The UK government’s chief scientific adviser has hinted at the importance of academia’s independence from the government, stating that it was important to remind politicians about the Haldane principle.
Referring to the century-old convention that ministers can set the broad direction of research but should not intervene directly on what is funded, with decisions on quality left to expert peer review, Dame Angela McLean told an audience at the Science Museum that the potential breaching of this principle “is a worry”.
“We need to pay attention and sometimes remind people of the Haldane principle,” said Dame Angela in answer to a question that followed the Campaign for Science and Engineering’s annual lecture on 21 November.
The University of Oxford mathematical biology professor, who succeeded Sir Patrick Vallance as the country’s top scientific adviser in April, also reflected on how increased attention from ministers on science was a “double-edged sword”.
