Nursing the Research Councils

It seems incredible the way the years have flown by since 2006, the year this blog started. So many changes personal, technical, learning ... along the way.

That year I attended a research grants event in Bath, UK. An Ideas Factory organised by one of the research councils. Writing about the fraught, hard, emotionally demanding and yet very rewarding experience it struck me back then how duplication between organisations could creep in.

All those acronyms! There was in a way a lot of support for Hodges' model, with the disciplinary divides in evidence. Whether it's a 'market' view, policy or other perspective it seems innovation, serendipity, creativity and interdisciplinary progress (that might also become transdisciplinary?) might be assisted by some 'slack resource' in the system. Some opportunities, avenues for cross-fertilization of ideas to occur. Sometimes this is done deliberately, such as the Ideas Factory.

Now with austerity ongoing, UK research has been reviewed:

Sir Paul Nurse’s independent review of the UK research councils

I hope that some capacity for mixing things up will remain.