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Author(s): Branko Milanovic (corresponding author) [1] For the past 30 years or so, income inequality has been on the rise across the globe. It has increased in the United States, [...]

Japan is planning to encourage limited-term appointments for university staff in a drive to improve teaching and the standard of research. Under the proposed system, the university faculty will be assessed before their term of employment is renewed. Labor laws which state that university staff be employed on permanent basis will be changed. The suggestions, offered by a committee set up by the University Council, aims at reforming the entire university system.

The UK government has made the Office of Science and Technology a part of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The science budget and coordination of scientific development in all government departments will be under the control of Ian Lang, the head of DTI. The former head of DTI, Michael Heseltine, has been made the deputy prime minister and will influence research from the Cabinet. This move has been criticized by the scientific community and the opposition Labour Party. Researchers feel that it will become difficult to get grants for long-term basic research.

India needs to transform its scientific landscape if it is to avoid falling further behind other nations, says the country's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. His remarks, at the country's largest [...]

The growing influence of the European Commission, the executive wing of the European Union, on research has confirmed that its activities will be under constant scrutiny by the European research community. The lack of a comprehensive research policy and continuity of its programs have hampered good management of research. The commissions can succeed in its activities only if it can convince the European research community of the sound nature of its spending plans and fulfill its commitment to the community by tiding over the power conflict between the parliament and the council.

Experiments: Where Logic and Emotion Collide LINK DANCE FOUNDATION, VANCOUVER 25-27 November 2010 At a time when many scientists are struggling with how best to communicate with the public, it [...]

The North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) project reached bedrock in July 2010, at a depth of more than 2,500 metres. The fruits of that effort should soon be seen, [...]

It's an unfortunate truism that scientists often have better software tools for managing their music or family photos than they do for tracking their experiments and data. Major software companies [...]

For the past two years, a group of molecular-biology enthusiasts has met regularly in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to discuss science. Their conservation is not entirely theoretical: they swap stories about the [...]

Philippe Busquin, the European Union's new research commissioner, is keen for the commission's research budget to concentrate on projects that raise the quality of life in Europe, as well as its economic competitiveness. Busquin has a background in science, teaching physics at a teacher-training college before moving into politics full time in 1977. His main priority is to create a European scientific community.

Scientific research at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comprises a 'discontinuous series of broad, shallow efforts' according to an EPA research office assessment. The assessment notes that the EPA's main constituencies appear to view science and analysis as an obstacle to regulatory action. It calls for special provisions to be made for the Office of Research and Development to plan and support mid-term research.

Academics in Britain are concerned about the transparency and accountability review of research which is being introduced into eight pilot universities. Universities will have to cost staff activities by department, subject and type of research sponsor. The review will mean increased paperwork and closer scrutiny of spending decisions, placing additional burdens on an already under-funded system.

A US National Academy of Sciences committee has called for assessment of research performance to consider the quality of research, its relevance to the goals of funding agencies and its contribution to various fields. The Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP) has warned that the purpose of evaluation could be undermined by focusing on short-term results, and it recommends that the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) be extended, by developing assessments of projects involving several agencies.

France's science minister Claude Allegre is planning sweeping reforms of the research system, but now the entire senior administration of the research department has resigned. Some of the directors wish to return to research following years of work at the ministry, but there is a feeling that the structures set up to coordinate research agencies and universities have not fully converged satisfactorily.

There is a question as to whether access to large and medium-sized publicly funded research facilities should be determined on scientific merit or by the interests of the sponsors. A reported commissioned by the Megascience Forum of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concluded that there are no universally suitable access rules. The increasing use of synchrotron facilities in the US by biologists has also brought questions about the fairness of the conventional distribution of responsibility.

Interdisciplinary research is being stifled because of the the traditional organization of research bodies, according to a symposium of leading scientists and research administrators. The symposium heard that barriers need to be removed and a more sophisticated multidisciplinary approach is required to health and education. There was concern that grants for interdisciplinary research are assessed by discipline-based review committees rather than by interdisciplinary committees.

The director of the Royal Institution, Susan Greenfield is planning to make major changes so that the Royal Institution is seen as a place than explains to every sector of society, rather than just the middle classes. Some modernization was begun by Peter Day, Greenfield's predecessor, who encouraged the weekend master classes and an outreach program. Greenfield also wants to encourage women to return to science after having children, and is keen to establish awards for science teachers.

The administrative council of France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) is likely to recommend that there should be a wide-reaching regrouping of the around 40 sections that make up the organization's national committee where this is necessary to give a wider view of strategic matters. Some observers feel that conflict over the number of sections has deflected attention from the more urgent issue of establishing the committee's role in determining scientific strategy. The power of individual sections may also be reduced by reorganizing the councils that advise the seven CNRS departments.

Member states research ministers are to consider proposals by the European Commission to improve the way research programmes are managed. One suggestion is a regular benchmarking system comparing performances against those of other research organizations. This suggestion is popular with the Office of Science and Technology and with university funding councils.

They way Brussels handles research funds has been criticised and the search is on for alternative solutions to excessive form filling, delays in reaching decisions, high rejection rates and excessive political interference. Centralized bureaucracies can become isolated and some argue that management responsibility for research programmes should be contracted out to the research community via bodies such as the European Science Foundation.

The Dept of Veterans' Affairs is conducting an inquiry on a possible scientific misconduct made by two physicians for failing to document key experiments that led to the publication of a study. The experiment, carried out by Arnaldo A. Arbini at a center affiliated to Harvard Medical School under the direction of Veterans' Affairs Medical Center's Kenneth A. Bauer, concerned a genetic defect that caused a Factor VII deficiency in an Italian patient. Although the research was published in the journal 'Blood,' both Arbini and Bauer failed to make laboratory notebook entries about the experiments. The issue relating to the absence of data notebooks as a scientific misconduct has varied over the years.

Nirex, the UK agency responsible for nuclear waste disposal, has been urged to allow independent scrutiny of its peer-review procedures to increase public understanding of and confidence in its activities. Scientists at the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee, which advises the UK government on radioactive waste management, called for increased transparency and an independent assessment of the agency's research, citing a persistent perception that the review panel is not fully independent from Nirex.

Germany's tradition of granting habilitation to postdocs for teaching purposes is based on standards of selection that vary from faculty to faculty. The process is a formality, which testifies the candidature of the Habilitand for a university career. The habilitation system hampers the careers of scientists without enhancing the quality or quantity of their research. Habilitation does not indicate the capability of an applicant to work in a multidisciplinary team. The procedure prevents universities from performing effectively in the international science arena.

The German government's decision to cut subscriptions to five international research organizations is driven by funding problems and could initiate a similar move throughout Europe. Such drastic cuts in public spending are aimed at increasing the efficient use of research funds. The move calls for a thorough re-appraisal of the funding criteria of international basic science facilities. It seeks alternative solutions to the growing funding problems faced by most European governments.

The European Science Foundation (ESF) supports renewed committment to basic research to ensure Europe's wellbeing in the future. A position paper on the European Commission's Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) calls for specific scientific agendas with attainable goals for the socio-economic rejuvenation of Europe. It also recommends continuation and extension of the Training and Mobility of Researchers programme. Sweden wants a special focus on the research and funding needs of small and medium-sized enterprises and small projects under the FP5.

Italy's new research and education minister Luigi Berlinguer has proposed radical changes in the state's top heavy research and university systems to increase the cost-effectiveness of the research budget. Downsizing of the National Research Council (CNR) will be accompanied by simplified grant review and administrative procedures. Greater autonomy for the research institutes and university centers will eliminate the bureaucratic delays and resource mismanagement which afflicts the CNR. Similar reforms are suggested for CNR's scientific advisory committees.

It is high time that a centralized research agency devoted to science be established in Europe. Such a body should consist of a supervisory group that the continent's scientists could recommend and a secretariat that would consider continental above national interests. It should minimally be a vehicle for infrastructure grants and a channel for aid to European countries that need such.

The Jacques Chirac government in France has adopted a policy of creating regional research centers to decentralize research and increase the interaction between research institutes. Under this scheme Institut Jean-Roche and Institut Federaliste de Recherche de Biologie du Developpement have been formed. These institutes will collect scientists from universities, hospitals and other institutes for specific research at one place.

The UK government has proposed reorganization of scientific research and instead of the science budget being under the control of the Office of Science and Technology, research will now be a branch of the Department of Trade and Industry. This proposal has not been welcomed by the science community and the morale of researchers which had increased after the reforms in 1992 now seems to be in trouble. Some questions such as will research in particle physics and radioastronomy, which do not create wealth, continue need to be answered.

The slow disintegration of weak scientific infrastructures force the NIH to review the factors which support public funded research. Efficient management and leadership are expected to channel public money to socially beneficial basic research. Tax payers and government officials should understand the need for proper analysis and coordination, without restricting parameters, to successfully attain research goals.

A new two-council, 'user community' that guides the future of British scientific research has two top industrialists as part-time, non-executive chairmen in charge. The chairmen desire that future research should be planned on a long-term basis, with an emphasis on customer satisfaction. Scientists should evaluate research programs on a cost-benefit basis.

Danish scientists stated that the newly developed Danish National Research Foundation has not adequately spent the first of a series of five-year grants. Some $297 million obtained from the privatization of various publicly-owned insurance companies aided in creating the foundation, which aims to finance Danish research and raise scientific research to international standards. However, it is felt that the foundation's nine-member board has not taken correct decision in selecting scientific groups which will receive grants.

The Clinton administration is set to review six interagency initiatives which are to receive funding from the $14 billion budget set aside for basic research work. Several senior administrators have also been tasked to plan programs which are consistent with Pres Bill Clinton's domestic agenda. Despite pronouncements of significant changes to be undertaken in his term, only few revisions in government spending for basic research can be seen in Clinton's proposed budget for fiscal year 1994. Most proposals were not new strategies but served to enhance and fine tune existing programs.