Royal Society of Biology News Autumn Statement

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Science Policy Newsletter – a weekly round-up of policy headlines and stories

30 November 2016

News

Royal Society of Biology news

RSB welcomes importance placed on R&D in Autumn Statement

Autumn Statement

Autumn Statement 2016: a summary A summary of Autumn Statement 2016 and the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts for the economy and public finances.

Science and innovation in the 2016 Autumn Statement In the Autumn Statement this week, the Chancellor announced a new £4.7 billion investment over four years to “enhance the UK’s position as a world leader in science and innovation”.

Prime minister's £2bn R&D pledge: Academics respond Research Fortnight rounds up responses to Theresa May’s pledge to increase investment in research and innovation in real terms by £2 billion a year by 2020.

What will an extra £4.7 billion do for UK science and innovation? An unexpected autumn statement windfall for research, innovation and industrial strategy has given scientists their first bit of cheer for a while.

Health and biomedicine

Genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida Keys by spring In fight against Zika, British company Oxitec must seek approval from FDA for insects’ release into the wild following Monroe County referendum.

How robots could be the future of surgery Does the future of surgery rest in non-human hands? Youssef El-Gingihy argues that robots are coming but will still have to wait their turn.

The power of big data must be harnessed for medical progress But grave challenges remain before the promise of individually tailored medicine becomes reality.

NgAgo gene-editing controversy escalates in peer-reviewed papers One paper describes surprising results in zebrafish embryos, another lists failed replication efforts.

Agriculture and fishery

Temperate matters in agriculture Most of the world’s food is produced in temperate zones. The Global Food Security programme’s Evangelia Kougioumoutzi reports on the TempAg Network.

Environment and ecology

Tesco to phase out microbeads from its products by end of 2016 All of the supermarket’s own-brand cosmetics and cleaning products will be free from the tiny plastic pieces within a month.

Climate and energy

Arctic ice melt could trigger uncontrollable climate change at global level Scientists warn increasingly rapid melting could trigger polar ‘tipping points’ with catastrophic consequences felt as far away as the Indian Ocean.

Climate change ‘hotspots’: why they matter and why we should invest in them The consequences of climate change are already being felt all over the globe.

Water and air

Retired jet engines could help clear smog A new idea to blow big-city peasoupers away.

Exiting the EU

A Policy Lunchbox discussion on “Brexit: what is happening inside Government?” Oliver Ilott from the Institute for Government joined our November Policy Lunchbox session to explain the steps Government is taking in response to the decision to leave the EU.

Research funding policy

Moedas offers leg-up to EU13 EU research commissioner Carlos Moedas has announced a set of measures to help researchers in the EU's poorer countries improve their Horizon 2020 performance.

Success rate for ESRC grants falls to five-year low Just 17 per cent of applications for research grants from the Economic and Social Research Council are funded, according to an analysis published by the council.

Brazil’s scientists battle to escape 20-year funding freeze Cap at current spending levels could spell ‘end of science in Brazil’, researchers say.

Higher education policy

Everyone’s talking about the Tef, but no one is listening to students The sector has a lot to say about the teaching excellence framework. But what about the people it is supposed to benefit?

Tef: don't equate contact hours with teaching quality Contact hours could be used as a metric in government rankings – but that may damage, not improve, student experience.

Inflation, TEF and tuition fees continue a complex dance Macroeconomics matters more to the higher education sector than perhaps ever before.

The organisational contexts in which research with impact is produced: lessons from REF2014 What are the organisational contexts in which ‘impactful’ research is produced?

Open access and publication policy

Royal Society of Biology Research Communication Newsletter - November 2016

Business and industry

Opportunities and risks for UK businesses after EU exit examined The Committee on Exiting the European Union hears from business experts on the UK's negotiating objectives for withdrawal from the EU.

Equality and diversity

Science's Minority Talent Pool Is Growing—but Draining Away The number of Ph.D. graduates from underrepresented groups grew by nine times since 1980. The number of assistant professors from those groups grew by just 2.6 times.

University LGBT initiatives: there's still room for improvement Despite significant advances for LGBT recognition in universities over the last 20 years, campaigners say there is still more to be done.

ERC awards biased against women, preliminary study says Women are less successful than men when applying for European Research Council grants when their academic track record is taken into account, an unpublished study has claimed.

Public engagement

Working with the media can be beneficial but linking to and citing your research should be compulsory It’s great when academic research is covered by the media but too often this coverage fails to link back to or properly cite the research itself.

Other news

Behind the headlines: just how transparent is policymaking?

Post-truth: a guide for the perplexed If politicians can lie without condemnation, what are scientists to do? Kathleen Higgins offers some explanation.

The concordat to support research integrity: a progress report

People

Janet Beer to be next UUK president University of Liverpool vice-chancellor to take role from August 2017.

Consultations

Genomics and genome-editing inquiry launched Science and Technology Committee launch an inquiry into genomics and genome- editing. Closes 6 January 2017

Opportunities

IPCC call for experts to produce the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C BEIS invites UK experts to express their interest in acting as Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors, and Review Editors on a special report for the IPCC. Deadline 6 December

Parliamentary Academic Fellowship Scheme The UK Parliament is piloting an Academic Fellowship Scheme that will offer academic researchers at every stage of their career the rare opportunity to work on specific projects from inside Westminster’s walls.

Events

Blue Sky Research for Grey Sky Days: science tackling air pollution health effects 6 December, London This event will present and discuss progress in aspects of air pollution research relevant to human health, and measures to assess it.

And finally...

Great Barrier Reef suffered worst bleaching on record in 2016, report finds

Royal Society of Biology Please note that any views or opinions presented in this Science Policy Team email are solely those of the Charles Darwin House author and do not 12 Roger Street necessarily represent those of the Royal Society of London Biology. WC1N 2JU [email protected]

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