Today's news

Cheer for researchers as tax burden is removed
Britain’s universities were yesterday celebrating the decision to scrap a tax they said had reduced their chances of turning scientific discoveries into businesses. The Chancellor said he would remove tax barriers preventing the formation of university spin-off companies as part of a package aimed at increasing science investment and development in the UK.
Financial Times , Daily Telegraph , Independent , Times , Guardian

Industry head to review competitiveness
Sir Tom McKillop, chief executive of AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals group, is to head an industry-led science forum that will review the international competitiveness of UK business in research and innovation.
Financial Times , Guardian

Make a dash for freedom
Universities must assert their independence from the Government and behave like private institutions, argues Simon Jenkins.
Times

Northern trio nominated as science cities
Chancellor Gordon Brown has unveiled plans to promote Manchester, Newcastle and York as centres of genius, ‘science cities’.
Financial Times , Daily Telegraph , Independent , Times , Guardian , Daily Mail

Berners-Lee takes professorial chair at Southampton
The man recognised as the inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, is to begin work on the next version of the web at University of Southampton, where he has been appointed professor. Berners-Lee said the next version of the web, the Semantic Web, is "an extension of the current web in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation".
Computer Weekly

Napier scoops third win for partnership
A partnership between Napier University and a firm from the Isle of Skye has won a national award for its research and development work for the third year running. The university and its partner Cànan were the only Scottish winners in the Knowledge Transfer Partnership annual awards in London earlier this week.
Scotsman

15th-century pub 'trashed' by Oxford undergrads
Four Oxford students were arrested after dinner at a country pub ended in brawl. Bullingdon Club suspected.
Daily Telegraph

Water on Mars 'but not life'
Scientists analysing data from the Mars exploration Rover missions believe water was involved in the formation of rocks on the planet. But researchers uncovered no evidence of life on Mars. "Liquid water was once present intermittently at the Martian surface at Meridiani, and at times it saturated the subsurface," said Cornell University's Steven Squyres.
The Guardian