Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Is Sky Blue for UK Science? More Views on Debate

Update, 2 December 2009: on 'Sky is Blue' Science Debate, 30 November 2009 .

From Twitter's #sciblue posts, a dark sky image emerges for the prospects of UK science. Comments include:

Paul_Crowther: study on exodus from UK of physics graduates

stephenemoss: RBS. One bank. £1.5bn in bonuses. Roughly double the annual MRC budget. Isn't it great to feel valued as a scientist.

dlfresources: Britain losing top scientists to 'brain drain', economists warn - Telegraph

Luna_the_cat: @LordDrayson - fundamentally different goals and models. Don't cripple academia by penalising it for not being business.

AlexConnor: UK public spending is ~£650bn. In a few weeks we will sack astronomers and physicists for the want of £40m.


Yet another comment

alomshaha: We have a shortage of excellent science teachers. We have some excellent sci-commers with a shortage of work. So...


suggests that out-of-work/short-of-work science communicators not only possess PGCEs, they're also capable of teaching science inspiringly.


What UK science needs is, Government putting its money where its expectations of science is, and science celebrities on TV more, those who make science inclusive and attractive, such as Cyberneticist Kevin Warwick, organiser of science contests (Turing tests), and cited as the inspiration of 2009 National Young Scientist of the Year, Peter Hadfield (at 07.23, BBC Radio 4 Today programme).

The debate can be viewed here.

No comments: