Category Archives: Research Councils

The rules

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Frank Norman

Rules can help us get by in life – everyone agreeing to drive on the left probably reduces the accident rate on roads quite a bit. But rules have a tendency to take over, a bit like Lord Acton’s dictum on power. … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Research Councils | Tagged | 2 Comments

Sir Charles Harington (1897-1972)

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Frank Norman

I have been working for a few weeks to put together some posters for a small internal exhibition about Charles Harington, one of our past directors.  I hope it might be of interest to a wider audience, so I have … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Research Councils, Research management | Comments Off on Sir Charles Harington (1897-1972)

Walter Morley Fletcher

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Frank Norman

The lecture hall in my Institute dates back to the 1930s. It has a simple design with excellent acoustics, typical of its era. It is called the Fletcher Memorial Hall, which begs the question – who he? Just outside the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Research Councils | 10 Comments

Confused about my sectorality

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Frank Norman

I have a love/hate relationship with the Law of Excluded Middle. You know, it’s the logical principle that says either ‘A’ or ‘not A’ must be true; there can be no Third Way. It tells you that you can love … Continue reading →

Posted in Research Councils | 3 Comments

Impact – a view from 1924

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Frank Norman

I sometimes have to hunt through old Annual Reports of the Medical Research Council to look for snippets of history about people or research and it is often striking how the broad themes addressed are still with us today. Take … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Research Councils, Research management | 4 Comments

Looking at an old funding decision

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Frank Norman

A historical article by Martin Johnson et al in Human Reproduction gives a fascinating insight into research funders’ thinking nearly 40 years ago. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is widespread these days but still manages to excite controversy in some quarters. … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Research Councils, Research management | 5 Comments