BBSRC has launched a survey looking at the use of models in research. The breadth of the survey includes researchers using whole animals, cells, tissues, and computational models. Visit:
https://bbsrc.ukri.org/about/reviews/consultations/survey-on-the-use-of-models-in-research/
The overall purpose of this consultation is to gain a better understanding of this complex area, examine the use of models in research and innovation, identify barriers that might be stifling this area, identify strengths and weaknesses of currently available models in research and define unmet needs in this area.
The survey is open until the 28th June.
There are a whole host of issues relating to the use of different models in research, whether this is the use of animals and ethical issues, non-animal models such as organoids and other microphysiological systems which are relatively new and untested, through to a more general principle of research reproducibility.
What BBSRC are seeking is to identify how researchers have made decisions about the models they have used – were they simply the most useful from a scientific perspective, or were there some barriers in place? There are questions about current, past and future use of models, so we can see if there is a role that BBSRC can play in removing barriers such as expertise and training, bust myths such as grants needing to have a specific duration, or if we need to fund research in a particular area.
Identifying whether there are particular problems in specific disciplines is also important, which is why BBSRC are encouraging as wide a participation as possible.