Matthew Flinders

Dec 5, 2024 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Matthew Flinders

IT WOULD HARDLY be far-fetched to suggest that British politics is currently going through a particularly vibrant era of inquiries. In 2018, an Institute for Government report revealed how the British government's ‘favoured response’ for restoring some sense of reason in the wake of a major crisis, scandal or disaster had become more widespread, with sixty-nine public inquiries launched between 1990 and 2017, compared with a mere nineteen in the previous thirty years.

Sep 6, 2024 | theconversation.com | Matthew Flinders

Former prime minister Theresa May announced a public inquiry into the Grenfell fire just 24 hours after the tragedy in June 2017. That the project was set in motion while emergency services were still at the scene underlined a broad sense of shock and disbelief that a catastrophe of such a scale could have occurred in 21st-century London. How was it possible for a reinforced concrete building, itself structurally impervious to fire, to be turned into a death trap for 72 of its own inhabitants?

Jul 31, 2024 | timeshighereducation.com | Matthew Flinders

It would be easy for academics and administrators to think that the Research Excellence Framework 2029 will basically be a rerun of the 2021 exercise. But look closely and you will see that REF 2029 is actually a very different animal. It’s true that the REF’s structural mainframe is staying the same, with four main panels and 34 units of assessment, plus a continuing commitment to peer review and an arm’s-length use of metrics.

Jul 31, 2024 | bristoluniversitypress.co.uk | Dan Degerman |Matthew Flinders |Matthew Johnson

The COVID-19 pandemic thrust fear into the heart of political debate and policy making. In the wake of the pandemic, it is critical to clarify the role of fear in these processes to avoid repeating past mistakes and to learn crucial lessons for future crises.

Jun 26, 2024 | researchprofessionalnews.com | Matthew Flinders

The best research environments cultivate serendipity—and the REF should recognise that, says Matthew FlindersWhat makes a world-class research environment? Bright minds, yes; ample and sustained resources, yes; freedom to make mistakes, yes; criticality and challenge, yes; engagement across disciplines and sectors, yes; an international outlook, yes; agile and ambitious leadership, most definitely. But what else do transformative research endeavours generally possess? The answer is luck.