Opinion

ViewREF 2028: How do you measure culture?

The assessment’s architects face many questions on what to value and how, says Grace Gottlieb

ViewA chance to lead on responsible AI

Summit and new UKRI programme can drive a democratic approach to regulation, says Jack Stilgoe

ViewREF 2028: A clap for the Frap

Proposals for REF 2028 are quietly revolutionary, say James Wilsdon, Stephen Curry and Elizabeth Gadd

ViewA lab of one’s own

Women scientists don’t need to lean in, they need science to change, says Gemma Derrick

ViewScience ministry must avoid being all R and no D

Department is Conservatives’ latest effort to square industrial strategy with free-market ideology, says Kieron Flanagan

ViewUK’s surprising R&D stats pose tricky questions

Estimate that spending target has been hit will shake up innovation policy, says Kieron Flanagan

ViewREF 2021: A lever for levelling up—if ministers pull it

National evaluation was invented to concentrate funding. Will that change this time, asks Kieron Flanagan?

ViewREF 2021: The metric tide rises again

The REF is ripe for radical change, say Stephen Curry, Elizabeth Gadd and James Wilsdon

ViewFocus grant review on support, not just judgment

Constructive advice on failed proposals is hugely valuable to early-career researchers, says Gemma Derrick

ViewPoland’s impact evaluation gets lost in translation

The British approach to assessment is colonising the world—with mixed results, says Marta Wróblewska

ViewCan innovation districts be more inclusive?

City-centre developments need social missions from the start, say Alina Kadyrova and colleagues

ViewNot-so-boring books of the year

From technopopulism, to Hawking, to words to live by, James Wilsdon picks his favourite titles

ViewDebate needed on post-pandemic rules for medical data

Researchers may want emergency measures to continue, but public trust has eroded, says Cian O’Donovan

ViewSpending review deserves cheers, but tensions remain

The chancellor’s largesse won’t relieve all the pressures on UK research policy, says James Wilsdon

ViewAI in research could be a rocket-booster or a treadmill

How the technology will impact academic life is poorly understood, say Jennifer Chubb and colleagues

ViewLabour must make the link between innovation and inequality

Starmer’s science policy should also prioritise climate, biomedicine and a digital NHS, says Melanie Smallman

ViewExplaining UK research means shooting at a moving target

A new guide captures a system in flux, say Gavin Costigan and James Wilsdon

ViewLast chance to celebrate the staff the REF doesn’t reach

Not everyone vital to research has “researcher” in their job title, says Andy Dixon

ViewHow do you run the REF in a pandemic? We still don’t know

Pre-Covid approach to evaluation won’t necessarily work this time, say Gemma Derrick and Julie Bayley

ViewUK innovation policy is stuck between forward and reverse

Government’s actions do not match its ambition to build a science superpower, says Kieron Flanagan

ViewAria is an oldie, but there’s no sign it will be a hit

MPs should ask Dominic Cummings why his pet funding agency is needed, says James Wilsdon

ViewThe questions we should be asking about vaccine passports

Ethical issues around certification cut across scales of space and time, says Cian O’Donovan

ViewGene-editing advocates ignore history at their peril

Talk with—not at—the public, or risk losing the argument again, says Jack Stilgoe

ViewBooks of the year

The Political Science bloggers pick the books that helped them get to grips with 2020

ViewSpending review says more about the destination than the route

We know what the government wants, but not how it’ll get there, says Kieron Flanagan

ViewA pivotal moment for responsible research assessment

No more grand declarations—it’s time for action, say Stephen Curry and James Wilsdon

ViewUsing the REF to fix research culture risks backfiring

Research is global, and the UK can't make its rules in isolation, says Gemma Derrick

ViewHave your say on the REF

Survey of 2021 exercise will help shape future assessments, say Catriona Manville and James Wilsdon

ViewWhat does a decolonised research culture look like?

Unexamined assumptions and narrow worldviews riddle everyday academic practice, say Faith Mkwananzi and Melis Cin

ViewUK’s coronavirus response repeats the errors of past crises

Expecting ‘The Science’ to settle controversial policy questions never ends well, says Angela Cassidy