Science and Technology in Eastern Europe After the Flood: Rejoining the World

摘要

The flood metaphor describes the situation the science and technologypractitioners of Eastern Europe now find themselves in. The economic, political, institutional and cultural foundations upon which their working environment was predicted have been all but swept away. Especially for the East Europeans, who unlike their Soviet colleagues cannot entertain any illusions about their countries' R and D systems being sustainable as more or less independent entities, the next years will mean a startling period of transition. The transition will not only be one of domestic institutions, but of fundamental orientation as well. East European science and technology needs to rejoin the global mainstream to survive and to be effective. This paper discusses the means for doing so and the problems to be faced.