An excerpt: (read in full here)

“Yet the scientific community is frustrated and demoralised by the existing framework, set up in 1992 to replace the previous state research institutions and put science on to a more businesslike footing.

“The result has been a level of contestability that promotes fierce competition for funding, discourages collaboration and disappoints scientists who spend much of their time writing proposals that won’t be approved.

…

“There must be a sufficient level of accountability to ensure that taxpayers’ money is not squandered on fanciful projects and journeys up blind alleys – even if they sometimes produce startling outcomes.

“But our scientists are good at what they do and if they are to deliver the results required by industry and business, they need encouragement and support, not road blocks and diversions.”

The survey canvassed the opinions of a sample of 361 scientists and technologists randomly selected from a pool of nearly 6000. Previous NZAS surveys were completed in 1994, 1996 and 2000.

New Zealand Association of Scientists is a nationwide association of practicing research scientists spanning the universities, technical institutes, Crown Research Institutes of Science NZ, government departments, industry, museums, and other science institutions.

Some key findings:

• Only 41.2% of scientists would recommend research as a career to New Zealand youth. CRI scientists
  were the most negative, with only 26.7% able to recommend research as a career, whereas university
  scientists were more positive, with 43.8% feeling they could so recommend.
• The proportion of women entering the profession has gone up between 1996 and 2008, with women
  now making up 32.4% of the survey population as opposed to the sample respondents (28.8%). There
  has been a modest increase in Mäori scientists from 0.7% in 1996 to 1.7% in 2008.
• Crown research institute (CRI) scientists are younger than their university counterparts. Those in the
  under 35 category are four times more numerous in the CRIs and the over 55 age group in CRIs is
  two-thirds of the size of this group in universities.
• Only 13.6% of the respondents agreed with the proposition that government science strategy development
  is open and inclusive of a large segment of New Zealand scientists, and none of them did so
  emphatically. Nearly half (48.5%) disagreed and the emphatic disagreement (13.6%) matched the entire
  level of agreement.
• A summary judgment of whether New Zealand science is ‘headed in the right direction’ received a
  majority negative response of 53.5% from CRI scientists compared with 30.9 % for university scientists.

You can find the full report here. (PDF)

NZAS President Dr James Renwick says the survey, “supports the view that the time is ripe for significant change in the science system in this country… and that the recent Taskforce review of CRIs is addressing a critical situation.”

The NZAS will be holding a one-day conference in June 2010, to consider the overall science environment in New Zealand, the findings of the survey, and possible ways forward.

Otherwise known as the ‘God particle’ the Higgs boson is a theoretical particle which confers mass.  Scientists are hoping that, if the particle does exist, the LHC will allow them to capture evidence of the fact.

The interview also covers subjects including some recent theories about the LHC has endured some of its recent troubles…

The full radio interview can be listened to onthe Radio NZ’s website,  and is entitled ‘Higgs Boson Sabotage‘

SMC – Top 10 science stories of 2009

The SMC Media Tracker is aimed at identifying not only the incidence of science-related coverage in the media, but also the events which might contribute to increased coverage – this year’s swine flu pandemic, for example.

The SMC Media Tracker shows coverage of the named topics from July 1 2008 to September 30, 2009 with analysis of some of the main trends and issues covered during the period.

(Note: click on the graph to enlarge it)

Commentary over the fold…

Climate Change and the ETS

Both climate change and ETS-related references peaked during the same periods, namely August 2008, November/December 2008, and September 2009.  These were the points, respectively, when the Labour government won support in Parliament for its ETS scheme, discussion of the ETS in the run-up to the general election and most recently, the National Government’s review of the ETS, accompanied by such events as the 10-20% emissions reduction target being set.

Coverage of “agriculture” and “pastoral greenhouse gas emissions” not surprisingly, tracks closely with coverage of the ETS and climate change.

Science and technology

References to “science” and “technology” in the New Zealand media follow a similar trend line during the year however the word “technology” is mentioned at least twice as much as “science”.

Making up the difference are numerous references to consumer electronics, the internet and the general application of technology. In the period covered there were never fewer than 100 references to science in any given week and no more than 405. Technology-related stories peaked in October 2008 with over 900 stories published in the space of one week referencing “technology”.

Seasonal dip

The January-February period is the dead zone of the year for science and technology with references to both tailing off rapidly during the Christmas and summer holiday period.

Generally, science and technology references in media stories were tracking higher in the second half of 2008 than they were in 2009, which may indicate a squeeze on specialist sections of magazines and newspapers that traditionally focused on science and technology coverage.

A tale of two science stories (click for larger view)

His talk centred around how small towns and suburbia affect urban design, and showed some archival NZ footage from the last 100 years on the same theme.

His talk can be listened to below:

Part I

Part II

Judy Lawrence is a Senior Associate in the NZ Climate Change Research Institute at VUW, and also the Directors of PS Consulting Ltd.  She served previously as Director of the NZ Climate Change Office at MfE, as well as Chief Executive of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

Her research interests include decision-making for the uncertainty brought about by climate change, and her speech can be listened to below.

Part I

Part II

Professor Hamilton is Director of the Arthritis & Inflammation Research Centre at the University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Melbourne (Australia).

Recent research has suggested that reducing/depleting a person’s colony-stimulating factors (CSF) could help treat inflammatory/auto-immune disease.  In this talk, the professor discusses the biological features of  CSFs, the likely outcomes of targeting them, and also highlights the outstanding questions which still need to be asked.

His talk can be listened to below:

Part I

Part II

Dr Beat Nobs

About to finish up a four year term here as ambassador, Dr Nobs reflects on prospects for a deal being hammered out in Copenhagen. Previously he served as the Ambassador of the Environment of Switzerland and led the Swiss delegations at international negotiations in the field of the environment between 1997 and 2006, including those involving the Kyoto Protocol.

Click below to listen to his talk

Q&A discussion