Recently a new website – publicscience.ca – launched by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada came onto my radar in the form of this news story: Science undermined by politics: federal union. From the article:
“The site aims to highlight science done for the public good — much of it taxpayer-funded and carried out by government scientists — and to “mobilize” scientists and the public to pressure politicians to support it. It features interviews with federal scientists about their work, along with interviews with science policy experts.”
We thought the site would be of interest to readers of The Black Hole, whether you are thinking of joining the public service or are concerned about the government’s lack of interest in basing policy on scientific evidence or you just want to read about cool things going on in public science! So check it out and let us know what you think!
What is happening to science in Canada is deplorable, but yet again not surprising. We are going backwards at a very dangerous speed.
Having said that, there are some public science institutes that are more of a waste than a contribution because of the way they are managed (or not managed at all). The money that goes into those labs would be better used in academia.