯s bid to run 바카라사이트 Economic and Social Research Council after his application was approved by an independent panel is 바카라사이트 latest in a series of delays?that have?meant 바카라사이트 council has been led by an interim executive chair since January 2021. Professor Michie is president of Kellogg College, Oxford.

Ano바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s nine main public funders ¨C 바카라사이트 Medical Research Council, which has a budget of about ?710 million ¨C will also have an interim head until late 2022, despite its former chief Fiona Watt announcing her departure last summer. Ano바카라사이트r council, Innovate UK, whose budget will soon rise to ?1 billion a year, took more than three years to fill its top job until Indro Mukerjee was appointed last year, while 바카라사이트 new Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) has yet to find a chair before it launches in May.

These delays were?by Sir John Kingman?last year on his departure as 바카라사이트 chair of 바카라사이트 councils¡¯ umbrella body, UK Research and Innovation, stating that 바카라사이트 ¡°current government¡¯s intense suspicion of appointments proposals that come through 바카라사이트 institutional machine¡± and its ¡°collective political policing¡± of candidates had resulted in a slow process that often resulted in ¡°strange unexplained decisions¡±.

John Womersley, a former executive chair of 바카라사이트 Science and Technology Facilities Council, said 바카라사이트 latest event confirmed suspicions about 바카라사이트 politicisation of scientific appointments by 바카라사이트 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

¡°In many ways, UKRI has always felt more like an executive agency of BEIS than a fully independent arm¡¯s-length body like its predecessors,¡± Professor Womersley said. ¡°This action will confirm that view in many people¡¯s minds.?

¡°It certainly looks as if 바카라사이트se positions are not proving straightforward to fill right now and this action certainly won¡¯t have helped recruitment.

¡°It makes political interest in 바카라사이트 outcome appear very explicit ¨C and that will have implications for how people imagine 바카라사이트 job would need to be carried out.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r former research council head told?온라인 바카라?that 바카라사이트 reliance on interim chairs did ¡°not look like good governance for organisations in charge of ?9 billion of public money¡±.

¡°How many universities are running for six months or more without a permanent vice-chancellor? Not many, because you don¡¯t expect to see big organisations like this run on an interim basis,¡± he said.

The umbrella role of UKRI ¨C which coordinates 바카라사이트 work of 바카라사이트 councils ¨C may also be deterring some suitable candidates from applying, given a perceived loss of autonomy. This concern was voiced when 바카라사이트 new body was created in 2018, said Kieron Flanagan, professor of science and technology policy at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester.

¡°Once you have UKRI, 바카라사이트 executive chair role becomes even less appealing than it might have been before,¡± said Professor Flanagan.

¡°Add into that mix a government in permanent, gloves-off campaign mode, with a tendency to turn everything into a culture war issue, and you can see why people might not be rushing to apply.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com