Archive by category | Politics

Unknown appointed as new India science minister

Posted by Davide Castelvecchi | Categories: ,

Jitendra Singh, 57, a physician – as well as an author and newspaper columnist — was a professor of diabetes and endocrinology at the Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu until 2012, when he became a politician. He ran for the first time as a BJP candidate in the recent Parliamentary elections in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and won. On 26 May Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted Singh into his government as a junior minister, unlike his predecessor, Jaipal Reddy, who held cabinet rank.  Read more

European Commission report urges legal reform to help scientists text-mine research papers

Posted by Richard Van Noorden | Categories: , ,

European copyright law should change to help researchers use computer programs to extract facts and data from published research papers, legal experts have urged in a report [pdf] for the European Commission published today.  Read more

UK budget sees boosts for data science, graphene and cell therapy

Posted by Richard Van Noorden | Categories: , , ,

British scientists already know that their public funding for the next two years is frozen at £4.6 billion annually (as it has been since 2010, which, for the nation’s seven research-grants agencies has meant a 10% cut in real terms over the past three years), so they did not expect anything transformative from today’s budget.  Read more

Lawmakers aim to restrict US agency’s social-science programmes

Posted by Lauren Morello | Categories:

Conservative politicians in the US House of Representatives are renewing their push to limit the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) support for social-science research. The agency’s social, behavioural, and economic (SBE) sciences directorate would see its recommended funding cut by 42%, under a proposal introduced on 10 March by Representative Lamar Smith (Republican, Texas), the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.  Read more