Sir Paul Nurse is a Nobel laureate who conducted a review published Thursday. Many scientists were concerned that the review would not recommend merging seven UK research councils. However, the review’s recommendations, if implemented, will have a profound impact on UK funding for scientific research. “Ensuring successful UK research endeavors” is the title of this review. After the publication of Government’s Science and Innovation Strategy, Ministers requested it. Sir Paul Maxime Nurse, a geneticist. For their discovery of proteins molecules controlling the division of cells in the cell-cycle, he was presented with the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Sir Paul believes that science could be made a higher priority in government if politicians were allowed to have more control over funding for scientific research. He believes that this is a deal with devil but science will benefit. Seven specialized research councils exist in the UK. The British government invests more than PS3 billion each year on scientific research. These funds are allocated to seven research councils: Science and Technology Facilities Council – Natural Environment Research Council – Medical Research Council – Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council – Economic and Social Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council — Arts and Humanities Research Council. Research councils say they only spend money on high-quality research that is free from government interference. The funding may be used to develop new medicines, better machines or study subatomic particles. UK scientists are among the most prominent in the world. The system is believed to have worked and has helped the UK become one of the most renowned centers of excellence in many areas of scientific research. Sir Paul believes that the system would work better if each of seven research councils was managed by an umbrella organization with greater power – Research UK. His argument is that there will be more coordination and less bureaucracy. There will also be clearer goals. Sir Paul believes that Research UK should be overseen by a committee made up of ministers from the government. Is there any way to interfere with scientific research? The freedom for research councils to operate without government interference is gone. Scientists worry that science research could become the political game of politicians, candidates for election, and other niche interests. Instead of a cohesive strategy, scientists fear that science will be caught in an endless tug-of war with politicians. Sir Paul says science is better off being at the “heart of government.” The government currently decides how much money goes to scientific research. However, scientists choose where the money should go. The Haldane Principle, which states that scientists are responsible for deciding where money is spent on research, should be maintained, according to Sir Paul. However, the world has changed and so must funding. The percentage allocated to each research council has not changed over the past several decades. However, all scientific disciplines, such as biology, engineering and medicine have seen significant changes. During this period, no official evaluation has been done to determine if each area has increased in relation to all of science. Sir Paul then asks how can we know that each field should continue to receive the same amount of funding. Sir Paul also suggested that money be combined to fund interdisciplinary research, but he didn’t specify how much. Video: Sir Paul speaks about biology in this interview, which was filmed 10 months ago.
