APPENDIX 32
Memorandum from the Society for General
Microbiology
INTRODUCTION
The Society for General Microbiology, founded
in 1945, is an independent, scientific, learned society dedicated
to promoting the "art and science" of microbiology.
It has now established itself as one of the two major societies
in the world in its field, with some 5,500 members in the UK and
abroad.
GENERAL COMMENTS
The UK has a science-based economy and these
are important issues. Any reduction in science departments impacts
badly on the others and sends out the message that science is
not important. We will not redress the problem of falling applications
to science departments by closing them. Once a core science department
closes, the University loses credibility in its whole science
performance. Closing departments has to be fought at all levels
if the United Kingdom is to continue its lead position in science.
So much would be lost if we cannot bring good science to all areas
of the country.
SPECIFIC COMMENTS
On the impact of HEFCE s research funding formulae,
as applied to Research Assessment Exercise ratings, on the financial
viability of university science department
Clearly, lower rated departments find it difficult
to keep going, especially where the cost of putting on courses
is high. Chemistry courses are a prime example, exacerbated by
the decreasing interest from students. The funding formulae have
had a detrimental impact on laboratory subjects in general, but
in particular on smaller units in regional universities where
it is difficult to transfer or buy in expertise. For example,
Northern Ireland has lost its only Department of Geology. The
region is geologically important and faces significant environmental
issues that require geological knowledge, eg lignite mining. Students
leaving Northern Ireland to take geology in mainland universities
are unlikely to return. Hence, the region will suffer a lack of
relevant expertise in the future.
Funding of other subjects has been reduced such
that the research base is founded largely on external income that
is subject to fads and fashions and could undermine important
broad subjects such as biology, biochemistry and chemistry. There
is little difference between the outputs of grade 4 and 5 departments
- the definitions used are very similar and the error with which
they were applied in RAE 96 and RAE 2001 very great. Hence, grade
4 units have suffered disproportionately. The RAE has created
a culture in which accountability is high but in which resource
allocation models are somewhat blindly applied. This has had a
bad effect on funding available especially for core science areas
that are expensive and suffer in some cases from falling student
interest.
RAE measures outputs from individuals irrespective
of their input—ie asking for the top four papers from a
group irrespective of the level of funding, or number of grants
that group has received. This has created a culture in which quality
is sometimes sacrificed for quantity within individual departments,
such that, the groups that get bigger and bigger and less and
less efficient are rewarded, while those trying to run `lean and
mean' operations suffer considerably. The effect is actually counter
to what was desired from the design of the RAE metrics. There
is more wastage within groups that are deemed to be successful
and departments that are actually doing a very good job of converting
input to output look as if they are doing a very bad job in comparison
to the big operations in favoured institutes. This has made a
difficult situation nigh on impossible in some departments.
On the desirability of increasing the concentration
of research in a small number of university departments, and the
consequences of such a trend
By concentrating research in fewer departments
the diversity of research in the UK will decrease. Productivity
is likely to decrease as well. Larger units often tend to be less
productive per person, compared to a smaller one. Increasing the
concentration of research in a small number of university departments
is not desirable since it would lead to scientific deserts in
many parts of the UK. Not all students would be able to attend
the remaining research-led universities and many would lose the
opportunity to benefit from a practical-based degree in a laboratory
science. This would undermine the reputation of the higher education
system of the UK as a whole. The loss of research from regions
would lead to an even greater tendency to concentrate high tech
industries and government scientific laboratories in a few places
with a further fragmentation of the UK economy into "richer"
and "poorer" parts. Regional universities provide the
major portion of the local research base. Physics, chemistry and
biology are all vulnerable to changing finances of universities
and concentration of research in more central parts of the UK.
The effect of this would be disastrous on local intellectual opportunities,
challenges in health and environment and economic development.
On the implications for university science teaching
of changes in the weightings given to science subjects in the
teaching funding formula
The process affected by Higher Education Funding
Council for England is very damaging to all areas of laboratory
sciences. For example, Queen's University Belfast has already
seen nearly £2 million transferred from the budgets of science
and engineering subjects to social sciences and humanities. Should
appointments and recurrent expenditure follow these allocations,
the result will be decimation of the sciences with physics, chemistry
and biology all suffering from unworkable staff-to-student ratios
and under-funding. A spiral of decline would lead inevitably to
their closure. There must be immediate steps to address this imbalance
between subject rations and subject needs, because these are having
an extraordinarily unfavourable impact on the intellectual opportunities,
health, environment and economic development of the UK. Already,
courses are cancelled and practical schedules changed in order
to keep within constrained budgets.
On the optimal balance between teaching and research
provision in universities, giving particular consideration to
the desirability and financial viability of teaching-only science
departments
A good balance between teaching and research
is essential to provide good quality projects, and thus, both
enthuse students and give them up to date skills. A science degree
taught in a university without relevant research activity would
be valueless as far as potential employers and international comparisons
are concerned. No student with a choice would choose to go to
such a university. This is because of the limited opportunities
that such a degree would afford students with respect to practical
work and diminished quality of teaching staff that are not contributing
to the development of their subject. Both teaching and research
elements of funding of science-based departments should be increased
in real terms. A ratio within the range of 50:50 to 70:30 teaching:research
income is an appropriate, viable target. A teaching only department
might be financially viable only in very high demand subjects
but in physics, chemistry and biology they would be unlikely to
be able to recruit sufficient students of any calibre and turnover
of good staff would be very high.
On the importance of maintaining a regional capacity
in university science teaching and research
This is essential as outlined above. It is arguable
that the process of centralisation of scientific expertise in
the UK has already gone too far. Students should have as diverse
and high quality opportunities at a regional level, as offered
centrally. Widening access for students from disadvantage backgrounds
and disabilities is important; it would be inconsistent to create
a situation where only students with no barrier to movement could
study at a higher level subjects that are only available in a
few central locations. Economic development in the regions requires
support from HE research and production of skilled graduates at
least as much as the more central parts of the UK. Destroying
the research and therefore the HE base of the regions will undermine
the UK economy as a whole and most certainly and immediately the
international reputation of both HE and research in the UK.
On the extent to which the Government should intervene
to ensure continuing provision of subjects of strategic national
or regional importance and the mechanisms it should use for this
purpose
Special scholarships for undergraduate courses
for students who are committed to go into teaching in core subjects
would be useful. The government, on the one hand, is placing emphasis
on science and science development and teaching and on the other
hand has apparently not evaluated the impact of some of its decisions
or those of Non-departmental public bodies, such as HEFCE. The
government expects science to develop against a background of
falling numbers of secondary school leavers with appropriate scientific
background qualifications; against increased competition for these
students from vocational schools (pharmacy, medicine) and against
the back drop of a perceived lack of sufficient and attractive
career options. It needs to join up some of its policies. Given
that there is potential for Research & Development in each
region, there should be at least one centre of R&D combined
with teaching per region.
FINAL COMMENTS
Most Microbiology degrees are delivered within
Biological Sciences Departments and if these departments have
a 5 or 5* rating then Microbiology will survive. Otherwise, it
would be far more exposed, as it is a `small numbers' degree programme.
SOURCES
This evidence has been prepared on behalf of
SGM by Professor Lorna Casselton, University of Oxford, Dr Ulrich
Desselberger, Virologie Moleculaire et Structurale (General Secretary,
SGM), Professor Iain Hagan, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research,
Manchester, Dr Pauline Handley, University of Manchester, Professor
Bertus Rima, Queen's University Belfast, and Professor Christopher
Thomas, University of Birmingham.
ABOUT THE
SGM
Society membership is largely from universities,
research institutions, health and veterinary services, government
bodies and industry. The Society has a strong international following,
with 25% of membership coming from some 60 countries outside the
UK.
The Society is a "broad church"; its
members are active in a wide range of aspects of microbiology,
including medical and veterinary fields, environmental, agricultural
and plant microbiology, food, water and industrial microbiology.
Many members have specialised expertise in fields allied to microbiology,
including biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics. The Society's
membership includes distinguished, internationally-recognised
experts in almost all fields of microbiology.
Among its activities the Society publishes four
quality, widely-read, research journals (Microbiology, Journal
of Medical Microbiology, Journal of General Virology and International
Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology). It also
publishes a respected quarterly magazine, Microbiology Today,
of considerable general educational value. Each year the Society
holds two major scientific meetings attended by up to 1,500 microbiologists
and covering a wide range of aspects of microbiology and virology
research. The governing Council of the SGM has a commitment to
improving awareness of the critically important role of microbiology
in many aspects of human health, wealth and welfare. It has in
this connection recently initiated a "Microbiology Awareness
Campaign" aimed at providing information to the government,
decision makers, education authorities, media and the public of
the major contribution of microbiology to society.
An issue of major concern to the Society is
the national shortage of experienced microbiologists, particularly
in the field of clinical microbiology and in industry. To attempt
to improve this situation long-term, the Society runs an active
educational programme focused on encouraging the teaching of microbiology
in university and college courses and in the school curriculum,
including primary schools. Some 320 schools are corporate members
of SGM.
January 2005
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