I’m logged on to Parliament Live trying to watch the select committee inquiry into physics funding. There’s no sound at the minute, although people are still filing in (I’m spending most of my time trying to recognise the members of the public sitting at the back). If sound doesn’t appear, I’ll update this once the transcript comes out.
Here’s a picture – that’s Michael Rowan Robinson, RAS president talking (front row, right). In the first row of green seats, second from the left is Keith Mason, the head of STFC. No luck with the sound – I can hear what’s happening in the main House of Commons chamber, so I don’t think it’s my system that’s at fault.
Update : I’ll be writing this up once the transcript is released on the committee’s website.
Stuart on January 21, 2008
I missed it because I was in a telecon but I’m now listening to the audio. Michael Rowan-Robinson starts things off.
Shafted on January 22, 2008
Are you planning to comment on how Keith has royally shafted the UK astronomy and PP communities to keep his pals at DIUS happy and his hopes of a knighthood alive? Or are you waiting to see how the wind blows before risking comment?
Concerned for the future on January 23, 2008
But the reality is that Particle Physics and Astronomy remain of great interest to the public, and as has been well stated, are subjects that started many scientists off in their exploration of the subject in the first place
To quote Prof Mason … ‘we are in this situation, so lets just get on with it’. Fine, thanks for those great words of support, just what we wanted to hear from you, a great way to marshal your troops around you.
But does there really remain much confidence within the community that the present Senior Management at STFC are the right people to lead Particle Physics, Nuclear Physics and Astronomy out of the problem. The woeful lack of communication with the community as the crisis developed was dressed up in STFC-speak as being due to the need to act fast, and that it was adequately discussed with Committees. However, this has already been refuted by some members of those same committees (see Paul Crowther’s web page and the Jan 8th Guardian), leaving it difficult to believe anything we are told from STFC now.
Maybe it’s time to stand back from this shambles and to take a fresh look at the future, and also to look inwardly, and outwardly, at who should be brought in to take the community forward. Should the community really seek to change personnel at the top now – should senior Management just be allowed to get on with it? There are arguments for this that they already know something about the system – but there is also so much angry sentiment in the PP, NP and Astronomy communities that enough is enough – and a resignation that we have been left exposed in the present situation by inadequate leadership (however STFC want to dress it up) that did not manage to contain the situation at an early stage in the development of the crisis. Maybe the best way forward now is just to have a clean sweep and regroup. Is this going to happen – well many people are talking about this privately – but everyone is worried that by putting their heads above the parapet, they will be the first to suffer. Perhaps it is time to appeal to the people involved at STFC to do the right thing to allow everyone to move forward
UK Physics has a brighter future on January 23, 2008
To quote Keith Mason from the BBC website:
‘The “doom and gloom” being spread about the state of UK physics and the funding of research is unhelpful and paints an inaccurate picture, says Keith Mason. The chief executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council claims the likely fallout from its spending settlement has been exaggerated’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7200456.stm
What world are you living on – still in Holmbury St Mary perhaps?
Look at the redundancies, the high quality research grants that will be rejected, the demoralisation of your own staff in Swindon, and the appalling situation that has been allowed to develop whilst you were our representative, and the decimation that will occur in many areas of astronomy – whoops … STFC reprioritisation … pardon my incorrect terminology …
It is clear that a clear that a clean out at the top of STFC is the only real way forward now
Our day in Court « The e-Astronomer on January 23, 2008
[...] Our day in Court So the Select Committee hearing on the Science Budget Allocations finally came and went. You can listen to the proceedings at the Parliament web site. There are postings at the Astronomy Blog and at Chris Lintott’s Universe . There are already all sorts of angry comments on earlier posts of mine here and here . STFC have put out a positive news spin on the BBC , but Ken Peach has produced a Panglossian parody of this . I didn’t know Ken was quite so erudite. (My daughter once asked what “erudite” meant. I told her it described the kind of person who knew what “erudite” meant). [...]