President of the International Mathematical Union Joins in Plea for USQ to Rethink Decision to Sack 12 Maths, Stats and CT Academics.    (29/04/08)

     László Lovász president of the IMU writes to the University of Southern Queensland's vice-chancellor. [More]

UK's Successor to its Research Assessment Exercise Still Under Construction.    (25/04/08)

    The UK government's universities secretary announced yesterday that the replacement for the current RAE to assess universities' research quality in the sciences - based primarily on metrics - will be delayed a year. [More]

Prime Minister's Science,  Engineering and Innovation Council, Meet Mr Rudd.    (24/04/08)

    Yesterday Australia's Prime Minister of something under 150 days, Kevin Rudd, met for the first time with the Prime Minister's Science,  Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC). [More]

Generalisations, Specifics and the 2020 Summit.    (23/04/08)

    One of many who didn't attend this past weekend's 2020 Summit is the vice-chancellor of Monash University, Richard Larkins. Nevertheless, he has voiced some forthright views as regards the university sector and matters that ought to be considered. [More]

DIISR, That Directive, Peter Pockley and FoI.    (22/04/08)

    It's a few months past, but those phone calls from Senator Kim Carr's Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research informing the public research organisations to clear all but pedestrian media releases with DIISR may still be of consequence. [More]

Physicist Gertrude Newmark Rothschild Sues Electronic Giants for Patent Infringement.    (22/04/08)

    Claims her patent on the manufacture of short wave-length light-emitting diodes covers Blu-ray. [More]

Entrepreneurship and the University.    (18/04/08)

    It's on again, the role of the university in innovation and with that the degree of entrepreneurship a university should attempt. [More]

Evolution of Darwin's Thinking Goes Online.    (18/04/08)

    Some 90,000 pages of manuscripts, field notes, photographs and sketches associated with Charles Darwin have been made available online. [More]

Presentations by the Royal Society.    (17/04/08)

    Going back over five years the Royal Society of London has made available an archive of presentations made under its auspices. Many are available as video plus slide presentation and the subject categories range from the history of science to physics and mathematics. [More]

The Diploid Genome (6x10⁹ bp) of James Watson Sequenced in 60 Days.    (17/04/08)  [More]

Universities Australia Has Its Say on Higher Education and the Socio-Economic Divide.    (16/04/08)

    Universities Australia today released its 141 page report PARTICIPATION AND EQUITY: A review of the participation in higher education of people from low socio-economic backgrounds and Indigenous people. [More]

Affirmative Action the Texas Way.    (15/04/08)

    As president of the United States, George W Bush may have been the willing tool of the Neocons and a rolling disaster, but as Governor of Texas, it appears that he oversaw the inauguration of a program that made higher education available to thousands of matriculated high school students who otherwise would not have been given the opportunity of going to university. [More]

"Science as a Solution".    (11/04/08)

    On April 2, 2008 the Chair of the Group of Eight, Alan Robson, met the press. In answer to a question by Simon Grose, Professor Robson replied: "My view is quite straightforward; excellence should be funded wherever it occurs. [More]

One Story, Two Headlines and a Hub.    (10/04/08)

   There are worse things than being trapped by your own analogy, but when you're as public a figure as Senator Kim Carr it can become unpleasant and if persisted with,  lead to undesirable consequences. [More]

Harvard's President Treads Softly, Softly During Her First Six Months in Office.    (08/04/08)

    When historian Drew Faust took over the presidency of Harvard University, she knew she had a monumental task before her. [More]

AMSI's Executive Officer Tells It Like It Is.    (08/04/08)

    The executive officer of the Australian Mathematical Science's Institute has for many years worked tirelessly to further the cause of mathematics in Australia. [More]

Six Physics Departments in South-Eastern England Have Developed Linkages to Avoid Closure.    (08/04/08) 

    The closure of university science departments through the UK, which included Reading University's physics department in 2006 which led to the demand by the Institute of Physics that the trend must be reversed seems to have some effect. [More]

Fields Medallist Calls on Colleagues World Over to Petition Against Large Staff Reductions in Maths/Stats and Computer Science at Australia's USQ.    (07/04/08)  [More]

Chair of the Group of Eight Faces the Press.    (04/04/08)

    On Wednesday April 2 Professor Alan Robson spoke to the National Press Club (NPC). His 30 minute address was a remarkable tour de force. Here is an edited version of the question and answer session that followed, taken from the transcript supplied by the NPC. [More]

Science's EiC Once More Champion's Basic Research - This Time as a Practical Imperative.    (04/04/08) [More]

A Comment on Utilising Model Biological Systems for Biomedical Research.    (03/04/08)

    Professor of Microbiology at LaTrobe University Paul Fisher makes an observation. [More]

Academic Head Hunter Points to an Endangered Species.    (02/04/08)

    Rohan Carr says that an increase in funding will do little if universities can not find enough good academics [More].

Chair of the Group of Eight Addresses the National Press Club.    (02/04/08)

    A fortnight after the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Kim Carr addressed the National Press Club, it was the turn of Professor Alan Robson, Chair of the Group of Eight and vice-chancellor of the University of Western Australian to assess Australian innovation. [More]

ABS Updates Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications.    (01/04/08)

    The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Kim Carr, yesterday announced that the new Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC) will be used to define disciplines and the make-up of "discipline clusters" in the Government's proposed Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA). [More]