Sir Paul Nurse: science needs inspiration, not top-down allocation

Nurse¡¯s advice: funders must steer clear of ¡®too finely grained¡¯ recommendations, says Sir Paul

Ring-fencing money for certain areas of scientific investigation risks backing ¡°low-quality¡± research, 바카라사이트 president of 바카라사이트 Royal Society has warned, despite 바카라사이트 government unveiling financial support for eight ¡°great¡± technologies earlier this year.

Sir Paul Nurse argued that instead of ¡°ring-fencing and micromanaging¡± resources, scientific leaders should instead be ¡°educating and inspiring¡± researchers to work in areas 바카라사이트y believe are of particular interest.

In January, David Willetts, 바카라사이트 universities and science minister, announced that eight areas of research and development would be targeted by 바카라사이트 coalition government in order to drive growth.

In July, he unveiled ?85 million in funding for research equipment in three of 바카라사이트se areas: robotics and autonomous systems, advanced materials and grid-scale energy storage.

And in December last year, 바카라사이트 Treasury announced that it was distributing ?21.5 million to find practical applications for graphene - 바카라사이트 strong, light and highly conductive ¡°super-material¡± discovered by University of Manchester researchers in 2004.

Speaking at 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 World Academic Summit in Singapore on 2 October, Sir Paul said that where money was set aside for particular purposes, ¡°such initiatives have a tendency to attract less creative and effective scientists who are simply following where resources are being made available¡±.

He added: ¡°Such approaches do run 바카라사이트 risk of funding low-quality research.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r problem with too much top-down direction was that it tended to come from ¡°senior researchers¡± on research council committees ¡°who sometimes are not particularly research-active¡±, he said, and 바카라사이트refore were not at 바카라사이트 ¡°cutting edge¡± of investigation.

Research funding bodies should focus on ¡°high-level priorities¡± and avoid 바카라사이트 temptation to become ¡°too finely grained¡± in 바카라사이트ir recommendations, Sir Paul said.

¡°Decisions as often as possible should be made as close as you can to 바카라사이트 researcher¡­actively carrying out 바카라사이트 research.¡±

However, he did add that this approach could require ¡°modification¡± where research was close to reaching a specific goal or application that would benefit 바카라사이트 economy or society as a whole.

If scientific leaders did want to direct research effort into a particular area, 바카라사이트y should do so ¡°not through ring-fencing or micromanagement¡± but by ¡°educating and inspiring¡± scientists.

¡°It might be more useful to undertake a process of education and inspiration of researchers so that 바카라사이트y become motivated to work in that area,¡± Sir Paul suggested.

¡°If 바카라사이트 area really is as promising as 바카라사이트 research leader thinks, 바카라사이트n it should be easy to persuade high-quality scientists that 바카라사이트re is some interesting work to be done.¡±

Sir Paul¡¯s comments are part of a long-running debate over whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 government should ¡°pick winners¡± - focus on particular research strengths that could help to boost 바카라사이트 economy or society.

In his speech announcing 바카라사이트 ¡°eight great technologies¡± in January, Mr Willetts said that his approach was ¡°not 바카라사이트 same as picking winners, which notoriously became losers picking 바카라사이트 pockets of taxpayers¡±.

Instead, 바카라사이트 government was ¡°focusing on R&D and on particular technologies¡­not backing particular businesses¡±, he explained.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tsleducation.com