faculty focus
Science should come first
More funding is needed to keep Australian science competitive. By Antonia Maiolo
It came as a“ surprise” to Australia’ s chief scientist to learn that the nation isn’ t performing as well as it implies it is against the rest of the world in research.
“ It has often Ian Chubb been said that we punch above our weight. While that may be true, it appears that our aspiration needs to be higher,” chief scientist professor Ian Chubb said.
A recent analysis of Australia’ s scientific performance contained in the latest occasional paper from the Office of the Chief Scientist shows that Australian science performs at a lower level as measured by citation rate per papers, than nearly all the North American and European countries we compete with.
The purpose of the report is to ensure government support for research is adequate and to draw the public’ s attention to important scientific issues, according to the Office of the Chief Scientist.
While the occasional paper shows citation rates of 30 per cent of Australian papers are above the European average, more than half are shown to be below world average.
The analysis of citation rate is used as an indicator of research quality.
Chubb said Australia performed better than its regional neighbours using the same measure – average citation per paper over a 15-year period.
Although Australia outperforms the world standard for research quality in most fields using this measure, so do the countries with which we share scientific culture.
“ We should compare ourselves with the best in the world. We should not compare ourselves with the rest of the world,” Chubb said.
Chubb said it would easy to run with our
28 | April 2013
“ better than the world average” mantra, but said Australians should not accept that.
“ We need science to be one of the first things all Australians think about when they consider the problems facing the nation, the region and the world,” Chubb said.
He said a higher level of scientific literacy and appreciation of science in the broader community is needed.
“ I believe we need to ensure that every secondary school student gets a thorough grounding in the history and philosophy of science.”
“ We need employers to recognise and seek out STEM( Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills in their employees, outside narrow disciplines.”
“ Education and research are the keys to a healthy, prosperous, safe, secure future. Australia cannot hope to have a healthy economy without it,” Chubb said.
He said research benefits individuals, businesses, government and nongovernment sectors of the economy, but also has greater reach in helping us to better understand the very nature of things.
Professor Merlin Crossley, dean of science at the University of New South Wales, said although Australia should be proud of the contribution it has made to science, he agrees that there is room for improvement.
“ The ERA( Excellence in Research for Australia) made us look better than we are. We are good but Chubb’ s citation data showed we are no better than our peers in
Europe and the US,” Crossley said.
He said Chubb has put science on the agenda with many of his reports arguing for action.
To achieve a cultural shift in science, Crossley said we need a science strategy – stable rather than start / stop funding; we need to measure and reward engagement between universities and industry; and the government needs to continue to proclaim the i mportance of science.
Crossley also echoes Chubb’ s view that although there are a lot of programs operating in Australia, involvement levels of students and companies remain low.
“ The sector has grown and our number of industry programs is good but hasn’ t kept pace,” he said.
“ We have a great foundation but we have to build and keep up with exciting developments throughout Asia.”
“ Schools are important – if you stop studying science and maths, it is hard to catch up. That is not true in all other disciplines.
“ We have to acknowledge this and make a special effort to attract young people into science and keep then engaged.”
Crossley also said science requires upfront and sustained funding at a large scale. Chubb said while funding is a matter for the government, his job is to convince the government of the inherent value in funding scientific research and education. n