A Message from British Academe. (June 6, 2007)

    Tim Birkhead is professor of behaviour and evolution at the University of Sheffield. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and the author of several books. His chapter in de Burgh et al, Can the Prizes Still Glitter? (University of Buckingham Press, 2007) expands on many of the issues in The Australian opinion piece referred to below.

In an opinion piece in today's Australian, "Beware the grant-getting lottery" Tim Birkhead opens with : "As Australia begins to think about its research quality framework, and since Britain has been through a succession of similar exercises, known as the Research Assessment Exercise, I thought it might be useful to draw up a balance sheet so Australian academics may be prepared for some of the consequences of adopting a similar system," and he then concludes with: "I know of no academic who considers the benefits of the RAE outweigh its costs. To a country about to embark on the same kind of exercise, my advice is: don't."