Research of lasting value needs an open environment without an application or customer in mind, says Donald Braben
Philip Nelson, the chief executive of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, recently announced a call for outline proposals for Research and Innovation’s “Innovation Fellowships”.
Fellowships, which are aimed at young and innovative scientists from either universities or industry, will focus on “creative and challenging research whilst developing relationships within and outside of the research base by engaging with industry” and will be subjected to EPSRC’s usual range of rigorous evaluation, including peer review and assessments of impact. His latest book is Promoting the Planck Club: How defiant youth, irreverent researchers and liberated universities can foster prosperity indefinitely.
This article is endorsed by the following, who also act in a personal capacity
John Allen, University College London, UK
Hagan Bayley, FRS, University of Oxford, UK
John Dainton, FRS, University of Liverpool, UK
Steve Davies, University of Oxford, UK
Rod Dowler, Chair, Industry Forum, London, UK
Irene Engle, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, USA
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, University of Notre Dame, USA
Desmond Fitzgerald, Materia Medica, Knutsford, UK
Dudley Herschbach, US National Academy of Sciences, Nobel Laureate, Harvard University, USA
Pat Heslop-Harrison, University of Leicester, UK
Sui Huang, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, USA
Herbert Huppert FRS, University of Cambridge, UK
James Ladyman, University of Bristol, UK
Peter Lawrence FRS, University of Cambridge, UK
Mark Leake, University of York, UK
Chris Leaver, CBE, FRS, University of Oxford, UK
Angus Macintyre, FRS, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
J S. Moore, US National Academy of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Beatrice Pelloni, Heriot Watt University, UK
Gerald Pollack, University of Washington, USA
Douglas Randall, former US National Science Board member, University of Missouri, USA
Sir Richard J. Roberts FRS, Nobel Laureate, New England Biolabs, USA
Helmut Schwarz, Fellow European Academy of Sciences, Technische Universitat Berlin, Germany
Ken Seddon, OBE, Queen’s University of Belfast, UK
Colin Self, University of Newcastle, UK
Gene Stanley, US National Academy of Sciences, University of Boston, USA
Sir John Meurig Thomas, FRS, Hon FREng, University of Cambridge, UK
William Troy, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Robin Tucker, University of Lancaster.
