Posted on: Tue 02-06-2020

Science academies have called for strategies to restore and sustain public funding of research works. A statement by the Secretary, Nigerian Academy of Science, Dr Oladoyin Odubanjo, on Monday said the academies, which came from the G-7 countries, also sought ways to realise the benefits of digital health tools and respond to global declines in insect diversity and abundance.

According to Odubanjo, the resolutions were made in response to calls for international cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The statement said, “On basic research, investment by the public sector in basic research enriches society in unexpected ways, including with new treatments and technologies that elevate the global standard of living. Yet, there are many current cases of inadequate or decreasing investment in basic research.”

The statement called for governments to sustain long-term public funding of basic research.

It urged nations to build capacity through STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and cooperate globally through scholarly exchanges, visa programmess, and other avenues.

The group recommended collaboration in research across disciplines and the open publication of research results.

Source: Punch

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