Fundermental Top 10 of 2015

For the past two years I've done a round up of the most read posts on Research Fundermentals. As a reminder, here are the lists for 2013 and 2014.

Now, in this season of lists and mellow fruitiness, it's time to have a look at what's been top of the pops on the blog this year. And, for a change, we'll do them in reverse order. You know, to give you a little excitement, a little suspense. How can you possibly resist?

Tracking the Impact Beast

Impact, that mythical beast

When impact first burst onto the scene seven years ago it was so radical an idea, so controversial a concept, that we used to run ‘impact surgeries’, to which academics could bring their research ideas and where we would suggest possible ways in which their work could have impact. We were no impact experts, but had the objectivity and distance to see beyond the immediate research to its potential effect on the wider world.

H2020 Grant Application Wins the Turner Prize

Excited members of 'ENdlessDIsapPOINTment' yesterday

In a surprise move, the Turner Prize was awarded yesterday to a bewildered group of twenty academics for an unsuccessful Horizon 2020 application.

To shouts of astonishment, the judges announced that the collective, known by their project acronym 'ENdlessDIsapPOINTment', had secured the prize for 'a ground-up approach to recycling an idea multiple times.'

Blofeld to Join ERC

Exciting news from the European Research Council. They've managed to secure the services of Tarantino favourite and Bond villain Christoph Waltz as a new Vice President alongside the two current incumbents.

This is very exciting news and will, I think, take the ERC in new and interesting directions. Any resemblance to Prof Klaus Bock of the Danish National Research Foundation is, of course, entirely coincidental.

Waltz

Bock

Research Impact and Parliament

My colleague Jacqueline Aldridge, co-author of The Research Funding Toolkit, attended a recent event hosted by the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST), which gave academic researchers an insight into how they can best contribute to the parliamentary process. 

Jacqueline kindly agreed to summarise the main points that arose from the day. Huge thanks to her for doing so, and do get in touch if you any questions arising from these.