Governance of Science Systems
Institutional Reforms in Science
Systems of OECD Countries
International Energy Agency
Linking Basic Science and the Development of
New Energy Technologies
Paris, 1-2 April 2003
Gudrun Maass, OECD
Division for Science and Technology Policy
Hypotheses
• The distinction between basic and applied
science is increasingly blurred.
• Linear model has been replaced by an
interactive model.
• Time between research results and
application shorter than before.
Elements of the science system
influenced by governments
• Structures (governmental, institutional)
• Priority setting for public sector research
• Funding mechanisms
• Management of human resources
Main challenges and demands for
governing science systems
• Maintain a strong sustainable science base
• Accountability and flexibility: research should
respond to social and economic needs, new
opportunities be taken up quickly
• Interactivity, interdisciplinarity, networking,
involvement of all stakeholders concerned, more
problem-oriented than discipline-oriented
• Complementarity between public and private
funding
• Adequate supply of highly qualified human
resources
Structural changes
• Moves towards greater government-wide coordination of
research effort.
• Greater participation of different levels of government in
research policy making and funding.
• More strategic planning and monitoring by governments
• Greater institutional autonomy
• Increasing formal structures and mechanisms for
stakeholder participation in research policy making,
funding and review.
• Strengthening of intermediate level funding structures
within research systems (e.g. research councils).
• Changing balance among research performing
institutions, i.e. a stronger role for higher education
institutions as compared to other public research
institutions.
• Developing partnerships between different researcher
performers and with industry.
Increasing importance of priority
setting
• OECD governments attach more
importance to priority setting.
• New tools and mechanisms being
developed (foresight, advisory councils).
• Increasing importance given to
multidisciplinary research (problem-
oriented) and to involvement of partners
outside the scientific community.
Challenges for institutions with
regard to priority setting
• Achieving a balance between top-down
and bottom-up approaches
• Achieving a balance between setting
priorities and granting autonomy to
institutions
• Reflecting priority setting in funding.
Introduction of a shift in priorities easier
with “new” money.
Changes in funding
• Funding of public sector research is
increasing, but new funding is often
attached to specific priorities or to new
schemes (e.g. centres of excellence).
• The proportion of funds distributed through
competitive grants schemes is increasing
relative to institutional funding.
Funding changes (contd.)
• The use of institutional funds by public
research institutions is increasingly evaluated
with measurable performance indicators.
• Business funding of public research is
increasing, giving rise to new relationships
between funding sources and research
performers.
• Public research institutes are looking for new
sources of funding, including business,
private charitable foundations, university
tuition fees, overhead coverage for research
funded with grants and contracts.
Guarantee the adequate supply of
human resources: a task for
institutions
• Ensuring an adequate supply of human
resources in science and technology is a
major policy goal for OECD governments.
• Role of institutions: adapt training to become
more interdisciplinary and problem-oriented;
strengthen co-operation with industry,
encourage mobility
• Challenges: management of problems such
as increasing temporary employment, ageing
of the scientific workforce
Key Policy Lessons
• The importance of public sector research
is not reduced but is further enhanced by
the growing participation of the private
sector in funding research and using
knowledge produced in public research
institutions. These institutions continue to
have a major, albeit evolving, role to play
in responding to the growing demand for
high-quality research emanating from a
more diverse set of stakeholders.
Contnd.
• Responding to the challenges posed by
changing modes of knowledge production, to
demands for greater responsiveness to a
broader range of stakeholders and to the
need to safeguard longer-term research
capabilities can require more than
incremental changes to existing structures
and processes for governing national science
systems. In many countries, more radical
governance reforms need to be considered
Contd.
• Governance structures should involve all
stakeholders concerned. Intermediary
institutions could be involved in a more
formal way in the priority-setting
processes. Public research institutions
should retain a broad margin of
autonomy in the implementation of
priorities in their research agenda.
Contd.
• A shift to more competitive, project-based
modes of funding linked to performance
assessment can help improving the
responsiveness of public research to socio-
economic needs and improve research
quality. To be effective, such a shift often
needs to be accompanied by more
fundamental structural reforms aiming at
redefining the respective roles of
universities and other public research
institutions.
Contd.
• Institutional modes of funding remain
important to safeguard the longer-term
capabilities of knowledge creation and
the serendipity of scientific discoveries.
In their implementation attention must be
paid to streamlining rigidities that may be
caused by inappropriate systems of
evaluation of programmes and
researchers.
Contd.
• Funding mechanisms have to be such as to
ensure that the full costs of research are
covered, including those of infrastructures.
• Criteria for allocating research funding and
evaluating research results often employ a
disciplinary perspective and need to be
adapted to new modes of conducting
research.
• The leverage of public investment in
research on private R&D should be
increased through a variety of mechanisms,
including public-private partnerships, co-
patenting and collaborative research.
Contnd.
• The ability to attract high quality
researchers is a requirement for
contributing to public research missions,
as well as to for ensuring effective
partnership with the private sector. Efforts
are needed to attract more students into
S&T fields and to improve the
attractiveness of employment in the public
research sector.