Watch Higgs weep during announcement at CERN

The UK telegraph has this lovely video, showing the announcement of the Higgs Boson particle at CERN in Switzerland early today.

Despite the many attempts of UVIC phsyics grad students, I don't fully understand it. But it is always  moving to see such great leaps in scientific understanding, and the enthusiasm of those involved in world class research.

Congrats to everyone involved! And remember today when you think of the importance of research.

SFU graduate students win designated seat on BOG

University Boards have a lot of clout -- they approve university budgets, major capital projects, and review the president.

Simon Fraser University's Board of Governors voted in their June meeting to allocate the two student seats on the Board of Governors to ensure undergraduates and graduates each have one seat.

The Peak (SFU student paper) has reported on the issue--and the mixed reactions to the change-- here.

BC makes opens data and makes it easier to have your say

The BC Government has launched a new web portal to make it easier to find and participate in public consultation processes.


Govern Together BC provides updates on policy changes, and has a searchable data base to discover any current public consultations. The site also provides a link for those interested in applying for government appointed seats on public bodies.


The list of current consultations includes panels reviewing the carbon tax, fisheries regulations, and transparency in the justice system.

The site also pointed me to Data BC, which provides public access to BC government data.
The site is very useable... for instance, in abut 1 minute, I was able to download the following information about unemployment rates by type of post secondary education attained.

Unemployment Rate of Graduates from Public Post-secondary Institutions by Credential Type
BC Public Post-secondary System, Survey Year 2006 to 2010
Published November 2011
Unemployment Rate (%)	Survey Year
Credential Type	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Bachelor Degree Graduates	3.9%	2.8%	3.6%	5.9%	6.6%
Apprenticeship Graduates	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	9.6%
Diploma, Associate degree, & Certificate	6.3%	6.1%	6.4%	9.5%	10.9%
high school or less (8 to 29 yrs)	7.6%	6.5%	7.7%	13.4%	14.0%

Graduate students with research interests in areas affected by public policy could find this a practical tool.

Martlet weighs in on Access Copyright

The Martlet has weighed in on UVIC's change of heart regarding access copyright.

(previously reported on this blog - UVIC's earlier decision to leave the ACCESS copyright, along with many other Universities)

The long reach of Budget 2012, and it's impact on Canadian research

Is there an aspect of Canadian research that is not impacted by the 2012 federal budget?

 

As implementation of the 2012 Federal budget begins, researchers across the country are raising the alarm about resulting cuts to a variety of research programs in Canada. Marine research, climate research, archaeology, archives, and the fund for purchasing scientific equipment are all subject to cuts. 

Researchers are calling the cuts a disaster for Canadian Science

Over the past few weeks I have attempted to collect information on cuts to research programs resulting from the 2012 federal budget. What follows is what I have found – please add to the list, if you know of more.

ARCTIC RESEARCH
37 northern research facilities have been cut due to cuts to the federal science research funding agency, NSERC. This article discusses cuts to arctic research, notably Kluane research station.

Ontario’s Experimental Lakes Area, famous work that removed phosphates from cleaners, will also face cuts.

Some scientists say budget cuts are causing dispersal of Canada's ice core library, but the government is contesting this.

[In case you, like me, are unaware of the ice cores, here is a description from the article:
The collection of ice-cores was drilled from ice caps and ice fields throughout the Canadian Arctic. It comprises more than 1,000 metres of ice cylinders documenting thousands of years of climate history. Most of the cores contain ice dating back to the end of the last glaciation, about 12,000 years ago, but some may contain ice up to 80,000 years old. The longest of the cores, extracted from the Agassiz ice cap on Ellesmere Island, is longer than 330 metres.

Cores are important sources of data on past climate change, because they can contain dust, gas bubbles and chemical isotopes that give clues as to atmospheric and temperature conditions when the ice was laid down. The resolution of the information is often sharper than that in other proxies, such as ocean sediments.]

I have heard from faculty that the ice cores are valued world wide, and cost a hefty amount to collect and set up storage -- money that will be wasted if they are indeed lost to budget cuts.

FUNDING FOR EQUIPMENT

I’ve also heard from people in the sciences that the NSERC fund Canadian scientists in universities use to purchase their equipment will end in one year -- meaning that right across the country, all labs will have to make due with whatever they have now and can obtain in the next twelve months.One casualty of this cut is the Neutron Beam Centre at the Chalk River Nuclear Plant and another is Canadian meteor research.

BAMFIELD RESEARCH STATION

Bamfield's world renowned marine research centre (near Tofino) is also facing drastic cuts. The Pacific Marine Analysis and Research Association (PacMARA) blog has attempted to catalogue cuts that will impact marine research, but says they are “surely incomplete”.

ARCHAEOLOGY

Parks Canada cuts are described as “draconian” by the Canadian Archaeological Association because of their on archaeological research. Archaeologist and blogger Tim Rast has catalogued cuts to archaeology here. In many cases, regional labs will see their artefacts transferred to central storage in Ottawa.

ARCHIVES

The sciences are not the only researchers feeling the pinch in this budget.

You may have heard archivists speaking out about cuts to an archival program that ensures support to small community archives, and development of online access to archives. UVIC’s archivist, Lara Wilson, joined an “Ottawa trek” of archivists modeled on Canada’s historic “On to Ottawa Trek”. The campaign, and the reasons our archives are important to more than historians, are featured in this CBC radio story. One estimate says the cuts could close 800 of Canada's smaller archives.

CAUT’s RESPONSE

CAUT has harshly criticised cuts to research in the recent federal budget, noting cuts to funds that make it possible for professors to take research time. CAUT raises concerns about government interference in research areas, funding “bricks and mortar” while cutting the programs that fund the use for these facilities. They also state they were told to “shut up” by the policy advisor to Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, when they met to raise their concerns.

Start up visa program linked to research and innovation

Policy Monitor is reporting that changes to federal immigration policy are being considered. Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced they are consulting with industry about a proposal to increase immigration targeting at business innovation and research.

This language echoes the priorities in the 2012 federal budget, and previous changes to immigration aimed at graduate students.

Hopefully Canada isn't losing innovators with the decision to have some applicants on wait lists start their immigration application over again.

Quebec women's centres strike in support of students

Hundreds of thousands of students have been demonstrating against the reduction of funding for university education in Quebec.

Today, Quebec women's centres went on strike in support of the students, stating:

En effet, un système d’éducation accessible est au cœur de la construction d’une société plus démocratique et plus juste. La lutte qui est en cours concerne tout le monde et tout particulièrement les femmes parce qu’elles avaient largement bénéficié de la démocratisation de l'accessibilité aux études : accès à de meilleurs emplois et à de meilleurs salaires, augmentation de la participation aux débats publics, amélioration de l’autonomie économique et de leur émancipation.

[my rough translation:

Effectively, accessible education is at the heart of the effort to build a just and democratic society. The struggle that is happening now concerns everyone, especially women, because women have largely benefited from making education accessible through access to better jobs and salaries, increased participation in public demate, economic autonomy and emancipation.]

Linking cuts to university education to cuts to health, women, and first nations, they issued a statement via video as well (in French). It states, among other things, they have followed 11 weeks of protest and deplore the use of pepper spray on peaceful student demonstrators, calling it disproportionate and gratuitous: