Saving Italian science

摘要

Last autumn, Romano Prodi, a candidate for Italian prime minister, proposed a thought experiment to a group of top scientists. "If you had an additional ?400 million (US$480 million) a year for five years to rescue Italian research, to be allocated during the first 100 days of government, what would you do with it?" he asked. Prodi had summoned 20 or so scientists to his Fabbrica, a think-tank housed in Bologna where he has been developing his government platform. The short answer came fast: "We would double the number of researchers." Italy's research force is currently half the size of comparably large, rich countries. The longer answer comprised a ten-page document published last December, which lists the many problems with Italy's underperforming research sector, and how they might be tackled.