Do you have strong opinions about the way academic research is funded in the UK? Maybe you're a researcher employed on one short term project after another and have ideas about how things could be better organised? Maybe you are concerned about the effect the competitive culture in research has on the quality of results and their reproducibility and believe changes in the way funds are allocated could improve the situation? Or perhaps you believe that the current system for research funding is basically excellent, but have a strong view about one particular issue that needs to be addressed?
If any of the above apply to you, you should consider attending a FREE one day event being held as part of Manchester Policy Week 2015, Rethinking UK Research Funding on 4th November. You can register your interest through our website: https://rethinkingukresearch.wordpress.com
Confirmed speakers include:
• Adisa Azapagic, Professor, Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester
• Elizabeth Bohm, Senior Policy Advisor, The Royal Society
• Iain Cameron, Head of Research Careers and Diversity, Research Councils UK
• Colette Fagan (Session Chair), Professor of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities Deputy Dean & Associate Dean – Research, The University of Manchester
• Ruth Gilligan, Manager, Athena Swan, Equality Challenge Unit
• Laurence Hopkins, Universities and Colleges Employers Association, Head of Research
• Michael MacNeil, National Head of Bargaining & Negotiations, University and College Union
• Andrew Miller, former MP for Ellesmere Port and Chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee (to 2015)
• Peter Simpson, Director of the N8 Partnership and former Director of Discovery Sciences at AstraZeneca
• Nalin Thakker (Session Chair), Professor of Molecular Pathology and Genetics, Associate Vice-President for Compliance, Risk and Research Integrity, The University of Manchester
There will be two speaker/panel discussion sessions in the morning; " Research Reproducibility, Ethics and Outcomes" and "Creating Sustainable Researcher Careers/ Researcher Quality of Life" and in the afternoon delegates will take part in a number of workshops aimed at developing ideas for innovative approaches to research organisation, or changes to current models, which should positively influence:
• Research reproducibility, ethics and outcomes
• How research funds are allocated and spent
• Researcher quality of life
• Creating sustainable researcher careers
A summary programme for the day can be downloaded here: https://rethinkingukresearch.wordpress.com/programme/
