When it comes to science and research portfolios in his first Cabinet, prime minster-eventual Tony Abbott appears to have taken his lead from Chinese military general Sun Tzu’s The Art of War: Be extremely…
- Associate Professor (hon) at the Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University
I doubt anyone truly believes governments are infinitely resourced. Even the most rabid, single-issue monomaniac can appreciate that to add public money from bucket X, it must come from bucket Y. So it’s…
FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION: We continue our series on the rise of online and blended learning and how free online courses are set to transform the higher education sector. Today, ANU’s Rod Lamberts and…
Adjusting the tax concession on research and development could have a significant impact on university and industry partnerships, say academics, in what could be a repeat of the 1996 reduction that hit…
Litanies about how poorly science and the science “brand” are doing have become a little too common for my liking. The most recent notable example came courtesy of the EU’s Science, it’s a girl thing campaign…
How well does Australia’s science, research and innovation system perform compared to other developed nations? The Office of Australia’s Chief Scientist has just released a report addressing this question…
Almost every aspect of our lives is in some way touched by space science and technology. As such, the public policy implications are many and varied. Services provided via space-based technologies are…
Australia’s Chief Scientist Ian Chubb has more than once described the Australia of the past as a “mendicant country” regarding science. While this is a controversial, perhaps overly-broad, generalisation…
Space exploration is one of the few science-rich human endeavours that captivates both expert and layperson alike. There is a mystery – a romanticism – associated with space research and technology that…
THE STATE OF SCIENCE: Why do politicians and scientists disagree on so many issues? Are they really as different as we might think? Will J Grant and Rod Lamberts weigh up the evidence. Opinion pieces these…
With the momentum of his Inconvenient Truth gradually fading, Al Gore has launched a new climate change action campaign - the Climate Reality Project. The centrepiece of the campaign is a day of action…
Welcome to In Conversation, our series of discussions between leading academics and major public figures in Australian life. In this, the second instalment, Rod Lamberts, deputy director of the Australian…
Iconic Aussie entrepreneur Dick Smith is feeling intimidated. Not by growing population pressures, nor by climate change or carbon prices, but by the bullies at News Limited. In a recent interview, Smith…
Braying climate naysayers are annoying; but so are all those well-intentioned carbon tax advocates who fail to address the core problems and make the same mistakes time and time again. If we’re going to…
Ask us what we mean by “science” and you’ll find us a little circumspect. In fact, we think the word “science” is close to useless. This might seem odd, given we work at the Australian National Centre…
The post-budget political rhetoric to me reinforces the underlying, ongoing, disdain that this, and indeed many previous, governments have for science-related matters in Australia. Minister Carr is reported…
When art and science come together, the relationship tends to be uneven, and too often art becomes the unintended junior partner. As researchers working at the interface between art and science, we have…
War has been declared, and those who recognise the fundamental role science plays in everyday life need to decide where they stand. Building on the budgetary and rhetorical slights of recent months, rumours…
Science has long had an uncomfortable relationship with Australian politicians. Indeed, throughout the decade of the Howard government, Australia’s scientists, researchers and higher education folks became…
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