A Sierra-Fuelled Dawn

The Shuttlebus, in R2D2 livery, awaits its first customers

Following the commendable example of the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Exeter and Cardiff in forming the GW4 collaboration, we are pleased to announce that Fundermental Towers University will be forming an alliance with its sister institutions in the wider Rochester area.

The research intensive universities of Fundermental Towers, Ebbsfleet White Horse (Unrampant), and Snodhurst, together with Deangate Ridge Golfing Academy, will form a strategic alliance to explore and identify opportunities where their combined research strength can more effectively address global challenges, as well as getting an impressive discount on stationery costs.

Professor Gymslip Plimsole, Vice-Chancellor of Fundermental Towers University and former contestant on ESRC's T Factor, welcomed the news. 'This is an exciting day for the wider Rochester area, and the impact will be felt right the way from The Esplanade in the West to Tinker's Alley in the East. Together the 'R2D2' collaboration of universities is more than the sum of its parts. With a total turnover in excess of £7.83(sterling), these four royal and ancient seats of learning will create an unstoppable critical mass of ground breaking research.'

'We have already commissioned a 'shuttle service' between the universities', continued Plimsole. 'I have had my son Kevin, our Transport Officer, source and purchase a 1983 Ford Sierra which is ideal for the job. We hope to paint it in the colours of all four institutions. When combined these come out as a rather fetching puce-brown. Fortunately most Sierras of that age came in that colour, so there may be no need for a repaint. See? This collaboration is already saving us money!'

'Whilst we are all excited about the bright new Sierra-fuelled dawn ahead of us,' concluded Plimsole, 'there are still a number of details to iron out. The most important of these is the biscuit selection for our intra-R2D2 meetings. I know Snodhurst have a penchant for jammie dodgers, but we at Fundermental Towers have more refined tastes. For us, it's custard creams or nothing.'

'Monastic & Medieval': the Need for Change in UK Research

Day two of ARMA2012 began with another double-headed plenary. Say what you like about ARMA, but they do like their BOGOFs. This time there was a little more synergy between the two speakers. Prof Teresa Rees, PVC at Cardiff and head of the Leadership Foundation in Wales, started by casting her eyes to the stormy horizon. 'I advise the European Commission on research strategy,' she said, 'and they are worried about the UK's position globally.' Why? Because the UK's universities – in common with many on mainland Europe – are hidebound in tradition. They're so busy fussing about which gowns to wear and what the protocol is when addressing the sub-pro-deputy-vice-chancellor for the wine cellar that they're not noticing the young upstarts snapping at their heels. 'It's too medieval and monastic'. There's a need for fresh thinking, she suggested, from how to collaborate, to how to prioritise funding bids, to how to design projects to better reflect contemporary society. Academics and administrators need to work together in this.

Michael Jubb of the Research Information Network (RIN), and a member of the Finch Review, took over to talk about the challenges of expanding access to peer-reviewed research. The current avenues for dissemination are dominated by traditional subscription based journals. The internet had freed this up somewhat, but there was much more to do. He suggested that four elements need to be addressed:

•  licence arrangements need to be extended to cover more libraries, more sectors;
• policies need to be rewritten to proactively encourage or require publication in open access or hybrid journals;
• public funding needs to be made available so that business can access research outputs;
•  and institutional repositories need to be made more comprehensive, better linked, and easier to use.

So both speakers recognised the shortcomings of the status quo. I'll be interested to see whether their suggestions, their knowledge and their energy are enough to shift the monastic, medieval mass of research tradition in the UK.