Battles Over Reform of French Research Set to Continue.    30/06/08 [More]

"Breaking the Climate Deadlock".    30/06/08

    On June 27 Breaking the Climate Deadlock was published by the Office of Tony Blair and The Climate Group. The sixty-six page document sets out in stark terms what they see needs to be done, how it should be approached, and the consequences of inaction. [More]

Science Takes a Congressional Hit in the US, Bob Park Has His Say.    28/06/08 [More]

A View to the Fringe of the Carpet.    26/06/08

    There is concern the UK government is using its money to push the country's scientific enterprise towards commercial profitability. "Blue-skies investigator-driven research is getting squeezed out." [More]

Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Gets £67 Million Injection for Upgrades.    26/06/08

    The UK's universities secretary, has announced it is to get £67m (A$138m) in additional government funding for rebuilding. [More]

A Good Fish Story.    24/06/08

    In 2004, the Howard Coalition government designated an area of 33% in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park as no-take zones, i.e. areas where all forms of fishing are prohibited. [More]

Citation Statistics -- a Report from the IMU in Cooperation with the ICIAM and the IMS.    22/06/08

    Unable to measure quality (the ultimate goal), decision-makers replace quality by numbers that they can measure. This trend calls for comment from those who professionally "deal with numbers". [More]

What to do For and With the Office of Science and Technology Policy.    21/06/08

    The redoubtable Bob Park has some cogent comments. [More] 

Education Tops Tourism -- the Siren Call of the Immediate Export Dollar.    20/06/08

    On of the mantras of the Rudd Labor government is that we should not be seduced by immediate gains at the cost of the long-term good. [More]

The Parliamentary Committee and the Honey Bee.    18/06/08 [More]

Skills Shortage at the Top.    17/06/08

    Rohan Carr is one of the directors of The Insight Group, which describes itself as "an independent, Australian owned Executive Search firm", who states that recruiting top academic staff for universities is tough and gives reasons why. [More]

UK Science Minister at Odds with Stephen Hawking.    16/06/08

    Professor Hawking has accused the UK government of making "disastrous" cuts to research funding. [More] 

The Inquiry Into Research Training and Research Workforce Issues.    14/06/08

    It has received fifty submissions scheduling two for public hearings. [More]

Cambridge V-C Sounds a Warning Regarding Cause and Effect.    (14/06/08

    Alison Richard, the University of Cambridge vice -chancellor, made this point to a UK House of Commons committee recently which reaches further than Great Britain's shoreline. [More]

From Whither the Next Chief Scientist.    (13/06/08

    Jim Peacock, Australia's current Chief Scientist had his term extended by the Rudd Government from this past February until August to allow time to find a suitable replacement. [More]

Don't Read, Do the Experiment.    (13/06/08

    The 1958 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Edward Tatum, had an ironic maxim for his students and postdocs. [More]

Julia Gillard on "Priorities For The New Australian Government".    (13/06/08

    In addressing the Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum in Auckland she laid out her governments priorities saying we have or are in the process of implementing major commitments. [More]

Berlin International Forum for Excellence Looks to Form Research Centre of Excellence.    (12/06/08

    "It is as if MIT, Harvard, and Boston University were all to cooperate." Former federal undersecretary for research Wolf-Michael Catenhusen. [More] 

NIH to Implement Overhaul of Peer Review, Part II.    (12/06/08 [More]

UK Universities Struggle to Teach "Spoonfed" School Leavers Basic Maths and Science Skills.    (12/06/08

   Ought the Bradley Committee to cast an eye on the quality of the input universities receive from the nation's secondary schools. [More]

Julia Gillard Talks the Talks Regarding the Higher Education Review.    (11/06/08

    Yesterday following her release of the Higher Education Discussion Paper at Macquarie University, the federal Minister for Education fronted the media in a doorstop. [More]

FASTS Releases "Outcomes Document" From Forum Examining Rights and Responsibilities of Scientists.    (11/06/08

    On February 22 this year FASTS organised a forum examining issues around the rights and obligations of researchers in universities and public sector research agencies. [More]

Federal Minister for Education, Julia Gillard Releases Discussion Paper for Higher Education Review.    (10/06/08

    Julia Gillard, Federal Minister for Education today released the discussion paper for the government's Higher Education Review, with July 31 the closing date for submissions. [More]

UK Think Tank:  Radical Measures Have to be Taken to Move Mathematics From “Geek to Chic”.    (09/06/08 [More] 

NIH to Implement Overhaul of Peer Review.    (07/06/08

    Last December and February TFW reported on moves by the US National Institutes of Health to redesign its system for the peer review. [More]

Something to Ponder for Proponents of Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA).    (06/06/08 [More]

France's €5 billion "Operation Campus" Picks First Six Winners.    (06/06/08

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign promise to raise a number of his nation's universities to elite status is coming to fruition. [More]

Minister Asks for Help to Develop His Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA) RQF Substitute.    (05/06/08

    There's no doubt that the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, is tenacious. [More]

Oxford Emulates Cambridge -- Next Vice-Chancellor Recruited from Yale.    (05/06/08

     Oxford University has announced that subject to the approval of the university's dons, Andrew Hamilton is to be its next vice-chancellor. [More]

Group of Eight Give Their Analysis of the 2008 Federal Budget's Impact on Higher Education and Research.   (05/06/08

    The Group of Eight yesterday published its summation of the effect of the Rudd Labor Government's federal budget on tertiary education and research. [More]

Senior Group of Eight Research Scientist Reluctantly Joins Leading Overseas Institute.    (04/06/08

    TFW received an email on Monday which ought to be worrisome to the Prime Minister... [More]