Greetings
Please find below a number of things that may be of interest.
RQF: Last week minister Bishop announced a new committee to continue the
oversight of developing the RQF. The committee is chaired by Leanne Harvey from
DEST (The previous committee was chaired by Jim Peacock) and will provide
advice on issues during the first cycle of the RQF, including the development
of RQF specifications, the moderation and validation process, IT requirements
and development of an RQF Information Management System. Last year the Govt
also announced additional funding of $87.3 million to implement the RQF, $42
million of which is for universities to cover costs of data gathering and
pre-implementation trials.
There is not much more to be said on this. FASTS’ position remains that we
support the broad policy objective of the RQF to identify and reward high
quality, high impact research (while acknowledging the fundamental problem of
taking account of the time lag and diffuse pathways between research and
impact). However, after 2 years of discussion, debate and extensive
consultation we still have not seen a possible funding model(s). Moreover,
there are concerns as to how robust the (end-user) impact measures and their
assessment will be in practice. We look forward to seeing how the proposed
trials of the RQF in some universities fare later on this year. Especially, one
is tempted to add, trials in universities with campuses in marginal seats ...
ABS: Last August FASTS published a report on the inadequacies of the ABS
research classification codes (see opinions/reports in publications on
our website www.fasts.org). While the adequacy of the codes to capture the
range of research have long been questioned, our paper identified an error rate
of about 30% at the 6 digit code level (the most detailed level). That is about
$1.4b of the $4.2b spent on R&D in Australian universities in 2004 was not
reported accurately. This finding was decisive in convincing Minister Bishop to
agree to fund a revision of the ABS Australian Standard Research
Classification.
In December a reference group was established with representatives from FASTS,
CSIRO, AVCC, DEST, and, of course, ABS. This group has subsequently been
expanded and at the March meeting we will be joined the ARC, Stats NZ and a
representative of social sciences/humanities.
There have been various consultation meetings and the next meeting of the
reference group will be on 22 March. At that meeting we will discuss a ‘concept
framework paper’ currently being drafted by the ABS which will set out the
basis for the review. After that, professional societies will become involved
in analysing and revising the various codes relevant to your expertise.
On Monday March 26 – the day before SmP – Tech IP are
presenting a workshop on the question as to whether use of a patented invention
for research constitute patent infringement. The workshop is at the Sofitel
Hotel in Melbourne and runs from 8.30am to 12.30pm. Speakers include Dr John
Emmerson QC, Professor Adrienne Carke, Des Ryan and a number of patent law
specialists.
This issue is the subject of an Australia Council of Intellectual Property
review (which FASTS made a submission to last year) and is receiving active
consideration by the Attorney General’s Department.
I have attached a brochure if it is of interest to any members.
This media release from Melbourne Uni on 9 January 2007 has been bought to my
attention. (http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_3965.html)
Women scientists produce higher quality work, but men produce more early in
their careers, new study reveals
An international study led by the University of Melbourne reveals that,
while female scientists produce better quality science, they are less
productive early in their careers, and thus have to play catch-up to their male
counterparts.
The study, conducted by Dr Matthew Symonds from the Department of Zoology at
the University of Melbourne with colleagues from Australia and New Zealand
followed 168 biologists from British and Australian
universities, all of whose careers began in the early 1990s.
Results showed that the men in the study published 40 percent more papers than
women, but that women's work is cited relatively more often by other
scientists, a key indicator of quality.
The study also revealed that the differences in male and female productivity
arise surprisingly early in their careers.
"Why men publish more papers than women, known as the "Productivity
Puzzle" has long been debated, "said Dr Symonds. "There is not
one obvious explanatory factor, but we now have a better idea of when key
problems for women arise," he said.
Dr Symonds said that a slow start to the women scientists' careers directly
affects their subsequent success in job appointments, promotions and funding.
"In Australia, we can see this scenario reflected in the continual higher
success rate of men over women in obtaining Australian Research Council
grants."
Dr Symonds said that women are discriminated against by current systems for measuring
research performance, which are heavily based on quantity of output. "Even
though women have their work cited relatively more frequently, their lower
overall productivity means that this difference in quality of research is often
overlooked."
"We propose a better system that is fairer to women. This does not mean
one that is less stringent, but one that truly reflects the real quality of
output, not just number of publications." "A shift in focus from
overall quantity of output to relative impact of the science would help level
the playing field for women."
Recommendations of the study also include that mentoring for women, which is
typically provided later in women scientists' careers, be conducted earlier.
"The first couple of years are a crucial time in women scientists' careers
when they need to avoid falling behind their male colleagues," Dr Symonds
said.
The study was published in December 2006 in the international online journal
PLoS ONE.
Minister Turnbull announced today that the Airbus A319 leased by the Australian Govt for the Antarctic Air Service has arrived in Hobart - its home base for the regular flights to Antarctica beginning later this year. The upgrade of the Antarctic-Australia airlink is a direct outcome of a PMSEIC paper - Opportunities for Antarctic and Southern Ocean Science – presented at the March 2005, PMSEIC meeting.