News & Views Index
August
2011

 

 

 Scientific Metrics for Free.    29/08/11

     Never mind Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge and Elsevier's Scopus database Google and Microsoft sport GSC and MAS. [More]

 

Cambridge Vice-Chancellor After 11 Months in the Job Shares Some Insights.    26/08/11 [More]

 

US National Cancer Institute Puts US17.5 million on the Table to Get Answers to 24 "Provocative Questions".    26/08/11

    Starting last northern Autumn NCI director Harold Varmus held a series of workshops to draw up the list. [More]

 

The Arts to Feature in National Curriculum.    26/08/11

    Ministers Crean and Garrett received a lot of feedback and suggestions about the best way to teach the Arts in our schools. [More]

 

Macquarie University's Vice-Chancellor's 2011 Annual Lecture: Knowledge Without Wisdom.    26/08/11

    Woody Allen has confessed that he was expelled from New York University for cheating on his metaphysics examination; he was caught peeking into the soul of the boy sitting next to him. [More

 

US National Academy of Sciences Finalising Plan to Advise Universities on Increase R&D Efficiency.    25/08/11

    The US Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences for advice on means for effectively stabilising the resourcing of the nation's research universities. [More]

 

Frank Larkins Estimates the Costs of the ERA Process So Far To Be $100 million.    24/08/11

    The cumulative cost of the 2010 [ERA] exercise to all parties involved was at least $100 million. [More]

 

Australian Synchrotron Gets High Marks from Victoria's Auditor-General but...    24/08/11

    While the auditor general states the synchrotron is a world-class facility and represents good value for money, it needs to better articulate and measure the benefits it delivers. [More

 

PCAST Agenda for September 16, 2011 Meeting    24/08/11

    Kathryn D. Sullivan, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction will give an Overview of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Observation and Prediction Activities. [More

 

Advice to Young Scientists on How to Sell Oneself.    23/08/11

    A member of the recruiting committee praised him and provided feedback on his presentation; then said: "Great job, but you should sell yourself better." [More

 

Have Experiment? -- Need to Outsource? -- Contact Science Exchange.    22/08/11 [More]

 

The Fall of University Faculties and the Rise of Their Administrations.    22/08/11

    From 1975-2005 growth in administrators (81%) and associated professional staff (240%) dwarfs faculty (51%). [More]

 

Higher-Impact Journals Tend to Retract More Papers.    19/08/11 [More]

 

We Done IT!    18/08/11

    Senator Carr: "The federal government fulfilled its end of the bargain and it's quite clear that the university system is fulfilling its end of the bargain." [More

 

Successful STEM Education: A Workshop Summary.    17/08/11

    The US National Academy of Sciences has released the report of the WORKSHOP ON SUCCESSFUL STEM EDUCATION IN K-12 SCHOOLS. [More]

 

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Releases Several Scientific-Integrity Policy Proposals.    17/08/11

    Former OSTP director Neil Lane says whatever their flaws the policies are a step forward. "Having these policies on the books will make managers think twice before interfering with a scientist." [More]

 

Stockholm Was Named the First European Green Capital in 2010.    16/08/11

    It intends to become fossil-fuel-free by 2050. [More

 

ANU Vice-Chancellor Alludes to New Strategic Plan.    16/08/11

    It will build the University’s profile as Australia’s national university and Australia’s finest university. [More

 

Academic Ranking of World Universities 2011 is Published.    15/08/11

     Conducted at the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CWCU). [More]

 

ArXiv's Founder Looks Back Over the Past Twenty Years.    11/08/11

    It was twenty years ago that the 36-year old Paul Ginsparg set up the arXiv.org e-print archive at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. [More]

 

17 Australian Laureate Fellowships Awarded for 2011.    10/08/11

    It is noteworthy that of the 17 fellows,14 had obtained their doctorates at least 15 years prior to submitting their application -- of those, 7 had been awarded their doctorates over 20 years prior to submission. [More]

 

Group of Eight to Undertake an "Independent Review".    08/08/11

    After more than a decade since its formation, the Go8 is reviewing its effectiveness as a group. [More

 

Ian Watt to Take Over from Terry Moran as Secretary Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.    05/08/11 [More]

 

US National Academies Issues Evaluation of 5,000 US Doctorate Programs.    03/08/11

    The findings are derived from data collected for the 2005-2006 academic year from more than 5,000 doctoral programs at 212 universities. [More]

 

Never Waste a Good Crisis -- Especially If It's Not Yours.    02/08/11

    NIH Director Francis Collins recently testified before a Senate subcommittee that in FY 2011 only 17% to 18% of grant applications would be funded, the lowest level on record. [More]

 

Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education Looks Under Treat in the Name of Efficiency.    01/08/11

    "Standing councils will support the move to a reform-based system by identifying a small number of priority issues of national significance..." [More]