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Astronomy Forum 17 September 2012

Astronomy Forum 17 September 2012. John Womersley CEO, STFC. Topics covered:. Open Access Publishing Programmatic Review Advisory Panels Mid-sized telescopes 2012 Grants round. The Finch Report (June 2012) recommended that: UK should accelerate transition to open access

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Astronomy Forum 17 September 2012

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  1. Astronomy Forum17 September 2012 John Womersley CEO, STFC

  2. Topics covered: • Open Access Publishing • Programmatic Review • Advisory Panels • Mid-sized telescopes • 2012 Grants round

  3. The Finch Report (June 2012) recommended that: • UK should accelerate transition to open access • No single approach can on its own maximise access to research outputs, but • There should be a clear policy direction towards author-pays (Gold) as the main vehicle – to support immediate access and the long-term sustainability of journals • Funders should establish better arrangements for meeting the costs of open access publication Open Access Publishing

  4. RCUK open access policy (July 2012) requires that papers arising from Research Council-funded research must: • Be published in journals that are compliant with open access principles; • Include a statement on how the underlying research materials (data, samples, models etc) can be accessed. • The policy applies to papers submitted for publication from 1 April 2013. RCUK open access policy

  5. The RCUK policy identifies journals as compliant with open access principles if they: • Support gold open access and immediate deposition of papers in repositories without restriction on reuse; or • Support deposition of accepted manuscripts in a repository (Green open access), without restriction on reuse, within six months of publication. RCUK open access policy

  6. To support the move towards gold open access, earmarked funding will be provided at institutional level. • BIS has provided an additional £10M for 2012/13 – to be shared among the top 30 recipients of Research Council and Funding Council research income. • RCUK will provide earmarked funding for the following five years – expected to ramp up to ~£30M pa by 2017/18. To be allocated to universities in proportion to grant-funded research staff costs, probably on a block grant to HEIs. This comes from existing Council budgets and is expected to be ~£2M p.a. from STFC. • From April 2013 new individual grants will no longer provide direct support for publication costs. Funding for gold open access

  7. Overseen by Science Board with community input through the advisory panels • The goal is not to shrink the programme or to fit within a reduced budget • This is a process to optimise our science programme • Includes both identification of future opportunities and realisation of where science productivity may have passed its peak • Will include consideration of issues such as fraction of spend on grants vs. projects vs. students • Best position ourselves for next CSR Programmatic Review

  8. Evaluate the recent, current, and likely future scientific excellence, operational effectiveness, and impact of the scientific aspects of each of STFC's programmes; • Identify any aspects of STFC's programmes that are less well-matched to the Council's strategy and to make recommendations concerning the future of these activities; • Consider future programme opportunities and make recommendations on how these could be taken forward; • Evaluate the balance of STFC's programmes and to recommend a future research portfolio Terms of Reference

  9. Data collection • May – November 2012 • Data analysed by Science Board and recommendations made • November 2012 to May 2013 • Decisions made and implementation • May to July/Sept 2013 Review Timescale

  10. Purely speculative at this point! • Spring 2013: Triennial Review of Research Councils • Government reviewing efficiency and appropriateness of all of its delivery methods • Will be asking “How many research councils?” • April – Autumn 2013: Comprehensive Spending Review? Timeline - governmental

  11. The new panels are: • Particle Physics, Nuclear Physics, Particle Astrophysics, Astronomy, Solar System Science • Physical Sciences and Engineering, Life Sciences and Soft Materials Advisory Panels

  12. Panel Membership Solar System Advisory Panel: Monica Grady – Open (Chair) Simon Calcutt – Oxford Chris Arridge – MSSL Hilary Downes – Birkbeck Bob Forsyth – Imperial Rekha Jain – Sheffield Chris Davis – RAL Space Alan Hood – St Andrews Stephen Lowry – Kent Astronomy Advisory Panel: Paul O’Brien – Leicester (Chair) Chris Evans – UKATC Serena Viti - UCL Will Sutherland – QMUL Michael Brown – Manchester Don Pollacco – Warwick Anthony Challinor – Cambridge Richard Bower – Durham

  13. Advisory Panels - Programme • Both Astronomy panels have held electronic consultations through August; • The SSAP held a town meeting on 10 Sept, the AAP will do the same on 18 Sept; • Results of the AAP questionnaire will be presented at the meeting, the SSAP is seeking further inputs on mission opportunities; • Both panels will offer the chance for further community comment before submitting their reports to Science Board at the start of November.

  14. Reminder: • JCMT is extend to Sep 2014 to complete the S-2 surveys, and UKIRT to Sept 2013. • ING to March 2015 to develop WEAVE, primarily for Gaia follow-up and agree new arrangements with partners. Medium-sized Telescopes

  15. Medium-sized Telescopes Current status:Management group set up to oversee plans for JAC ownership, programme and withdrawal – includes chairs of JCMT and UKIRT Boards;JAC director visited Korea to explore interest in UKIRT ownership;Community interest in extending UKIRT operation to match JCMT developing but not complete;ING Working Group focussing on legal aspects of creation of Foundation;R&D for WEAVE and plans for WEAVE financial support from NL and Spain are on-going.

  16. Astronomy Grants round 2012 • Status: • Both sub-panels have met and assessed all of the proposals (number of next slide); • Meetings were attended by UKSA; • Merger meeting on 18-19 September, then report to Science Board on 25 October (UKSA 22 Oct); • Hope to have outcomes by early November • Modifications and lessons learned will be incorporated after that. Full review after 2013 round.

  17. 2012 Round

  18. Other slides

  19. Work is progressing on reworking the project plan for the pre-construction phase following the dual-site implementation agreed at end of May and also moving to the next high-level Members meeting which will formally ratify the decision with the legally-binding vote; • Professor Phil Diamond will be the new Director General of the SKA Organisation; • UK institutes and industry are considering how to respond to the call for interest in the pre-construction phase technical work released by the Organisation. SKA status

  20. The start of construction is still dependent on 90% of the funding being secure and on Brazil completing its Accession to ESO, along with various management and financial control measures; • Member States (including the UK) have until the December Council meeting to confirm their votes. • The Business Case for the E-ELT has been submitted to BIS for it to seek Treasury approval to commit – we await a response. • We are working to ensure UK industrial return from the project and also lead roles for the UK in E-ELT instrumentation – several meetings coming up. E-ELT status

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