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********************************************************************** 1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example, send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] with the following message:"Doesn't the majority of the funding just come from the research councils, which are not really controlled by the public?"Research Councils exist through public funding - from their website "Research Councils are the public bodies charged with investing tax payer’s money in science and research"So if it's RC funded, it's funded by the public (via the government).The debate taking place here is entirely symptomatic of the issues - some people genuinely understand the connections and the need to include the pubic as a beneficiary and stakeholder of their work - and indeed have directly experienced how liaison with the public can add to or shift what's happening within their research. In other words it's embedded in their practice.Others do it because it's a requirement of funders - for some this leads to the above and they continue with PE afterwards, whilst do it because they have to but feel it to be an inconvenience or a non-necessity, certainly not an integrated element of their work.
To me that demonstrates that PE is not yet fully embedded. Whether that is best encouraged through criteria within research funding, or through separate PE strands has not been proven either way but even on this list it seems clear that some folks just won't do it if they don't have to - and that is the crux of the issue.
(declaring my interest - I'm the evaluation consultant for Manchester Science Festival and one of the evaluation team for Manchester Beacon)Sally Fort
Consultant: cultural projects
www.sallyfort.com
From: Adam J. Christopherson <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, 12 August, 2010 11:26:33
Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] EPSRC ends public engagement scheme
On 12 Aug 2010, at 11:00, Mary wrote:
> Aren’t they related? Keeping your RAs and technicians in a job, especially if it’s a publicly-funded one, is surely linked to public acceptance/understanding of what they are working on. Lose that and you lose even more of your funding……..
Is there any correlation between the public's understanding of science, and the actual science that gets funded by public money? Doesn't the majority of the funding just come from the research councils, which are not really controlled by the public?
> From: psci-com: on public engagement with science [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Francis Sedgemore
> Sent: jeudi 12 août 2010 11:53
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] EPSRC ends public engagement scheme
>
>
> "Or"?
>
> Oh dear! In presenting science communication as a chore to be set aside when there are more pressing needs, you've just proved my and MK's point. A brickbat it most certainly is, and a most offensive one at that.
Demanding that academics take science communication seriously is not really going to work, since many academics are very much stuck in their ways. Wouldn't a better approach be to put some effort into training students/postdocs (the future academics) to understand the importance of communication, and help them better communicate their research to the public? Or does this sort of thing already happen?
Adam
--
Adam J. Christopherson
School of Mathematical Sciences
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS
[log in to unmask]
www.maths.qmul.ac.uk/~adamc
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