World Association of Young Scientists

Here is some brainstorming on criteria suitable for the evaluation of
scientific contributions (initially perhaps just journal articles, but
in the long run also blog posts, wiki edits, project proposals,
database entries and basically anything related to science that can be
described by a Uniform Resource Identifier).

For a start, I have listed below the criteria currently in use at PLoS ONE for pre-publication assessment of research manuscripts:

1. Results reported have not been published elsewhere.
2. Experiments, statistics, and other analyses are performed to a high technical standard and are described in sufficient detail.
3. Conclusions are presented in an appropriate fashion and are supported by the data.
4. The article is presented in an intelligible fashion and is written in standard English.
5. The research meets all applicable standards for the ethics of experimentation and research integrity.
6. The article adheres to appropriate reporting guidelines (e.g. CONSORT, MIAME, STROBE, EQUATOR) and community standards for data availability.
7. The study presents the results of primary scientific research.

These points raise a number of issues with respect to adaptations to online environments:

1. "Published" in this sense refers to "making the information publicly available after peer review", while the term has other connotations in the context of blogs or wikis where it simply means "making the information publicly available", and review by experts and non-experts can then take place afterwards.
2. Sufficient detail can be defined differently in paper-based and web-based (and particularly hyperlinked) contexts.
   
3. Support by the data is clearly crucial, and while traditional manuscripts have usually published only part of the data, online environments allow, at least in principle, direct links to or even embedding from the sites wherethe data are hosted.
   
4. Intelligibility is traditionally defined with respect to the scope of a journal, but with blogs, it is the content of the individual posts that define the thus evolving scope, and intelligibility is likely to vary heavily from reader to reader and from blog post to blog post. Also, online environments tend to be less formal than traditional journals when it comes to the use of English.
5. These standards and the concepts behind them do evolve.
   
6. So do these guidelines and standards.
7. Instead of describing only the results of primary research, online environments allow to describe the whole process that leads there.

Last but not least, it is crucial for an assessment system that the original contribution as well as its timestamp, contributor and evaluator can be uniquely identified, and that evaluations aggregated (e.g. via a PageRank system) across contributions, contributors and evaluators, as discussed here, here and here (evaluation on this page is unidimensional but you may use it anyway).

References:

1.        Key figures 2005 for science, technology and innovation” European Commission

2.        Evolution of Student Interest in Science and Technology Studies. OECDPolicy Report. May 2006

3.        Report from CAETS Member Academy: Issues of concern.Sept 2005 (http://www.caets.org/)

4.        Badhuri S.Science, Society, and Technology—Three Cultures and Multiple Visions.J Sci Edu & Tech., 2003 Vol. 12: p303-308

5.        Harnad, S. (2005) On Maximizing Journal Article Access, Usage and Impact. Haworth Press. http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/10793/

The European Council meeting on how Europe should respond to the current economic downturn was held on 19 and 20 March:
"Getting
the economy back on track is one of the biggest challenges Europe is
facing. EU leaders meeting in Brussels on 19 and 20 March affirmed that
the implementation of the December recovery plan is progressing well.
The fiscal stimulus of over €400 billion will generate new investments,
boost demand and create jobs.

The
heads of state and government decided to double to €50 billion the
amount of financial assistance to non-euro member states facing
balance-of-payments problems. They also reached an agreement on the
€5 billion Community part of the recovery plan, boosting specific
infrastructure projects. These include broadband internet and energy
connections, such as support for the Nabucco gas pipeline" etc.

 Here you can read the press release and The Presidency conclusions.

 One could have expected that the major economical crisis could provide opportunities to green the economy.

In fact, despite an encouraging credo:

"The
magnitude and the underlying causes of the ongoing global financial and
economic crisis demonstrate the need to reshape macroeconomic global
management and the regulatory framework for financial markets."

It seems that most if not all measures are targeted to get back on the
same very track as fast as possible.

What annoys me is that the
root "develop" (development, developing etc.) occurs 43 times in 30 pages  --which is fine--  while the word environment is virtually absent from the report (apart from bodies in the reference section) --which is not. There is not a single occurence of "green" either.

Play it again Sam. Yes in Europe too.

'Higher, more effective and efficient investments in education, research and innovation are a key factor for the sustainable long-term growth of a competitive European economy and should remain a high priority, also in the context of the current global economic downturn,' reads one of the recommendations adopted by EU research ministers at the Competitiveness Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium on 5 and 6 March. 

In the recommendation, the ministers also highlight the importance of reaching the goal of investing 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in research and development (R&D), and call on Member States to encourage the private sector to invest more in research. 

'In the present situation, the consensus on higher and more effective research and development investments that we have reached here today with my colleagues from the other Member States is an important signal for all citizens,' said Ondrej Liska, the Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sports who was chairing the meeting. 'Innovative companies and highly educated mobile scientists are an adequate strategy for the EU to combat the recession.' 

Elsewhere in the recommendations, the ministers call on Member States to encourage universities, research institutes and industry to 'step up their cooperation'; the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) will play a key role in achieving this goal. 

According to the ministers, the role of frontier research needs to be 'reinforced'. Furthermore, as the ministers noted, the review of the structures and mechanisms of the European Research Council (ERC) should be a priority. 

The Ljubljana process, which is designed to make the European Research Area (ERA) a reality, is the subject of another recommendation, in which both Member States and Commission are called on to ensure effective ERA governance and implement the five ERA initiatives (covering research infrastructures, joint programming, researchers' careers, international cooperation and knowledge sharing). 

Concerning research infrastructures, the ministers call for negotiations on the proposed legal framework for European research infrastructures to be completed 'as soon as possible'. 'It is also necessary to consider the research infrastructure investments with respect to their contribution to Europe's long-term competitiveness, as confirmed by the EU heads of state and government,' commented Minister Liska. 

Improving researchers' career prospects is a key pillar of European research policy, and the ministers state that measures are needed to improve training, enhance researchers' working conditions and ensure a balanced circulation of scientific talent. 'In addition, interest in research and innovation needs to be stimulated in society, particularly among the young,' the ministers underline. 

Other points adopted by ministers include the need to address the research and innovation needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the importance of improving the coordination of national research programmes. 

In total, the ministers unanimously adopted over 30 recommendations and key messages on how Europe should respond to the current economic downturn. These will now be sent for endorsement by the next European Council which will be held in Brussels on 19 and 20 March.

Source: http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&RCN=30549

A recent article on http://www.scidev.net/ discusses ways of reducing the brain drain from developing to developed countries, and the impact of such measures:
http://www.scidev.net/content/opinions/eng/borrowing-the-brains-while-re...

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080109/full/451112b.html (subscription required). If you know free info on the topic, please post it here. Thanks

Young voices in research for health

The Global Forum for Health Research and The Lancet are sponsoring their second joint essay competition on the occasion of Forum 11, the 2007 annual meeting of the Global Forum for Health Research in Beijing, People's Republic of China, 29 October to 2 November 2007.

Entries relating to some aspect of the overall theme of Forum 11: Equitable access, research challenges for health in developing countries are invited from young professionals working in or interested in the broad spectrum of health research for development.

Deadline for submissions: 20 APRIL 2007

For rules, guidelines, principles, timeframe and prizes see:

http://www.globalforumhealth.org/ShLinks/Essay07.php

The Mother-Child Health International Research Network, a nascent partner and affiliate of WAYS, is actively looking for young scientists working or studying in a field relevant to Mother-Child health research - be it nutritional, perinatal or other - to act as volunteer "Champions" for the network, create content such as blog entries, and recruit other members.

Once we have selected an adequate amount of Champions from different geographic areas, we will constitute an international committee from the positive responders with the eventual plan to organize an actual face-to-face meeting at a later date. In addition to the meetings, we can offer the oppurtunity to be a full member of an international network with some very interesting links all over the globe.

In return, applicants are expected to post at least one blog entry or event per week which relates to their research, work, or ethics in Mother-Child Health, in addition to commenting on each other's posts and recruiting collegues to register on the network.

The preferred methods to apply for the position are to register an account on the Mother-Child network and then either leave a comment on this post with your username, or to contact me through my profile page on the Mother-Child site.

An alternate, less desirable method is to email me directly.

More details are available here.