Podcast appearances and mentions of james wilsdon

UK politics are never boring - not even when it comes to research policy (which - let's face it - can appear quite sedate for non-research-geeks).In this episode, we explore the recent spat after UKRI announced that in the next REF - Research Culture would count for 25% of an institution's score which was closely followed by a tender to develop indicators to help them measure culture. That didn't go down well with a lot of universities, and on top of all that, UKRI dissolved their EDI committee based on governmental critique. That didn't go down well with the research community. But we liked the idea - so we decided to do an episode on why indicators in research culture are a good idea - and particularly why we should have indicators on EDI topics - and what they could look like. Unsurprisingly, we think universities should be held accountable in this field.We also go into some of the concerns about indicators - and address the questions and comments we had on LinkedIn for this episode.Finally, we argue that this is not just a UK thing. The term “research culture” is travelling to other countries, so we should all be aware of the possibilities and challenges - and have indicators on the topic. In our conversation, we reference:Two blogposts by Lizzie Gadd, Stephen Curry and James Wilsdon:https://www.researchprofessional.com/0/rr/news/political-science-blog/2023/6/A-clap-for-the-Frap.htmlhttps://www.researchprofessional.com/0/rr/news/political-science-blog/2023/10/Plans-for-REF-2028-should-be-debated--not-throttled.htmlArticles by Research Professional (Paywall):https://www.researchprofessional.com/0/rr/news/uk/research-councils/2023/6/REF-2028-changes-send--strong-message--on-equality.htmlhttps://www.researchprofessional.com/0/rr/news/uk/research-councils/2023/10/Concerns-grow-in-universities-over-REF-research-culture-metrics.htmlArticle by Erin Cech:https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abo1558The INORMS More Than Our Ranks initiative:https://figshare.com/articles/poster/_b_NWB2023_More_Than_Our_Rank_a_preliminary_analysis_of_signatories_narratives_b_/24278587Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

Jack and Shobita are back after a summer hiatus! We return talking about--of course--ChatGPT and other generative AI, the problem at Fukushima, and India's Chandrayaan Rover. Then we chat with Richard A.L. Jones, professor of material physics and innovation policy . He is also the Vice President for Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement at Manchester University.- Richard A.L. Jones (2022). "Science and innovation policy for hard times: an overview of the UK's Research and Development landscape."The Productivity Institute.- Tom Forth and Richard A.L. Jones (2020). "The Missing £4 Billion." Nesta.- Richard A.L. Jones (2019). "A Resurgence of the Regions: rebuilding innovation capacity across the whole UK."- Richard A.L. Jones and James WIlsdon (2018). "The Biomedical Bubble."Nesta.Richard A.L. Jones.Soft Machines. Blog.- Jack Stilgoe (2023). "We need a Weizenbaum test for AI." Science. August 11.- Gil Scott-Heron, (1970) "Whitey on the Moon."Transcript and study questions available at thereceivedwisdom.org.

James Wilsdon has been involved in many policy initiatives around research evaluation. Of particular interest here, he chaired a review of the role of metrics in the management of the UK's research system, resulting in the 2015 report, The Metric Tide. Connecting to our recent episodes on review practices, we start here at about 19mins into the original recording exploring what is the purpose of research evaluation.See http://www.changingacademiclife.com/blog/2023/cal77-james-wilsdon-replay for a time-stamped transcript and related links.

In this podcast we discuss interdisciplinary research, its definition, government initiatives to promote it, the formation of UKRI, among other aspects with Prof James Wilsdon, Director of the Research on Research Institute, University of Sheffield.

The Prime Minister has announced his desire for the UK to become a 'science superpower'. A new office within the cabinet to look at science will work alongside existing science strategy and funding structures. So far it's unclear where the responsibilities between the various science policy bodies lie. James Wilsdon, Professor of Research Policy at the University of Sheffield, helps Gaia Vince pick her way through the spaghetti of overlapping organisations and Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI Chief Executive, gives her her take of the impact of the reorganisation. A major new trial has been announced into the effectiveness of the drug Ivermectin for the treatment of Covid-19. There's controversy surrounding the drug, which was designed to kill parasitic worms. It showed some promise against the virus in very limited lab studies. For many reluctant to vaccinate these studies seemed to suggest an alternative way to treat the virus. However, regulatory bodies disagree. It's hoped the new study and a range of other wide scale trials will give a more rounded view on the potential if any for Ivermectin as a Covid 19 treatment. Jack Goodman from the BBC News Misinformation Unit has been looking at the controversy surrounding Ivermectin. Scientists researching it have been subject to abuse and in some countries it has been rolled out as a treatment despite the lack of evidence on its effectiveness. There have been reports of a number of cases of Black Fungus in patients with Covid-19 in India. What exactly is this unusual but life threatening fungal growth? Dr Nitin Gupta, Assistant Professor in Infectious Diseases at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, South West India, explains why this previously rare infection is now on the rise.. Gaia Vince talks to Elena Zavala of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany about how she and her team have managed to extract DNA from samples of earth from the Denisovan cave in Siberia. Some years ago fragments of bone recovered from the cave revealed a new hominin species, called the Denisovans. Now DNA analysis of the layers of earth built up over hundreds of thousands of years are painting a picture of the vast variety of early people who used the cave, which included Neanderthals and early humans as well as Denisovans.

Episode 15--Innovation Imaginaries and the Politics of Evidence-Based Policymaking ft. David GoldstonThis month, Jack and Shobita talk about the role of government in both funding and regulating innovation, as well as the politics of vaccine approval as European governments suspended distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine. And we speak with David Goldston, currently director of MIT's Washington office, who has extensive experience in science and technology policy including on Capitol Hill and at the National Resources Defense Council. He was also a former columnist at Nature.James Wilsdon (2021, March 16). "Aria is an oldie, but there’s no sign it will be a hit." ResearchProfessional News.- Karen Hao (2021, March 11). "How Facebook got addicted to spreading misinformation." Technology Review.- Shobita Parthasarathy (2021, March 17). "The AstraZeneca Vaccine Crisis in Europe Isn’t About Science at All." Slate.David Goldston (2009, November 4). "In which we say goodbye." Nature.- David Goldston (2009, August 5). "Improving the Use of Science in Regulatory Policy." Bipartisan Policy Center.Study questions:1. How does "evidence-based policymaking" work in practice?2. Is it possible for science and technology policymaking to be apolitical?3. Why is "evidence-based policymaking" insufficient?4. If scientists are still so trusted in our societies, why is there a perception that there isn't?Transcript available at thereceivedwisdom.org

In Episode 1 of RoRICast - Adam Dinsmore and James Wilsdon speak to Brian Nosek, co-Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Open Science, all about his hopes and expectations for the Open Science movement in the coming decade.

In April 2018 the UK's funding environment was transformed with the launch of UK Research and Innovation, an umbrella agency which oversees more than £6 billion (US$7.4 billion) of research funding per year, led by Sir Mark Walport, formerly the UK government's chief scientific adviser.In episode four of this six-part series on funding, Julie Gould discusses the changes with James Wilsdon, professor of research policy at the University of Sheffield, UK. Wilsdon describes how the new funding landscape compares to the previous structure of seven research councils, how UKRI can support interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research, and what this new funding landscape means for early career researchers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

James Wilsdon is a Professor of Research Policy in the Department of Politics and Director of Impact and Engagement for the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Associate Director in the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of Sheffield in the UK. He has been involved in many policy and think tank initiatives. Of particular interest here, he chaired an independent review of the role of metrics in the management of the UK's research system, publishing a final report in 2015 called The Metric Tide. More recently he has chaired an expert panel on Next Generation Metrics for the European Commission. In this conversation we talk about his experiences working in both policy think tanks and in academia, about the increasing focus on research impact for academics and how the UK has created some culture change in this direction. He also discusses issues around metric-based systems of assessments for academics and calls on us not to indulge processes of evaluation that we know empirically are bad science. See http://www.changingacademiclife.com/blog/ 2018/ 2/1/james-wilsdon for a time-stamped overview of the conversation and related links.

James Wilsdon talks about the role of metrics in researcg assessment and the opportunities & dilemmas for the social sciences & humanities. Citations, journal impact factors, H-indices, even tweets and Facebook likes – there are no end of quantitative measures that can now be used to assess the quality and wider impacts of research. But how robust and reliable are such indicators, and what weight – if any – should we give them in the management of the UK's research system? Over the past year, the Independent Review of the Role of Metrics in Research Assessment and Management has looked in detail at these questions. The review has explored the use of metrics across the full range of academic disciplines, and assessed their potential contribution to processes of research assessment like the REF. It has looked at how universities themselves use metrics, at the rise of league tables and rankings, at the relationship between metrics and issues of equality and diversity, and at the potential for 'gaming' that can arise from the use of particular indicators in the funding system. The review's final report, The Metric Tide, will be published on 9 July. In advance of this, James Wilsdon will use this talk to preview its findings, with a particular focus on opportunities & dilemmas for the social sciences & humanities. The second part of his talk will look at the broader post-election prospects for social science funding & influence within government, building on the Campaign for Social Science's recent report 'The Business of People'.

Trailer for short film: Firecracker. Produced by Will Olsen, Directed by James Wilsdon