Grant Jacobs • Nov 16, 2009 •
Genomics technologies including genetic screening, disease diagnosis and so-called "genomic" or "personalised" medicine, raise legal and moral rights concerns with the public. In a later post I hope to briefly examine some of the key issues from the point of view of the science, but here I would like to draw attention to … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Nov 14, 2009 •
Just off the Manawatu Standard: Massey to take knife to sciences, prompting concern over staff redundancies and courses being dropped. Staff are being offered voluntary retirement or redundancy, with a sweetener package offering long-serving staff up to 16 weeks’ extra pay. But if enough staff do not take up the offer, a series of “staffing reviews” … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Nov 13, 2009 •
Should contentious ventures be established by independent panels/boards/consultants who are not allowed to be part of the venture once it's set up? Fellow scibling wrote in Gluckman: stop the science infighting :- The evening was rounded out with some words from Peter Gluckman who told a perturbing story — one of an international … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Nov 09, 2009 •
Universities could do more to expose their students to a wider range of uses of their science degrees. A couple of years ago I was at a national molecular biology conference. In between sessions they held a forum for (post-graduate) students, offering a panel of senior scientists presenting what the students might expect in their futures. Read More
Grant Jacobs • Nov 06, 2009 •
When the government moved to "full-cost" course fees for undergraduate university courses, I felt it was an heavy-handed solution and wondered if a deposit scheme might have been a wiser starting point. (For any readers wandering in from overseas, I'm speaking of New Zealand (NZ) universities, but my general thoughts may still be worth considering?) … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Nov 02, 2009 •
Anyone for a NZ Science Party to make politicians face evidence? Reading from the website for the Office of the Prime Minister's Science Advisory Committee I found myself agreeing with many of the points in Sir Peter Gluckman's speech to the Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, on Monday 14 September 2009. (Sir Peter Gluckman is … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Oct 21, 2009 •
Reading an article on Destigmatizing depression among medical trainees or graduates which, in turn, points to an article by Karen Hebe “Destigmatizing Depression” on Science magazine’s Science careers website, reminded me of an idea I had to improve the grad students’ and post-docs’ lot a few years ago. The original article focuses on … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Sep 30, 2009 •
Recently a very readable perspective article Real Lives and White Lies in the Funding of Scientific Research was published in the scientific journal, PLoS Biology (PLoS = Public Library of Science), by senior scientist Peter Lawrence FRS. (I mean senior in the sense of achievements, notwithstanding that his first publication was in 1965.) Peter's concern … Read More