Nature Advises Tories to Delineate Their Research Policies. (November 26, 2009)

It's probable that Britain's general election will precede that in Australia, but in fact it may only be by a few months. Therefore, this week's editorial in Nature regarding the promulgation of research policy may be seen to have some relevance for Australia's opposition Coalition even though at the moment its fractious displays make it appear to be anything by a viable governing alternative. As for Britain's Tories:

It is astonishing... that with all the Conservative Party's rhetoric on how it intends to drag Britain out of recession, it hasn't formulated policy on universities and research.

     The next government needs to have a long-term vision for the role of science.... [Referring to the global financial crisis] the state of the economy only makes the case stronger for clear long-term policies, which will help to ensure that spending is wise.

In the view of the editorial writer: "Radical thinking on the future direction of universities will be needed as part of this long-term vision." But the pronouncements by Lord Mandelson very much mirror the rhetoric by Australia's Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr -- increase the concentration of research funding to a restricted select group of universities corseted though political prioritisation. The journal then chastises the government for not declaring its hand on just how many universities Britain should have dotting the landscape.

Nevertheless, Nature is in favour of retaining "the current dual funding system for the foreseeable future. It is through this system, in which universities win a pot of research funding from the government in line with their demonstrated research excellence, and also competitively gain funding from research councils, that universities have the freedom to plan and invest as they see fit". And yet in the next sentence we read: "Creative thinking is also sorely needed to improve the exploitation of Britain's research base."

As with the Australian government Britain's perceives a university as being an entity apart from its faculty. As long as that persists, significant improvement of the sector as a source of creativity and learning will be stifled.

And as for the Tories: "[I]ts agenda is a worrying indication of the party's unsophisticated appreciation of the interplay between science and innovation: there is no reference to the importance of continuing to support the research needed to yield the discoveries on which products and services are based."

Add to that Australia's dysfunctional Coalition in opposition, and Senator Jack S Phogbound begins to look less ludicrous than Al Capp meant him to be.