I hope by now that British scientists abroad are aware of the Science is Vital campaign in response to noises from politicians to cut science spending in the UK.* If you aren’t, head over to Jennifer Rohn’s In which I call my own bluff and familiarise yourself with the details. You’ll want to sign their petition. At the time of writing, there are in excess of 5,800 signatories. A march is being organised in London.
* I don’t have a good handle on the scale of the cuts, but figures of 10-20% are being bandied about. If so, these would have a major impact.
Other articles on this topic:
- Science spending cuts: how should we judge Vince Cable? at the Guardian (Drevan Harris)
- In which the great slumbering scientific beast awakens at Mind the Gap (Jennifer Rohn)
- Science is vital at deallybean diary
- Cuts to science funding will ‘destroy UK’s potential’ as world leader at the Guardian (Alok Jha)
(I’ve two minds about posting this: this is very late in game so it makes me look tardy – to say the least – but then I’d hate to see anyone who cared about the issue miss out.)
There’s another article in the Guardian here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/30/science-research-spending-cuts
and details of their demonstration on King Charles St. — I gather this is where the Treasury building is! — just around the corner from Downing St. here:
http://scienceisvital.org.uk/attend-the-demo/
Even if you’re not involved in this, looking at the map of the area is fun. Looking at maps is always fun ;-)