As the world focuses its attention on COP-27 the question of what role science and researchers should play in driving the response to the Climate Crisis is central. As researchers in growing numbers subscribe to movements, such as Scientist Rebellion, …
Author: Taster
Book Review: Where Research Begins: Choosing a Research Project that Matters to You (and the World) by Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea
In Where Research Begins: Choosing a Research Project that Matters to You (and the World), Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea offer a new guide to deciding on your research topic and formulating your research questions to develop a project that rea…
As Musk takes control are we heading to an ‘everything app’ or the break-up of academic twitter?
After much speculation, Twitter has been acquired by Elon Musk. In this post, Mark Carrigan asks, if now is the time to rethink academic twitter by separating out the knowledge exchange and academic community building functions that have up to this poi…
Reforming research assessment in Spain requires greater university autonomy
Following the publication of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment under the auspices of the European Commission, countries across Europe are reconsidering their research assessment systems and policies and how they might align more closely to…
Two minds better than one – Does research funding and support for collaboration lead to more innovative research?
A central tenet of research policy is that funding and the ability to form research collaborations produces better research. However, whilst this may hold true for incremental research building on existing knowledge, does it also support novel research…
Measuring the toll of COVID-19 on academic parents and what we can do about it
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted academic lives differentially, not the least of which, those who have lost relatives and live with the effects of the virus. For other groups, such as carers and academic parents, the pandemic has brought about a sign…
Book Review: Horizon Work: At the Edge of Knowledge in an Age of Runaway Climate Change by Adriana Petryna
In Horizon Work: At the Edge of Knowledge in an Age of Runaway Climate Change, Adriana Petryna explores ‘horizoning’ as a conceptual device that sets up new ranges and circumstances for action in the face of climate crisis. Drawing on interviews with e…
Linking research to localities – The City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-REDI)
For the past seven years, The City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-REDI) has worked to develop evidence- based policy engaged research at city and regional scale. In this post, Simon Collinson, Rebecca Riley, and Anne Green reflect on the e…
Reviewing the Rights Retention Strategy – A pathway to wider Open Access?
Launched in 2021 by cOAlition S (an international consortium of research funders) the Rights Retention Strategy (RRS) aims to ensure that researchers funded by these organisations retain the rights to their work. Reflecting on the implementation of the…
Five lessons from four centuries of journal publishing – What the history of the Philosophical Transactions tells us about academic publishing
Drawing on research from their recently published and open access history of publishing at the Royal Society, Camilla Mørk Røstvik, discusses how a long view of scientific publication can help us better understand and better respond to current controve…