Ms Bishop Fronts the National Press Club Round Two.
(August 13, 2005)|
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News & Views item - August 2006 |
Ms Bishop Fronts the National Press Club Round Two.
(August 13, 2005)
Five and a half months ago (February 28) the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop addressed the National Press Club just on a month after assuming her new portfolio. Among other comments she told her audience "It is my intention that the RQF [Research Quality Framework] will be used to distribute a significant proportion of the research block funding that universities receive each year. The RQF will assess both the quality and the broader impact of research. Quality will focus on the inherent academic excellence of research, and impact will evaluate the economic, social, cultural and environmental usefulness of the research."
With the passage of time Last Wednesday (August 9) Ms Bishop again addressed the NPC and alluded to the RQF in passing, saying, "Quality research. We need to pursue new ways to boost the quality and impact of our research to keep it on par with the world's best and I've discussed the work that's been done on a new research quality framework."
No, the dramas associated with Britain's Research Assessment Exercise weren't mentioned, nor were they brought up during question time.
Ms Bishop then brought up the old refrain of Australia punching above its weight and to make her point recited a piece of rank stupidity.
For example Australia has the highest number of Nobel Prize winners per capita in the world. From the father and son team of William and Lawrence Bragg who won the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics to Robin Warren and Barry Marshall who ninety years later won the 2005 Nobel Prize in Medicine, Australia has produced many eminent researchers and scientists.
Who was the staffer who came up with this rubbish? And apparently Ms Bishop didn't bother to do a bit of checking. Did she just read out to the NPC what was put in front of her by a DEST apparatchik?
If nothing else, its a silly mistake and suggests a Minister who is sloppy with regard to facts, perhaps lazy and above all appears to have little regard for those she is addressing.
Below are examples of three nations who are worthy of note relative to Australia. There are a number of others that could be added.
Are we really so bereft of ability and self belief that we need to be told this sort of nonsense by our elected representatives?
Nobel Laureates from four selected Nations
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Australia Current population = 20,000,000 |
Denmark Current population = 5,500,000 |
Hungary Current population = 10,000,000 |
Switzerland Current population = 7,500,000 |
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Nobel Laureates |
Nobel Laureates |
Nobel Laureates |
Nobel Laureates |
Laureates per million = 0.45 |
Laureates per million = 2.5
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Laureates per million = 1.6
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Laureates per million = 3.2 |
a star (*) appears next to the name when it is listed under the laureate's country of birth, and the country of birth appears in italics next to the name in all other lists.
Nobel Data from Answers.com (http://www.answers.com/topic/nobel-laureates-by-country)
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