Academic research is not

doing well. It seems there is still funding for some things but not for others. 

I know that has always been the way but it seems to be more marked lately. It is worrying me.

My nephew was involved in a piece of medical research which was showing promising results and then the funding was cut. He went on to other things because the team involved could no longer afford to do the work. They had no space in which to work either.

Today there is a piece in the paper about some very promising cancer treatment trials facing the same problem. There will be people hoping against hope that their treatment won't be cut fatally short because the laboratory involved is not seen as a "good fit" in the building it is housed in. We have lost some other major research opportunities for similar sorts of reasons over the last few years. 

I know more than one scientist who is thinking of moving elsewhere because of the general lack of support here. There are other academics I know who are simply wondering how to do any work at all. In the arts field there is almost no funding at all. If you want to do research into something like "transgender issues in chess at international level" you might get some funding but funding for any work in communication in complex humanitarian emergencies (my area) is not available. 

I was asked recently about the possibility of co-supervising another doctoral thesis. I said no. I said no for several reasons but one was because there was no funding in the proposal. I would be expected to provide supervision without payment. I did that once in very special circumstances but I won't do it again. It is not simply about the money. It is also about the value being placed on the research.

The proposal is a good one. It is not outstanding but it is well worth considering. With a little work it could be outstanding. I doubt it will happen. The student needs guidance from within the university in question and nobody there appears to have the time or inclination.

And there will not be any funding available. It is not a politically correct or woke idea that will eat up the small amount of funding that might be available. 

Potentially we might all benefit from research, particularly medical research. We need to stop thinking of research as being solely for the commercial benefit of those who fund it. If our ancestors had done that we would not be where we are now.