Naked Science Forum
General Science => General Science => Topic started by: www.optimalwebsite.co.uk on 16/09/2006 10:04:08
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Hi all,
I'm writing a book and require some assistance, please help!
I want to know how they feel the state of science is in the UK, specifically do they feel it's in a better or worse condition with the current Labour government. Any comments => thanks.
Kind regards,
Joel
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I feel that it is worse but that is just a personal impression based on stories like falling applications for science courses, the closure of university science departments, shortages of funding for space research and so on.
How much of that is down to the government and how much to other agencies or just fashion is hard to say. Certainly the higher top-up fees for science courses can't be helping, nor the ever increasing disparity with salaries paid to lawyers, financiers, footballers, TV presenters, estate agents and politicians* [:D]
*not to mention authors!
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The other problem I see is the amount of time researchers have to spend just getting money. As far as I can see most people above about the rank of post-doc spend more than half of their time writing grant applications. If you worked out how much administrating the system cost it must be atrocious.
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More clever marketing [xx(]
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.
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I feel that it is worse but that is just a personal impression based on stories like falling applications for science courses, the closure of university science departments, shortages of funding for space research and so on.
How much of that is down to the government and how much to other agencies or just fashion is hard to say. Certainly the higher top-up fees for science courses can't be helping, nor the ever increasing disparity with salaries paid to lawyers, financiers, footballers, TV presenters, estate agents and politicians* [:D]
*not to mention authors!
-
The other problem I see is the amount of time researchers have to spend just getting money. As far as I can see most people above about the rank of post-doc spend more than half of their time writing grant applications. If you worked out how much administrating the system cost it must be atrocious.
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More clever marketing [xx(]
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.
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Thanks for the feedback, except "More clever marketing" which I dont really understand.
I kind of figured it was getting worse, one of the books themes is the rise of "fashionable subjects" like cultural studies and media studies provides an easy alternative to physics, chem, maths, computing etc etc. Because science teachers have better employment prospects in the private sector they leave first - cultural studies professors simply don't have the same opportunities to move, so the rot deepens and spreads. Because film studies is fun to teach and learn these subjects will grow and grow unless government steps in and somehow curtails them.
My life story is that I left a degree in physics to study a degree in film. I niavely thought film studies would teach me how to make films (it didnt), and the fact the course was allowed to exist would mean their would be some sort of job at the end of it all....
Personally I cant understand why it is scientists and academics aren't paid their market wage... surely that would make more sense?
Let me know what the men of science think!
Kind regards,
JH
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quote:
Originally posted by www.optimalwebsite.co.uk
except "More clever marketing" which I dont really understand.
I think the comment relates to the fact that your user name is a web site address, and in effect is an advertisement for that web site.
Might I gently suggest that you create a new user id for youself in order to avoid such misunderstandings.
George
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How can this be clever marketing??? I havent even told you the name of the book! I normally help new businesses set up websites and have kept my business name as my user name for convienence. Anyway, back to the task at hand...
"Better" can be interpretted as more, or more useful science. At the end of the day either yes or no to whether Labour is good for science in the UK. I've read of greater funding on the news, but also of depts closing despite a general rise in student numbers. As I'm not at uni it's hard for me to tell what's actually going on. Hence the post...
Kind regards,
Joel
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quote:
Originally posted by Hailie229
quote:
Originally posted by www.optimalwebsite.co.uk
Hi all, I'm writing a book and require some assistance, please help! I want to know how they feel the state of science is in the UK, specifically do they feel it's in a better or worse condition with the current Labour government.
"better" is quite unique, I never heard about something like that before.
monkey
(http://www.d-videos.com/tags/monkey) - Grand Forks florists
(http://www.florist-services.com/tags/Grand Forks)
Unless I am mistaken...the above post is one of those forum worm things...(or something like that)..have seen them here many times before..short...succinct and nonsense !!!...(Happy to be proven wrong of cousre )
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
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I'm a real person!!!! I'm not a worm! Counts fingers/toes etc etc... all present and correct!!!!! [:D]
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Hee hee..I meant this ..........."better" is quite unique, I never heard about something like that before....... posted by Hailie229..[:)}
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
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Thanks for the feedback, except "More clever marketing" which I dont really understand.
I kind of figured it was getting worse, one of the books themes is the rise of "fashionable subjects" like cultural studies and media studies provides an easy alternative to physics, chem, maths, computing etc etc. Because science teachers have better employment prospects in the private sector they leave first - cultural studies professors simply don't have the same opportunities to move, so the rot deepens and spreads. Because film studies is fun to teach and learn these subjects will grow and grow unless government steps in and somehow curtails them.
My life story is that I left a degree in physics to study a degree in film. I niavely thought film studies would teach me how to make films (it didnt), and the fact the course was allowed to exist would mean their would be some sort of job at the end of it all....
Personally I cant understand why it is scientists and academics aren't paid their market wage... surely that would make more sense?
Let me know what the men of science think!
Kind regards,
JH
-
quote:
Originally posted by www.optimalwebsite.co.uk
except "More clever marketing" which I dont really understand.
I think the comment relates to the fact that your user name is a web site address, and in effect is an advertisement for that web site.
Might I gently suggest that you create a new user id for youself in order to avoid such misunderstandings.
George
-
How can this be clever marketing??? I havent even told you the name of the book! I normally help new businesses set up websites and have kept my business name as my user name for convienence. Anyway, back to the task at hand...
"Better" can be interpretted as more, or more useful science. At the end of the day either yes or no to whether Labour is good for science in the UK. I've read of greater funding on the news, but also of depts closing despite a general rise in student numbers. As I'm not at uni it's hard for me to tell what's actually going on. Hence the post...
Kind regards,
Joel
-
quote:
Originally posted by Hailie229
quote:
Originally posted by www.optimalwebsite.co.uk
Hi all, I'm writing a book and require some assistance, please help! I want to know how they feel the state of science is in the UK, specifically do they feel it's in a better or worse condition with the current Labour government.
"better" is quite unique, I never heard about something like that before.
monkey
(http://www.d-videos.com/tags/monkey) - Grand Forks florists
(http://www.florist-services.com/tags/Grand Forks)
Unless I am mistaken...the above post is one of those forum worm things...(or something like that)..have seen them here many times before..short...succinct and nonsense !!!...(Happy to be proven wrong of cousre )
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
-
I'm a real person!!!! I'm not a worm! Counts fingers/toes etc etc... all present and correct!!!!! [:D]
-
Hee hee..I meant this ..........."better" is quite unique, I never heard about something like that before....... posted by Hailie229..[:)}
Men are the same as women, just inside out !