Bloggfćrslur mánađarins, júní 2008

Sviđ í öndvegi

Viđ útskrift kandídata frá Háskóla Íslands var tilkynnt ađ háskólinn hygđist stefna á ađ skilgreina og byggja upp svokölluđ öndvegissviđ.

Hugmyndin er áţekk ţeirri sem Rannís er nú međ í framkvćmd og margt í útfćrslu einnig (sjá nánar á vefsíđu HÍ). 

Mikilvćgt er ađ átta sig á ţví ađ ekki er hćgt ađ vera bestur(góđur) í öllu.

Vandamáliđ verđur hins vegar ađ ákveđa, hvađa sviđ innan HÍ eru best á alţjóđavísu? Ákvörđunin veltur ekki eingöngu á umsóknum, heldur skiptir miklu máli hvađa sérfrćđingar lesa umsóknir og hvađa stjórnendur taka ákvörđun. Mikilvćgt er ađ láta ekki glepjast af tískuorđum áratugarins og skilgreina í stćrra samhengi hvađa frćđasviđ hafa veriđ hvađ virkust hérlendis, og horfa til vísindalegra sóknarfćra (hagnýtingarmöguleika má taka međ í reikninginn, en slíkt má aldrei trompa frćđilegu hliđina!).

Fólk hefur tilhneygingu til ađ sjá veröldina međ sínum augum eingöngu, og mun slíkt leiđa til ţess ađ afburđasviđin geti veriđ t.t.l. ţröng skilgreint. Ţađ er bćđi gott og slćmt, ţví ef ţađ ţýđir ađ okkar besta vísindafólk fćr stuđning ţá er ţađ frábćrt. Skilgreining sviđa er mikilvćg, en á endanum eru ţađ einstaklingar sem draga vagninn fram veginn.

 


mbl.is HÍ byggir upp afburđasviđ
Tilkynna um óviđeigandi tengingu viđ frétt

The Cost of Appointing Science Ministers Who Have No Clue About Science

 

I recently read this article on The Times On Line. For somebody like me who still feels for the future of British science despite having left Britain in 1994 (and officially in 1996), this article makes for depressing reading. What is even more depressing is that appointing science ministers who have no clue about the importance of science for a modern society is a rather widespread phenomenon.

In the article, Neil Turok is quoted as saying that: “It is ludicrous that Britain’s participation in some of the greatest scientific projects of today such as the search for dark matter, the hunt for the elementary particles like the Higgs Boson and the first detection of gravity waves, is subject to the whims of people with no special competence and little experience of these matters..... What it reflects is the failure of the political establishment to understand just how important science is for Britain’s future. Advanced research drives the quality of higher education, science and technology and generates invaluable spin-offs.” I am afraid that this true for many other countries too, alas. 

What can we do about it? We should definitely do the best we can to make more people interested in science and to make  the general public understand how important science is for our modern society. We should certainly stress the points raised by Turok. However, we should not forget to tell everyone how important the journey of discovery that is part and parcel of any scientific endeavour is. Doing science is a humbling experience and teaches us to be self-critical. As Socrates famously put it, a wise man is one who knows what he does not know. I wonder how many science ministers possess this type of wisdom Wink

For the record, Neil Turok is relocating to the Perimeter Institute in Canada, which he will direct from 1 October 2008. The Perimeter Institute is supported by Ł75m provided by Lazaridis (of Blackberry fame) and his colleagues, and Ł50m invested by the Canadian government and the state of Ontario. Turok gave one of the TED prize talks 2008.


Innskráning

Ath. Vinsamlegast kveikiđ á Javascript til ađ hefja innskráningu.

Hafđu samband