The feds are archiving the science.gov.au website, with science information now to appear on the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science’s site . That’s the one with the headline, “Our ideas and policy leadership shape the Australian economy to drive growth and create jobs.” By their priorities shall you know them.

In Features today, David Myton’s regular wrap on what’s happening in the world of higher ed.

Surely Greg Craven isn’t pitching for the Ramsay western civ centre to set up at his Australian Catholic University asks a learned reader, who noticed VC Craven is giving a talk at the Sydney Institute. “Greg Craven analyses the challenges that the culture wars present for western values, western politics and western art, and suggests how the culture wars in Australia might be brought to an end in a way that affirms western civilisation,” the Institute announces. No idea where the LR got that idea from.

Days after the Business Council of Australia warned against a “cultural bias” against VET, ministers appeared to make the point.

Yesterday education minister Dan Tehan and skills minister Michaelia Cash announced funding for Deakin U to develop training for Indonesia’s logistics system. Yes, that’s Deakin University, which was not missed by TAFE Directors Australia’s Craig Robertson, who last night said the grant was “in fantasy land”.

““Deakin is a laudable organisation but hardly has the credentials or experience to represent Australia in an industry engagement approach for vocational qualifications. … Efforts by universities in the vocational space often end badly. A natural bent to research and citations does little to enable genuine engagement with industry to develop their workforces, Mr Robertson said.

“It would be nice to think that there could be better collaboration between the sectors so that work goes to where it is done best, not to growing the balance sheet of a university, or to placate a sector annoyed by decisions to cap growth funds.”

His comments are in-line with Business Council of Australia Jennifer Westacott’s speech this week which warned of a “cultural bias” against VET (CMM yesterday).

“A cultural bias that is created by teachers, our educational institutions, government, businesses, media and parents. A cultural bias that ‘smart’ people go to university, and the not so smart kids go to VET. … A cultural bias that continues into work where jobs that come from VET qualifications are seen as innately inferior and less valuable than jobs from university qualifications,” Ms Westacott said.

Andrew Leigh, Labor Member for Fenner, has won the 2018 UNSW Bragg Prize for Science Writing for an essay on the history of surgery. It appeared in his Randomistas: How radical researchers changed our world, (La Trobe UP), which apparently is “in the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell.”

Dr Leigh was an ANU economist before becoming an MP and should be the shadow minister for renaissance persons.

A learned reader wonders what government members on the House of Representatives committee inquiring into “the efficiency, effectiveness and coherency of Australian Government funding for research” might have to say on a national interest test, as promoted by Education Minister Tehan. It wasn’t big in submissions but there is certainly room in the brief for government members to include it in their to-come report.

Not that they need bother.

Mr Tehan has re-started an argument his predecessor Simon Birmingham ended by requiring the Australian Research Council to develop metrics for engagement and impact.  Engagement, “is defined as “interaction between researchers and research end-users outside of academia, for the mutually beneficial transfer of knowledge, technologies, methods or resources.” Impact, “is the contribution that research makes to the economy, society, environment or culture, beyond the contribution to academic research.”

That should cover any relevance requirement. Unless of course Mr Tehan thinks of applying these criteria to individual ARC grants – which would buy him a blue with the basic research science community. Poking fun at the politically powerless humanities is unappealingly easy for politicians playing the populist but annoying STEM and medical scientists is a trip to a planet of pain

Edith Cowan U is expanding at its Joondalup campus, again, announcing a $48m “science facility” there. The five-story building will accommodate science, medical and nursing courses plus two floors for scientists and students “to engage with the cyber security industry.” Last year ECU was the lead partner in the successful bid for a cyber security CRC and in 2016 it shared federal funding for an “academic centre of cyber security excellence.” (CMM September 25 2017).

ECU bought a nine-hectare development site adjacent to the Joondalup campus in August.

Jonathan Pickering from the University of Canberra, has won the Australian Political Studies Association’s Peter Hay prize for a paper on environmental politics.

Kate Henne (ANU) is the American Society of Criminology’s Critical Criminologist of the Year. Dr Henne has an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award and a chair at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

The UNSW business school has appointed five professors of practise to, “embed industry experience within the curriculum.”  They are; Nicolas Chu, CEO technology business Sinorbis. Elaine Collins, insurance industry non-executive director. Jennifer Granger, ex ATO and UK Revenue and Customs. Peter Leonard, business lawyer in data analytics. Su-Ming Wong co-founder of equity funds manager CHAMP Ventures.

The NSW Premier’s awards for cancer research are announced; researcher of the year, Georgina Long – Melanoma Institute Australia. Make a difference award: Richard Scolyer – Melanoma Institute Australia. Highly cited publication: Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative – Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Outstanding cancer clinical trials unit: Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Saint Vincent’s Health Network. Cancer research fellow: Anne Cust and Alexander Menzies, both – University of Sydney. Rising star: Antoinette Catherine Anazodo – UNSW.