For a better navigation of the blog take a look at our tag cloud.
You can also register for up-to-the-minute email alerts for the CaSE blog.
We regret to announce that the CaSE Science Policy Debate – set for next Tuesday 30th April - is having to be postponed, due to a last minute scheduling conflict. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
We expect a new date to be confirmed very shortly and will contact all registered attendees with this information.
If you any further queries please get in touch.
We’ll
Last week She Figures for 2012 were released by the European Commission. Published every three years, they provide a wealth of data on the gender breakdown at different levels, and in different sectors, within research and innovation. The numbers bring mixed news, with hints of progress largely obscured by the depressing reality of the widespread underrepresentation of women in research, particularly in STEM fields.
In September of 2010, a grassroots group of concerned scientists and science supporters – Science is Vital – sprang into being and joined forces with CaSE to campaign to stave off threats to the research budget. With the UK’s excellent science and engineering reputation already running on less funding compared to many of our competitors, rumours of cuts in the neighbourhood of 20% or more meant the stakes were high. Our message was simple: healthy science and innovation is a vital component of a strong economy.
Yesterday CaSE attended a Parliamentary debate at Portcullis House, looking at the “key drivers of the UK’s innovation system”. While the question framed at the outset was “Which contributes more to British innovation, research tax credits or universities?”, the discussion rapidly took a different angle, focusing instead on how best to incentivise innovation across all research environments – from large companies to research laboratories, recognising that each plays a different role in driving innovation.
“Campaigners welcome government support for research, but insist more must be done”
The Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) welcomes the announcement in today’s Budget of the expansion of the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) – something we called for in our 4Growth campaign – and an expansion of the R&D tax credit scheme.
However, a new analysis published yesterday by CaSE shows that the shortfall in research capital, which stood at nearly £1.7bn following the 2010 Spending Review had now been reduced to just over £300m. Today’s Budget leaves this shortfall unchanged.
“Additional commitments reduce shortfall in research capital, but we need to aim higher”
New analysis by CaSE shows that the £1.7bn shortfall in research capital the Research Base Budget faced following the 2010 Spending Review (SR10) has been reduced to just over £330m following a string of additional commitments.
CaSE’s paper (Public Funding of UK Science and Engineering – March 2013 update) shows that additional commitments to research capital now total over £1350m.
The UK Business Secretary, Vince Cable, last week suggested that more women should go into engineering to help solve the skills shortage. He highlighted the vital role that women represent in engineering and the need to shift the mindset and reputation the industry has about engineering being a ‘dirty hands’ business suitable only for men.
CaSE has published its March 2013 e-bulletin, giving a summary of all CaSE’s activities over the last month. These include:
Last month CaSE warned the Government that its proposals to introduce a ‘sunset clause’ for the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) could damage the science and engineering sector – and last week the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the Home Office’s independent advisory group on immigration, agreed with our concerns. If the Government follows the new recommendation, it will be a victory for common sense.
Universities and Science Minister David Willetts
Today’s speech by the Universities and Science Minister allocates just over £460m of the £600m allocated to science in the Autumn Statement to the ‘eight great technologies’ the Chancellor outlined in his speech at the Royal Society last year. Read More
Senior figures from the world of science and engineering last week called for further consultation on the Government’s immigration proposals to limit the number of skilled immigrants entering the country, warning that such changes could damage the UK’s science and engineering base.
CaSE has written to the Immigration Minister Mark Harper raising concerns over the proposed ‘sunset clause’ – the automatic removal of any occupation from the Shortage Occupation List (SOL).
Read More
Changes to the Labour front bench, announced this afternoon, have left the position of Shadow Science Minister temporarily vacant.
Chi Onwurah MP has moved from the BIS team to join the Cabinet Office team where she will be leading on cyber security, social entrepreneurship, civil contingency, open government and transparency.
Imran Khan has led CaSE since 2010 and will be departing in March
As 2013 gets underway and we wish all of our readers, members, and colleagues a happy New Year, we’re also announcing some major personnel changes here at CaSE – the departure of our director, and the appointment of six new trustees.
Departing director
The first is that Imran Khan, our director since 2010, will be leaving the organisation in March. He is set to take over as Chief Executive of the British Science Association in April, succeeding Sir Roland Jackson who is stepping down after ten years in charge.
A few months ago, Education for Engineering (E4E), the body representing the professional engineering community on education and skills matters, published the first in a series of reports on pupils’ participation and attainment in science and mathematics qualifications at key stage 4 in England.
The first report, entitled ‘Opportunity or Ability?’, examined national and regional GCSE results, as well as differences in participation and attainment in science and mathematics between co-ed and single sex schools in both the state-maintained and independent sectors. Read More
In the next two years, Labour will need to develop the policy detail to underpin its commitment to a fairer capitalism and a rebalanced economy. So how can science policy support this agenda?
Labour is now committed to an active industrial strategy that focuses on high performing sectors. Research and development-intensive sectors, including automotive, life sciences and aerospace are likely to be included. The TUC has long called for a sector led industrial strategy, so we welcome this commitment. Read More
CaSE has today welcomed the Chancellor’s pledge of an extra £600m for new science funding as part of the Autumn Statement, the biggest single announcement of new research spending since the beginning of the coalition.
CaSE has published its December e-bulletin, giving a summary of all CaSE’s activities over the last month. These include:
Lord Heseltine, the former Deputy Prime Minister, used the 2012 CaSE Annual Lecture to call for science to help drive the UK’s economic growth.
Heseltine – who served in the Cabinet under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and ultimately became Deputy Prime Minister – recently published his report ‘No Stone Unturned‘. The report, commissioned by George Osborne and Vince Cable, makes 89 recommendations for getting the UK back on the path to prosperity. Read More
Speech by Lord Heseltine to the Campaign for Science and Engineering, Science Museum IMAX Theatre, 27th November 2012. Sponsored by Airbus and EADS
Thank you for inviting me and it is a pleasure to be here. Read More
Speech by the Rt. Hon. Michael Heseltine MP to Save British Science, Cavendish Conference Centre, 20 Duchess Mews, W1, Thursday, 23rd November.
“I would not pretend to be a scientist. But there are very few ministerial positions in government in which one is not brought face to face with the government’s role in research and development.
I have been fortunate in having held several such positions. At the Department of the Environment in the early 1970’s, I saw something of the work of the Road Research Laboratory in the furtherance of safety measures. As Minister of Aerospace I took over responsibility for the crisis surrounding Rolls Royce, the last development phase of Concorde, and I initiated the fusion of ELDO and ESRO into the European Space Agency.
Latest CaSE Tweets
