From DEREK ROBERTS
There is a proposal that institutions outside academe should be permitted
to bid for science base funds administered through the research councils
(This Week, 3 October). When I first heard this I rejected it as too absurd
to worry about. On reflection however I realise that nothing is too absurd.
Insofar as there is such a proposal, I hope that it will be dealt with
in the forthcoming White Paper.
The following are some of the points which should, I suggest, be borne
in mind:
When deployed in the universities, research funds provide a treble benefit:
expansion of the knowledge base, research training for PhD students, and
enlivenment of undergraduate teaching.
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To remove funds from what is already an inadequate pool in order to
prop up government laboratories/agencies which have lost their way and need
to be refocused would be extremely damaging to science and education whilst
yielding no matching benefit to our national well being.
Do the protagonists of such a policy change restrict their thinking
to government laboratories? No reason why they should. If you follow the
argument (I nearly said reasoning, but that would have been a mistake),
such organisations as BT, ICI and GEC should be encouraged to bid for basic
research funds – and University College London will bid to manage the british
telecommunications network and the completion of the European Fighter Aircraft.
Seriously, I hope that the White Paper will give this idea short shift.
Derek Roberts University College London
