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The STFC Card: Place your Bets

Posted in Science Politics with tags , on September 3, 2011 by telescoper

The closing of the transfer window for the football Premiership last week left many disappointed with their team’s failure to bring in new talent for the forthcoming season. Meanwhile, talking of things ending in -FC, rumours are circulating as to why there’s been no announcement yet of the new Chief Executive of the Science & Technology Facilities Council. So I thought I’d liven things up by opening a book on the appointment process. Here is the lowdown on  the leading contenders, together with their respective odds, from our man in Polaris House.

5-4 ON, Fav. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.  The bookies’ favourite. Known to be seeking employment, experienced at running large facilities. Has not been heard of for weeks, so may in fact already have been appointed.

EVENS. Prof. Richard Wade. Current Director of Science Programme at STFC so has good inside knowledge. His gruff northern exterior masks an interior that’s both gruff and northern. Represents continuity with existing management. Er…

13-8. Professor Brian Cocks.  Some bloke off the telly. Popular with the ladies. Born in the Midlands, near Manchester. Currently the only person in the UK who knows anything about either particle physics or astronomy. Will need to stop smiling and get a different haircut, but nevertheless could be worth a punt. Good track record at recording tracks (Groan. Ed).

3-1. George F. Stathew. Enigmatic character thought to be a cosmologist with some sort of connection to Cambridge University. Rarely seen in public so difficult to assess his form. Low profile, together with elusive and uncommunicative nature generally thought to be assets for this position. A bit of a dark horse, this one, but favoured by some smart money in recent months.

7-1. Andy Lawrence. American actor as well as Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh (Is this right? Ed). Generally considered to be too young for the job (at 58), but known to be particularly fond of the Swindon area and rumoured to be planning to spend several weeks there in the near future. Definitely an outside chance.

10-1. Saddam Hussein. Similar credentials to the favourite. Experienced at dealing effectively with difficult people. Would be an even stronger contender had he not been executed in 2006, but lack of vital signs not thought to preclude appointment to this position.  A drawback is that he is known to be highly strung. Definitely worth an outside  bet, but may turn out to be a non-runner.
20-1. Steve McClaren. Rumoured to be unsettled at Nottingham Forest, so a move to Swindon Town is definitely possible in the near future (That’s the wrong STFC! Ed). Points in favour include an excellent  range of miserable facial expressions, large repertoire of footballing clichés, and a remarkable track-record in management. (Now you’re just being silly. Ed.) Downsides include his remarkable track-record in management.
33-1. Keith Mason. Current Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council and prop forward for Huddersfield Giants Rugby Leage Team (Shurely Shome Mishtake? Ed.) Probably a bit old to be a serious contender for the position but an outside chance that he might stay on for another season. Thought to be keen to complete the job that he started (unfortunately). Better the devil you know? Definitely a wild card but don’t rule him out.

50-1. BAR. Are they open yet? (You’re fired. Ed.)

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Cutting Remarks

Posted in Finance, Politics, Science Politics with tags , , , , , on May 13, 2011 by telescoper

I know you’ve all been waiting with baited breath for news of the outcome of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee‘s report into Astronomy and Particle Physics in the UK.

Well, it’s out now. You can find the web version of the report here and it’s also available as a PDF file there. There’s also a press release with the headline

MPs warn astronomy and particle physics budgets cuts will hit UK science hard

Journalists have obviously been busy overnight – the report was released at midnight, I believe – and there are stories all over the press this morning, including The Guardian, and the journal Science as well as the BBC. The Royal Astronomical Society and the Institute of Physics have also been quick to respond.

Apart from the savage cuts themselves – which the committee correctly suggest will reduce astronomy and particle physics spending by 2014/15 to about 50% of the level it was at in 2005 – the great tragedy of this story is that it has taken so long to recognize the scale of the disaster. Most of the damage was done way back in 2007 when the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) was first set up. I’d suggest there is an error in the tense of the verb “to hit” in the headline above. It would be more accurate as

MPs warn astronomy and particle physics budgets cuts HAVE ALREADY hit UK science hard, and are getting worse all the time..

Last year’s Comprehensive Spending Review had relatively good news for STFC, with a settlement corresponding to level funding in cash terms. However, the Bank of England has recently stated that it expects inflation to reach 5% this year, which means that science will actually be getting 5% year-on-year real terms cuts on top of what it received in 2007. It’s a pretty dire situation.

The report also raises a doubt over whether the current Chief Executive, Keith Mason, has the “ability to command the confidence of the scientific community”. No shit.

I don’t have time to write much more on this right now as I have lectures to do, but perhaps others out there might feel the urge to start a discussion through the comments box…

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Astronomy Grants: The Harsh Reality

Posted in Science Politics with tags , , , , on May 8, 2011 by telescoper

Time, I think, to return to my role as selfless servant of the astronomical community, with a bit of news about astronomy grants. I was prompted to do this by the following cartoon (from the excellent PhDComics) which I saw this morning:

It’s all completely untrue, of course. *Cough*.

Anyway, as you will probably  know, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is introducing a new system of grants this year and the deadline for the first set of applications for the new “consolidated grants” was 4th May, which passed last week while I was away on holiday. Just before leaving I attended a preliminary meeting in London of the Astronomy Grant Panel, of which I am a member. In fact, I delayed my departure specifically in order to attend the meeting. The things I do for science.

At the meeting we discussed a number of issues relating to the new system in order to be ready to get on with the business as quickly as possible when the applications are all in. The timetable is very tight if we’re going to be able to get our recommendations finalised in time for STFC to make announcements in October, as is planned. Thew new system is  going to mean a huge amount of extra work over the summer for the panel members, doing what was always a thankless task in the first place.

Of course I’m not going to write anything on here about the actual process of assessing grants, and certainly not about individual proposals or outcomes. Anything that’s not confidential about the procedure is already explained quite clearly on the STFC website too, so there’s not much point going over that again here. It would also be inappropriate for me to give the impression that anything I put on here is in any way the official AGP (or STFC) line.

What I can do, though, is make a few comments about the current situation using information that is already in the public domain or is otherwise not a breach of confidentiality. The most important observation relates to the following figure, borrowed from the e-astronomer (who also happens to be Chair of the AGP):

The graph shows the number of astronomy postdoctoral research positions funded by STFC (or its forerunner PPARC) as a function of time. The steep decline in recent years has been widely discussed. My own view is that it will be disastrous in the long term if steps are not taken to rectify it soon. The  STFC budget for astronomy grants is fixed for the next few years at a level corresponding to about 60 per year, similar to the number announced in 2010/11.

Now the new consolidated grants will incorporate existing roling grants (which were reviewed on a three-year cycle) and standard grants (which usually lasted three years). A large number of positions announced in 2008 will therefore be hoping for renewal this year. On top of those there will be proposals requesting new positions and other rolling grants coming into this round before their usual renewal date in order to merge with others from the same institution.

I don’t know the actual numbers applied for this year – and couldn’t tell you even if I did – but it’s not unreasonable based on the figures shown in the graph above to estimate that  about 100 PDRA requests will be made, and possibly many more. A significant fraction of these (perhaps 2/3) will be people employed on existing rolling grants hoping to be continued in a new consolidated grant from 2011 onwards.

I probably don’t have to spell it out any further, but it’s clear from the graph that the arithmetic is very tough. Even without any new requests this year, only about 2/3 of the positions funded in 2008 can survive. In reality there may be more than 100 souls standing on deck, but the lifeboats can only hold 60….

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Community Matters

Posted in Education, Science Politics with tags , , on April 21, 2011 by telescoper

Well, here I am back in sunny Cardiff after a pleasant journey back from Llandudno and a very enjoyable and productive National Astronomy Meeting. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved at the Royal Astronomical Society in putting the programme together and doing a huge amount of work behind the scenes. The staff at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno were very friendly as well as highly professional and well organised, and everything seems to run exceptionally smoothly.

Oh, and I shouldn’t forget the conference dinner on Tuesday night, which ended with a serenade from the magnificent Maelgwyn Male Voice Choir. It was fitting to have the chance to experience a fine Welsh tradition, and I thought they were wonderful to listen to.

Anyway, I might get a bit of time over the Easter break to comment on some things that struck me over the course of the past week but for today – because I’m quite tired after the journey (and several late nights at NAM) – I thought I’d just comment a bit further on the first session I attended, on Monday evening, attended by various representatives of STFC, at which John Womersley gave a presentation about the status of various projects in the existing astronomy programme and prospects for the future. It was clear from that presentation that there are many challenges ahead, but I was relieved that the atmosphere of the meeting wasn’t anything like as confrontational as on many previous occasions. This process of reconciliation will no doubt take futher steps forward when the new Chief Executive takes over next year.

Drinking in the bar much later in the evening with a number of senior figures from diverse branches of astronomy the issue arose of the now notorious petition that George Efstathiou blogged about in a guest post some time ago. Two things are now clear about this initiative. One is that it caused deep ructions within the astronomical community, with a number of senior figures vociferously both for and against it – even within the same department. When I revealed that I had signed it myself, a few of the assembled company expressed their views in forthright language about why I had been wrong, but I have to say without much coherence in the actual logic.

The other thing that emerged during the STFC session was an explicit acknowledgment that the petition had, in one particular respect, made a very big difference, namely that the criteria for the appointment of the next Chief Executive of STFC specifically took into account some of the comments made in it.

Anyway, the point of raising the dreaded petition is not to rake over this whole business but simply to try to put it to rest. We need to move on, and should be trying to heal any wounds that it may inadvertantly have caused. There are definitive signs that the STFC Executive is now really starting to listen, so now there’s a chance to really engage with them through the channels they are opening up rather than having to resort to extreme measures such as George’s petition.

Oh, and I’ll just remind anyone who is interested in the vacancy at the top of STFC that the deadline for applications is April 28th….

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On My Radio (Telescope) …

Posted in Science Politics, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , , , on April 7, 2011 by telescoper

A piece of news I should have passed on sooner than this is the announcement that the  Headquarters for the Square Kilometre Array will be based at the Jodrell Bank Observatory which, as you all know, is situated in the English Midlands.

The Square Kilometre Array (known to the astronomical community as SKA) will be, when it’s built, the largest radio telescope, and in fact the largest telescope of any kind, ever constructed.  Building it will be a huge technical challenge, and it involves teams from all around the world. Although it hasn’t yet been decided where the actual kit will be sited – Australia and South Africa are two strong contenders – it’s definitely a coup for the UK to be hosting the Project Office. So congratulations to Jodrell Bank and to John Womersley, Director of Science Programmes at the Science and Technology Facilities Council who will be heading up the operation.

I think  that the SKA is by far the most exciting project in ground-based astronomy on the STFC books: it has a significantly stronger science case than its competitor in the optical part of the spectrum, the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), although it is admittedly more of a challenge to build it from a technological point of view. Over the last few years I’ve feared on many occasions that STFC would have to pull out of one of these two very expensive projects and that E-ELT would be the one that survived because it is within the remit of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to which we pay a hefty subscription. Fortunately the clouds seem to have lifted a bit and it looks like we’re going to remain in both, which is excellent news for UK astronomy.

I was thinking of putting up a bit of music to celebrate the good news. Hmmm….Ska….radio. No brainer really. I wonder who was The Selecter for the  location of the SKA Project Office?

P.S. I just looked at the date when On My Radio was in the charts. October 1979, when I was 16.  I have to confess that in those days I had a massive crush on lead singer Pauline Black …


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The Ernest Rutherford Fellowships Scheme

Posted in Finance, Science Politics with tags , , , on April 1, 2011 by telescoper

It seems timely to use the medium of this blog to pass on some important news from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to those who might find it useful.

This week saw the unveiling of a brand new STFC scheme to be called the Ernest Rutherford Fellowships. These will be in some respects similar to the previous Advanced Fellowships in that each Fellowship will last for five years with 12 being offered by STFC each year, and will cover the salary costs of the holder for that period. An important new element, however, is that holders of these Fellowships will be able to bid for “significant additional funds to support their research”.

The announcement of this new programme is sure to be warmly welcomed by the scientific community because the previous Advanced Fellowships have been  a stepping stone to an academic career for many a budding scientist (including myself, in fact). There will however be some restrictions on eligibility that did not apply to previous schemes.

The first new restriction is to bring the scheme into line with the attitudes of Ernest Rutherford, in whose honour the new fellowships are to be named. One of the most frequently-quoted remarks by Rutherford is the following:

Don’t let me catch anyone talking about the Universe in my department

Obviously therefore it has proved necessary to close the scheme to astronomers and cosmologists. This shouldn’t prove too much of a problem, however, as the STFC press statement by John Le Mesurier makes it clear that the only notable recipients of Advanced Fellowships in the past are actually particle physicists:

Previous recipients of Advanced Fellowships include Professor Brian Cox who has done much to popularise/demystify physics through his recent TV series, Professor Ruth Gregory who was awarded the IoP Maxwell Medal for outstanding contributions to theoretical, mathematical or computational physics in 2006; and Professor Brian Foster who was awarded the IoP Born medal (for outstanding contributions to physics) in 2003.

The second new rule is intended to control the number of applications in order to make the selection of the recipients of these Elite Fellowships more manageable. The criteria applied to the previous Advanced Fellowship programme were very flexible, with the result that each round typically generated well over a hundred applications. This made the relevant Panel’s task extremely difficult. STFC has therefore decided to impose a restriction on the age seniority of the candidates in order to streamline the process.

To be eligible for an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship,  candidates must have completed their PhD between 5 years 11 months and 30 days and 6 years of the date of application. This is in addition to the usual requirement of being a white heterosexual male. According to rigorous investigations by STFC staff, this reduces the pool of potential applicants substantially. To one, actually.

The successful candidate (Dr Jamie B’Stard of Oxbridge University) will be eligible to bid for, and be given on the nod, additional ring-fenced funding to support those things that an Elite Fellow needs, both to carry out their research and to feel generally superior to everyone else (e.g. private jet, fleet of Rolls-Royce motor cars, and gold-plated taps in their private lavatory). Never in the history of British science will a physicist have been so generously endowed. The new scheme will allow science to compete in prestige and public acclaim with other forms of employment, such as in the banking sector.

To liberate the funds needed for this initiative it has inevitably proved necessary to make savings elsewhere in the STFC programme. After minutes of arduous deliberation it was decided, as usual, to pay for it by top-slicing the budget for research grants (this time by 95%). Unfortunately this means that no grants will be available for any other research within the STFC remit. However, as a gesture of goodwill, the Chief Executive of STFC has given the instruction that the remaining 5% of the now defunct grants line will be distributed to universities to help cover the cost of making all existing PDRAs redundant.

I hope this clarifies the situation.


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Batting for Astronomy

Posted in Science Politics with tags , , , , , , on March 9, 2011 by telescoper

I was too busy teaching this morning to watch streaming video of the meeting of the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee I referred to in a previous post, but then, being a confirmed Luddite,  I rarely manage to get such things to work properly anyway. Or is it just that Parliament TV isn’t very good? Anyway, I did get the chance to do a fast-forward skim through the coverage, and also saw a few comments on Twitter.

By all accounts the two big hitters for astronomy, Professor Roger Davies and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell both played good innings, watchful in defence, parrying the odd tricky delivery, but also scoring impressively when the opportunity arose. Dame Jocelyn, for example, got in a nice comment to the effect that the shortfall in observatory funding was equivalent to one banker’s bonus.

Any other reactions are welcomed through the comments box.

The e-astronomer (whose pseudonym is Andy Lawrence)  has already blogged about the event, including a delightfully pithy summary of the written evidence submitted beforehand . But then Andy’s never reluctant to take the pith when the opportunity arises…

The thing that depresses me most is the contrast between the forthright and well-considered performances of leading figures from the astronomy establishment with the bumbling efforts of the Chief Executive of STFC, Keith Mason. As Andy Lawrence points out, some of the latter’s responses to questions at the last session of the inquiry were downright misleading, giving the impression that he didn’t know what he was talking about. And that’s the more generous interpretation. Combine the poor grasp of detail with his generally unenthusiastic demeanour, and it becomes easy to see that one of the main reasons for the ongoing crisis at STFC is its Chief Executive.

I’ve been told off repeatedly in private for posting items on here that are severely critical of Professor Mason, sometimes on the grounds that my comments are ad hominem, a phrase so frequently misused on the net that it is in danger of losing its proper meaning. It’s not an “ad hominem” attack to state that a person is demonstrably useless at their job. I stand  my ground. He should have gone years ago.

Unfortunately we still have to wait another year or so before a replacement Chief Executive will be installed at STFC. Good people elsewhere – both  inside and outside science – have lost or are losing their jobs, because of the recession and cutbacks, through no fault of their own. Reality is much less harsh if you’re at the top.


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Written Evidence

Posted in Science Politics with tags , on March 5, 2011 by telescoper

Just a quick post this lovely Saturday morning, in order to give an update on the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee’s inquiry into the state of Astronomy and Particle Physics in the United Kingdom. In case you weren’t aware, this inquiry was launched in January 2011. The inquiry invited written submissions in response to the following:

  1. the impact of reduced capital funding on UK capability;
  2. the impact of withdrawal from international ground-based facilities (for example the Gemini Observatory and Isaac Newton Group of telescopes) on the UK’s research base and international reputation;
  3. whether the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has sufficiently engaged with its research community in these two areas on its strategic direction and impacts of budget reductions; and
  4. opportunities for, and threats to, outreach and inspiring the next generation of astronomers and particle physicists.

Well the written evidence is now all in, and it can be viewed online here (in quite a hefty PDF document).It’s all prefaced by an anodyne ramble by “the government”, which was presumably actually written by members of the STFC executive, but it makes interesting reading; some of the individual submissions don’t pull any punches, that’s for sure. I was quite surprised to see this blog get a mention too!  The disappointing thing is that many of them take a rather narrow view, but I suppose that’s a result of the rather specific nature of the questions.

The Chief Executive of STFC was himself called to give “oral evidence” to the Committee in January. You can find a  transcript of the whole session here, but I couldn’t resist the following snippet as an example of the inspirational power of Prof. Mason’s rhetoric:

Again, I am pretty comfortable that we are in a reasonable position going forward. You can never say never because unexpected things happen. Things might break which are major, but, by and large, as best we can plan it, we are in a reasonably good shape.

Now wonder rumours are circulating that he’s about to be moved sideways until he steps down next year. But who will take over? Be afraid. Be very afraid.

You can see a recording of the whole session here, but I wouldn’t recommend viewing it if you’re looking for reassurance about the future of astronomy in the UK.

Anyways, the next stage of the inquiry will be on Wednesday 9th March. Professor Roger Davies and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell will be going into bat for astronomy. I’ll post a report if I get time to watch their contributions.


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Ozymandias

Posted in Poetry with tags , , on February 16, 2011 by telescoper

Since I posted an item about Shelley a couple of days ago I’ll use that as an excuse to post this famous poem by him.It’s a well-known piece, but not a lot of people know that it was actually written in 1817, as part of a sonnet-writing contest between Shelley and Horace Smith.

I wonder why it always makes me think of STFC?

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away”.


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The Winds of Change

Posted in Science Politics with tags , on February 12, 2011 by telescoper

I came back late last night from an interesting Open Meeting at the Royal Astronomical Society, followed by another exceedingly pleasant Club Dinner at the Travellers’ in Pall Mall; next time we’ll be back at The Athenaeum.

I didn’t get home until 1.30am, and went straight to bed. I woke early to news of momentous events. The discredited authoritarian leader of an exausted regime who had presided over financial collapse and who had been clinging tenaciously to the offices of power, attempting to stave off the widespread clamour for his resignation with the promise of a new administration in several months’ time, had finally resigned. The news filled me with jubilation and a sense of optimism for the future.

I went back to sleep, waking again a couple of hours later with the sad realisation that it had all been a dream.

Keith Mason is still in charge of STFC.


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