Cathy Foley delivered her farewell address this week, leaving with a positive message for all in science policy, “If it is not prevented by the laws of physics, it’s solvable”.
Just not yet for some of the policy issues she discussed, including;
- New metrics (she said there is a paper about to appear): Dr Foley argued that using number of papers and citation rates incentivises competition instead of cooperation. She said unspecified “new ways” of measuring success will empower researchers to “focus on what matters.” This includes collegiality, curiosity and career flexibility
- Open access: Dr Foley referred to her advice to government (as yet unadopted) and said she would continue to advocate for OA. “Easier, universal access, which will increase productivity and create competition.
- Research infrastructure: “the pieces of very complex kit that require foresight, planning and a lot of money.” She referred work underway by the Prime Minister’s National Science Council to her successor
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems: “a trove of information that represents a comparative advantage for Australia and can help drive new innovation”.
Dr Foley also called for an end to the Australian impatience with science and accepting research outcomes are always uncertain but warned that this takes more than time it takes faith in change. “I don’t think we can truly become the innovative, high-tech manufacturing nation powered by clean energy that we aspire to be until we can imagine ourselves as that nation – and then take a leap into developing technologies that are new to us, or where we’re not sure of the exact outcome.”
And she urged cultural change, “We guard our prosperity, our lifestyle, our institutions, and our freedom, well. But it has its disadvantages. It risks stifling creativity and creating vanilla outcomes. It can create a real inertia when it comes to tackling difficult things. I’m not entirely sure where the balance point should sit – but I don’t think we have it right at the moment.”
