U.K. funding agency suspends diversity panel following pressure from science minister

The United Kingdom’s national funding agency today suspended operations of its newly formed diversity advisory panel “with immediate effect” after science minister Michelle Donelan expressed “disgust and outrage” that members of the panel had publicly posted opinions about the Israel-Hamas conflict that she viewed as “extremist.” Today’s move came after Donelan publicly released on X (formerly Twitter) a 28 October letter to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) head Ottoline Leyser. In it, Donelan wrote that after seeing social media posts from two panelists, her “strong preference would be that [UKRI] immediately close this group.” Many U.K. scientists responded to Donelan’s post with alarm. More than 2500 researchers signed an open letter calling on UKRI to reject Donelan’s demand. It amounted to “unacceptable political interference,” the letter stated, and capitulating would “send a devastating message to all academics, researchers, and students in the sector.” But in a statement published today, Leyser said she was “deeply concerned” about the issues Donelan raised and would be taking “swift and robust action.” These actions include suspending the diversity advisory panel and launching an investigation that would inform “a conclusion about the ultimate future” of the panel, which had been created to advise Research England—one of UKRI’s subsidiary bodies—on implementing its diversity plans. UKRI ha...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news