Funds lacking to encourage physics
Despite the importance that the government says it places on improving engineering skills and advancing science and technology, it seems there are insufficient funds to find £16,000 to pay for future British student delegations to attend the International Physics Olympiad
, something which is found to be within the budgets of some 90 countries that include: Slovakia, Indonesia, India, Rumania and Belarus.
Professor Cyril Isenberg at the University of Kent, who runs the British end of things told us that after a meeting with Sarah McCarthy Fry MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Schools and Learners), he was, “Pretty certain”, they would not in future pay the annual grant his body receives.
Professor Isenberg says he support the programme because, “We need to encourage excellence”. University engineering professors constantly complain to us about the poor physics and maths skills of UK students joining their courses so there is a need to improve quality.
Academic technology funding in generally remains a problem in the UK, despite government insistence that it has increased it. We recently heard Phil Willis MP, chairman of the House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee observe that EPSRC grant applications at one time had a, “One in five chance of success. It is more often one in ten now”.
(Our picture shows the British Physics Olympiad team sent to the International Olympiad in Hanoi in July 2008 with Science Minister Ian Pearson in the centre)
