New socio-political environments and the dynamics of European public research systems

Abstract

The performance of science and technology is being challenged by new socio-political environments. The changes in science policy are influenced by a more systemic view of the understanding on how science and technology evolve. The concept of risk society is mediating the links between science and society. Comparative analyses cast doubts about the possibilities of European institutions to cope with the challenges of the new environment.This paper is based on the work and previous experience of the author and develops some results from the project 'European Comparison of Public Research Systems (EUPSR)', funded by the European Commission TSER programme (contract SOE1-CT96-1036), co-ordinated by J. Senker (SPRU). The author is solely responsible for the work presented in this paper. The support of the EC is gratefully acknowledged as well as that of the Spanish National R&D Plan (SEC97-1382). A preliminary version was presented in the Lisbon Workshop (5-6 June 2000) of the EUROPOLIS project funded by the STRATA Programme