PM’s Adviser Warns Science Community Fading
August 7th, 2009
In what will be seen as a blow to NZ Inc’s long term competitiveness, Professor Peter Gluckman chief science adviser to John Key, says the local science community is in the doldrums, is losing bright young minds and cannot be competitive if scientists are continually marginalised. Professor Gluckman says “bright young NZers are simply not entering science in the numbers they should be, the science community is fractious and morale is declining.” Professor Gluckman says “science can do so much more for NZ’s transformational future. But the science community, in pleading to the state to ‘just give us more money’, has slipped into a set of platitudes. This elicits an equally platitudinous set of responses.”
The Professor notes the competitive nature of the NZ research funding is a barrier to adopting a cohesive, inter-institutional, interdisciplinary approach to research. NZ has only four million people. Unless we act as ‘NZ Inc’, our poor performance and the scepticism of the policy-maker will be reinforced. He wants the scientific community to work together in taking ownership of this issue and demonstrating the true value of what science could offer the country.
Copyright © The Main Report Group
