May be we can do it right and learn form their mistakes
Mojgan Naghavi1 & Derek Walsh2
Journal name: Nature
Volume: 476,
Page: 399
Date published: (25 August 2011)
DOI: doi:10.1038/476399b
Published online 24 August 2011
You highlight China's scientific investment drive (Nature 476, 5; 2011). This is a reminder that nations with little experience of modern large-scale investment in science may be jumping into ill-planned knowledge-economy ventures that could have serious long-term consequences.
Take Ireland, for example. An explosion in scientific investment quickly attracted many scientists to the country and saw it climb up the international scientific rankings. Now fundamental flaws in the Irish system are showing up as the funding fades.
Having been recruited from the United States by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), we were shocked to discover how poorly planned and disjointed the research system seems to be in Ireland. The SFI does not make clear to either the host institution or the recruited scientist that their investment in the recruit is short-term. One learns after recruitment that universities often do not want to employ researchers for longer than 4 years, to avoid commitments under the European Union's fixed-term workers' contract.
Continuous changes by the SFI to core funding programmes, combined with cronyism in the Irish university system, mean that the career structures and support needed to build a stable research environment are missing.
Many Irish researchers are discontented; some have left or are leaving the country (D. Ahlstrom The Irish Times 17 December 2010). Ireland seems not to realize that it is scientists who drive research, focusing instead on large capital investments in impressive research buildings that bolster the image of an economic strategy.
Many countries try to emulate the US academic system. This is based on money, yes, but also on supporting talent through the tenure track. Ignore this and valuable government finances will be wasted and the careers of young scientists will hit a dead end. Developing a knowledge economy requires some knowledge of how to do it properly.
Nature article: Research funding: Learn from Ireland's knowledge economy
The address is: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/full/476399b.html
Mojgan Naghavi1 & Derek Walsh2
Journal name: Nature
Volume: 476,
Page: 399
Date published: (25 August 2011)
DOI: doi:10.1038/476399b
Published online 24 August 2011
You highlight China's scientific investment drive (Nature 476, 5; 2011). This is a reminder that nations with little experience of modern large-scale investment in science may be jumping into ill-planned knowledge-economy ventures that could have serious long-term consequences.
Take Ireland, for example. An explosion in scientific investment quickly attracted many scientists to the country and saw it climb up the international scientific rankings. Now fundamental flaws in the Irish system are showing up as the funding fades.
Having been recruited from the United States by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), we were shocked to discover how poorly planned and disjointed the research system seems to be in Ireland. The SFI does not make clear to either the host institution or the recruited scientist that their investment in the recruit is short-term. One learns after recruitment that universities often do not want to employ researchers for longer than 4 years, to avoid commitments under the European Union's fixed-term workers' contract.
Continuous changes by the SFI to core funding programmes, combined with cronyism in the Irish university system, mean that the career structures and support needed to build a stable research environment are missing.
Many Irish researchers are discontented; some have left or are leaving the country (D. Ahlstrom The Irish Times 17 December 2010). Ireland seems not to realize that it is scientists who drive research, focusing instead on large capital investments in impressive research buildings that bolster the image of an economic strategy.
Many countries try to emulate the US academic system. This is based on money, yes, but also on supporting talent through the tenure track. Ignore this and valuable government finances will be wasted and the careers of young scientists will hit a dead end. Developing a knowledge economy requires some knowledge of how to do it properly.
Nature article: Research funding: Learn from Ireland's knowledge economy
The address is: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/full/476399b.html
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: natureapp@nature.com on behalf of iahmad@amc.uva.nl <iahmad@amc.uva.nl>
Date: Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Subject: Research funding: Learn from Ireland's knowledge economy
To: ishtiaq.ahmad@gmail.com
From: natureapp@nature.com on behalf of iahmad@amc.uva.nl <iahmad@amc.uva.nl>
Date: Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Subject: Research funding: Learn from Ireland's knowledge economy
To: ishtiaq.ahmad@gmail.com
Nature article: Research funding: Learn from Ireland's knowledge economy
The address is: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/full/476399b.html
The address is: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/full/476399b.html
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