Potential funding cuts to medical research.
Follow the news about potential $400 million funding cuts to Ausralia’s medical research funding. Follow th news at The Australian Higher Education section. A good link to start is http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/medical-research-cuts-will-lead-to-brain-drain/story-fn59niix-1226039583336. Success rates for research funding is <30%, so most researchers don’t get funding for their proposals each year. More cuts out of our small pot of money will make it even tougher, and make a “brain drain” more severe. Hopefully the Federal Government has the foresight to keep research funding, or even increase it. We’ll have to see what happens at the Australian Federal Budget announcement on the 10th May. In the meantime go to Research Australia’s website to sign the e-petition in support of keeping funding at current levels at http://researchaustralia.org/.
Inspiring young people into science.
I thought I might share with you some comments and ideas about inspiring young people to take careers in science. The Inspiring Australia Conference which occurs from 28-29th March 2011 will be discussing this issue amongst others. This is a conference that will help move along Australia’s new national strategy for engaging with the sciences. I was going to attend the workshop session about this topic, but cannot attend. So I will share my thoughts and ideas on this topic, and hope to get feedback from other science communicators and educators about inspiring young people into science careers. I will be interested in the outcomes of the conference on this topic. Many of the discussions will apparently be streamed online, so please keep visiting the Inspiring Australia Conference website for updates. The idea for framing this discussion is below.
Call for applications for Inter-Arts Residencies.
I’m a big fan of inter-arts, especially science-art collaborations and works as I myself have been involved in some art-science collaborations. Inter-arts, and science-art in particular, is a catalyst for useful and meaningful science communication and explorations on various issues about science and society. The Australia Council is calling for applicants again for the Inter-Arts Artists Initiated Residencies. Applications close on 2nd May 2011.
Opportunity for an agricultural scientist from a developing country to train in Australia under The Crawford Fund.
Here’s another opportunity that came across my desk. This time an agricultural scientist from a developing country will be funded by The Crawford Fund to come and train in Australia for a period of time. The deadline for applications is the 1st April, 2011. This is a great opportunity to share learnings between institutions and have Fellows apply their new knowledge in their home country. As I’ve written about before, food security is an important issue for everyone on this planet. Australia has an excellent reputation in agricultural research, so please spread the word to your friends and colleagues who are in this area.
Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction
For those of you based in the USA, the AAAS are asking for science communicators, teachers, and tutors to send in their examples of teaching science to students for the Science Price for Inquiry-Based Instruction. I think examples and entrants outside of the USA may be eligible but please ask the AAAS for any clarifications. Applications are due 15th April, 2011. Good luck to everyone who is entering!
Young Researchers for Health 2010.
Hello all. Sorry about the lack of posts last month and this month. I’ve been finishing up some major research projects for the year.
On an exciting note, my essay has been included in the Young Researchers for Health 2010 essay anthology. This was officially released with the occurrence of the First Global Symposium for Health Services Research, and is published in collaboration with the Global Symposium for Health Services Research, The Global Forum for Health Research, and The Lancet . The theme of this year’s essays were “health systems research: towards universal coverage”. My essay was entitled “Fostering better shared decision-making in universal health coverage in the face of hype, hope, and evidence”, and discussed the challenges to rational decision-making in the face of various informational and factional interests. You can order hardcopies or download the anthology from the Global Forum for Health Research website and find the Young Researchers for Health 2010 publication. Feel free to discuss any of the issues raised in my essay here on the weblog, or any other health service research issues.
A timely roundtable discussing human resources in healthcare in developing countries.
The quality and quantity of human resources in healthcare are one of the biggest issues facing developing regions. A roundtable on solving the human resources problem in developing countries to be held in Washington DC in association with the Global Health Council sounds like an interesting one. Get along to it if you are in the area.
Science and policy events in Sydney.
Two notices for interesting science and policy events in Sydney have come in my email inbox recently. One is for the Diana Temple Memorial Lecture series, and the other is for The 2010 Lowy Lecture hosted by The Lowy Institute for International Policy.
China’s answer to the supply and demand of infrastructure for developing regions.
See my new entry at Wiley Economics Focus at http://wileyeconomicsfocus.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/chinas-answer-to-the-supply-and-demand-of-infrastructure-for-developing-regions/ where I discuss a recent Time Magazine article on the expansion of the high speed rail network in China that aims to improve the development of the Western regions.
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