Stopp f�r ‘meningsl�s’ forskning i Storbritannien

Stefan — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:35:33 +0000

Det �r inte bara i Sverige som grundforskningen allt oftare f�r se sig ifr�gasatt. I Storbritannien ber�ttar The Guardian och The Times om hur staten nu vill stoppa “meningsl�s” forskning.¹ Universiteten m�ste nu bevisa forskningens nytta f�r att f� tillg�ng till medel, ber�ttar The Guardian:

The government is to stop funding “pointless” university research, forcing academics to prove that their academic inquiry has some relevance to the real world, funding chiefs will announce today.

Universities will have to show that their research influences the economy, public policy or society in order to secure the biggest research grants, the government’s funding body for higher education said.

Det nya systemet f�r tilldelning av forskningsanslag (“Research Excellence Framework“) l�gger d�rmed �nnu en faktor till r�dande ranking- och bibliometritrender, och g�r d�rmed de forskningsstrategiska ekvationerna �n mer komplicerade:

From 2012, each university department will submit evidence to be rated, with 60% of marks awarded for the quality of their research as judged by academic panels, 25% according to the “impact” the research makes and 15% according to the quality of the department. This will rate the department’s research strategy, staff and postgraduate development and engagement with the public.

F�r universiteten torde resultatet bli ett mindre man�verutrymme – men desto fler man�vrar f�r att placera sig i linje med vad som anses vara ‘nyttig’ forskning.

F�r grundforskningen inneb�r det f�rmodligen ett grundskott.

Noter:

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Stopp f�r ‘meningsl�s’ forskning i Storbritannien