Reforming research

摘要

The dramatic changes in UK government research establishments (GREs) during the past 20 years constitute one of the most radical experiments in the organization and management of scientific research. And while these changes have been going on, mad-cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease and anthrax have thrust these labs into the public view. At other times, however, their work is less conspicuous but nonetheless highly significant for the public good. During the 1980s and 1990s, successive Conservative governments seized the opportunity to address the perceived shortcomings of GRE laboratories. The experiment is outlined in the book Scrutinising Science, where it is seen through the lens of social and political science. The authors' analysis is based on interactions with policy-makers, senior managers and administrators tasked with carrying out their paymasters' orders, rather than on the firsthand experience of bench scientists. Some scientists found that the trauma of uncertainty and indecision resulted in planning blight and a loss of morale that was not readily reversed.