Dear colleagues,
BIS has asked Sir Paul Nurse to carry out a review of the Research Councils and STFC is included in this review. The aim for this review is to examine how the Research Councils can “evolve to support research in the most effective ways”. SSAP is happy to submit evidence on behalf of the UK Solar System community and so this email is a call for evidence and views for our input to this review. We emphasise this is not directed or led by STFC, but is a community-led consultation.
If you would like to input into this consultation please complete the following survey with a deadline of WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2015 at 08:00 GMT. This is a hard deadline due to the overall consultation input deadline of Friday 17 April. We apologise for the short timescale which has been imposed on us. Our call for evidence from the community has been further delayed due to uncertainties in the formal STFC arrangements for purdah. Concise submissions would be appreciated due to the tight timescale and the 3000 word limit for our submission.
Although SSAP is submitting evidence to this review based on our experiences as part of STFC’s advisory structure, and on behalf of the community, we ALSO STRONGLY ENCOURAGE SEPARATE SUBMISSIONS TO THE NURSE REVIEW from various communities that comprise the UK Solar System community (e.g., MIST, UK Solar Physics, UK Planetary Forum).
We have been asked to provide evidence and views on:
- Strategic decision-making within STFC;
- Collaborations and partnerships;
- Balance of funding portfolio;
- Effective ways of working;
- Any other comments.
In addition, some specific questions that will be examined by Sir Paul Nurse are:
- Is the balance between investigator-led and strategically-focused funding appropriate, and do the right mechanisms exist for making strategic choices?
- Within each Research Council is the balance of funding well-judged between support of individual investigators, support of teams and support of equipment and infrastructure?
- Do they adequately support interdisciplinary research?
- Are the right arrangements in place to ensure optimal funding for research that crosses disciplinary boundaries?
- Are the divisions of scientific subject areas between the research councils appropriate?
- What are the gaps or holes in the funded portfolios of the research councils?
- The Terms of Reference and documents detailing the call for evidence can be found at: http://bit.ly/1BLHonH and http://bit.ly/1ae6sxh respectively.
Best regards,
Chris Arridge, on behalf of the STFC Solar System Advisory Panel
Chair: Chris Arridge Lancaster University
Hilary Downes Birkbeck University of London
Bob Forsyth Imperial College London
Alan Hood University of St Andrews
Katie Joy University of Manchester
Stephen Lowry University of Kent at Canterbury
Sarah Matthews University College London
Chris Scott University of Reading
Colin Wilson University of Oxford