Page Updated: 25-Sep-2006
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Countries of South-East Europe undertake the modernization of science management

“Modernization of Science Management Approaches” was the title of an Advanced Training Course on science policy which took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 28-29 November. Assembled at this NATO course were public administrators attached to ministries responsible for science and technology from all the republics which were formerly part of Yugoslavia, and included state secretaries, under-secretaries, government advisers and counselors. Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States were the NATO countries most represented at the course. Dr. Zoran Stancic , State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia gave a welcoming address on behalf of the Government of Slovenia.

The premise on which this course was based is that science and technology play a paramount role in a knowledge-based society, and scientific knowledge is an important form of capital. This capital can be developed to the full only if it is supported by effective and modern science policy.

The course was divided into lecture sessions and workshop sessions. Included in the lectures were such topics as

• European research support resources
• participation in the NATO Security through Science Programme,
• the European Union’s 6th Framework Programme,
• research evaluation and monitoring,
• management of human resources in research,
• national science policies and innovation and technology policies.

For the workshop sessions, participants were divided into three groups to discuss the control of quality and the management of research resources at a national level. Discussions focused on international cooperation, SMEs, national science priorities, creating favourable environments for science and technology, human resources, basic versus applied research, sources of funding, direct foreign investment in research and the measurement and the monitoring of program quality.

The workshop sessions benefited from the personal involvement of Dr. Norman Neureiter, former Science and Technology Adviser to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, and his participation was a pivotal factor in the success of the workshops. Dr. Neureiter was assisted in organizing the workshops by entrepreneur Dr. Larry Secrest of Secrest & Company in Austin, Texas and by Dr. Janez Slak, Advisor to the Director of the Jozef Stefan Institute in Slovenia.

Highlights from the agenda were talks given on

• The European Union’s 6th Framework Programme. by Dr. Albin Babic of Slovenia’s Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia,
• Lobbying for R&D support by Dr. Boris Cizelj, former Slovenian ambassador to NATO and currently head of the Slovenian Business and Research Organization in Brussels
• Regional Innovation and Technology policy by Dr. Guenter Hans Walter of the University of Karlsruhe;
• Science and Technology priorities in Central and Eastern European countries by Dr. Duro Kutlaca of the Mihail Pupin Institute, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.
• Ways to manage human resources to improve competitiveness in research and development by Dr. Miloš Komac

A talk by Prof. Lamiaja Tanovic was particularly impassioned in calling for the equivalent of a “Marshall Plan” to replace the scientific and technical infrastructure that had been devastated by war. Without such drastic measures, she pointed out, serious scientific collaboration with other countries could not even be started.

The NATO-country co-director of the Advanced Training Course was Prof. Slavo Radosevic of the Center for the Study of Economic and Social Change in Europe at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College, London, UK. The Partner country co-director was Dr. Edvard Kobal, President of the Slovenian Science Foundation.

Note: The Science Policy area of the Programme for Security Through Science is currently under review, and details of a revised initiative in this area, developed in line with the recent evolution of the Programme, will be announced on the web site early in 2004

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