Changing academic policy:
a journey from deep frustration
to morbid fascination
Simon Hettrick
8 September 2023 - RSECon22 Training Event, Swansea - @sjh5000 ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195
Where did we start with the SSI?
Laser physics
+
Patent law
Computational physics
+
Software
Make software policy...
you know... better
Where do you learn this stuff?
Changing policy at the funder level
What's not been helpful
Strategic objectives on the website/reports are not that helpful
UKRI Strategy 2022–2027
What's been helpful
https://www.ukri.org/who-we-are/work-for-us/join-an-advisory-committee-panel-or-network/science-engineering-and-technology-board-and-strategic-advisory-teams-vacancies/
So how much software is in research?
Use software
Fundamental to results
69%
92%
n=417
Changing policy at the university level
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975
Dean ex Machina
University politics are brutal precisely because the stakes are so small
Some advice
Build your network
Prepare for the slow... and the fast
Don't expect anyone to have done their homework
- Spaced, 1999
Maintain your enthusiasm
Thank you!
@sjh5000
ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195, EPSRC Grant no: EP/S021779/1
Licence
© Simon Hettrick
Unless stated otherwise on following slide, these slides are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Slides
https://bit.ly/policy_rsecon23
Images
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Committee: CC Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic
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Abandoned mansion: CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- Phone: CC Attribution 2.0 Generic: Images Money
- Tortoise and hare: CC Attribution 2.0 Generic: TheTurducken