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https://theconversation.com/why-we-resigned-from-the-arc-college-of-experts-after-minister-vetoed-research-grants-175925>
"On Christmas Eve 2021, the pub-test folly struck again. The two of us found
ourselves, angry and heartsore, resigning from the Australian Research
Council’s (ARC) highly respected College of Experts in protest at the
minister’s rejection of grant funding recommendations.
This was not a comment on the college, a laudable body of experienced research
leaders committed to supporting the best and most worthwhile research. Nor on
the ARC, whose dedicated, knowledgeable staff operate on a shoestring to
maximise how much of the organisation’s limited funding is spent on research.
We were prompted by the acting minister for education and youth disregarding
the expertise of Australia’s best by blocking six grants they had recommended
for funding. The explanation? Unsupported statements about “value for
taxpayers’ money”, and “the national interest”. That is, a pub test: if the
imagined average punter can’t immediately spot its value from a potted summary,
then it’s not in the national interest."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
