Well, knives are quietly being sharpened around EPSRC. The rumblings of discontent have been going on for some time, and touch on everything from the Council's 'remit shaping' exercise, to its 'national importance' criterion, to its removal of PhD students from its grants.Now, in a letter to the Daily Telegraph, 70 eminent scientists have vented their frustration. 'Taken together, [these actions] pose a serious threat to British science. EPSRC has exceeded its remit so spectacularly that it has lost the confidence of a significant proportion of the scientific community.'
Stuff and nonsense, say EPSRC. The fabulously named Attila Emecz, the EPSRC's Director of Strategy, dismissed the accusations as 'a major and gross misrepresentation.' Not only that, but the changes are, actually, brilliant: 'we believe the new policies will protect and improve UK research.'
But who's right? Well, in the words of Harry Hill, there's only one way to find out: 'FIGHT!' Crack open the popcorn, don the 3D glasses, put your feet up and watch battle commence.
EPSRC was the first Council to bring in some helpful changes, e.g. project extension requests and start certificates on Je-S. Their demand-management blacklisting was controversial but still understandable.
ReplyDeleteIt's with the more recent "remit shaping"/"national importance" where they have clearly lost the plot. I'm with the researchers on this one.