Fifteen years ago, the Australian state of Queensland was famous more for its beaches than for its brain power. Fellow Australians thought of Queenslanders as miners, farmers, or surfers, not as professors or scientists. When Queensland announced in 1998 that it was planning to become a "Smart State," or a knowledge economy, locals…

This article describes the contributions in this special issue, which brings together contributions that explore the varied ways in which science is practiced, managed, contested, and abandoned in corporate settings. From these empirical contributions, the authors aim to provoke reflection on the usefulness of the demarcations between for-profit…

Censored papers on bird flu, which could help terrorists, have critics wondering if academic scientists can police their own work. The near-publication has brought out general critics of the federal panel, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, and the voluntary self-policing approach that it embraces instead of regulation. Members…

This article reports that academic researchers are optimistic that President Barack Obama's approach to science heralds a new era of support for their work. When Mr. Obama named his top science and technology advisers only weeks after being elected, many scientists celebrated. After eight years of an administration that many academics believed…

Switzerland is the land of Big Ideas, where even the streets have Nobel prizes. At the European particle physics lab known as CERN, the roads through campus bear the names of Einstein, Curie, Bohr, and Heisenberg. Working amid those tributes to giants of the past century, physicists from around the world are trying to make history of their own and…

Many science centers have partnerships with schools, universities or scientific industry. This article will describe a unique collaborative project between Liberty Science Center, Wagner College, and Picatinny Center (a government research center) that has college interns working with and learning from science center staff and real scientists in a…

State Governments throughout the country have taken steps to strengthen their economic bases by promoting growth of high-technology industries within their respective borders. A byproduct of this effort has been an increasing need for information on the geographic distribution of industrial research and development (R&D) activities in terms of…

There has been concern for the amount of foreign sponsorship and support that is received by federal research and development (R&D) laboratories. This report summarizes a 1986 survey of federal R&D laboratories. The report discusses the extent of United States and foreign participation in R&D in the United States, federal policies regarding…

Although the work of learning scientists and instructional designers has brought about countless curricula, designs, and theoretical claims, the community has been less active in communicating the explicit and implicit critical social agendas that result (or could result) from their work. It is our belief that the community of learning scientists…

This report presents results from the 1999 Survey of Industrial Research and Development. It contains a full set of statistics produced from the survey, trends in industrial research and development (R&D) since 1953, and statistics on employment since 1989. Contents include: (1) "Note to Users of Historical Statistics"; (2) "Detailed Statistical…

Using a product called the synchro-pulse welder as a case study example, this paper discusses the activities of CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) in identifying and marketing new high-technology products. A general discussion of CSIRO's market research plans includes two goals to be attained within the next 5…

Addresses these three questions: (1) What are the roles of analytical chemists in industry? (2) What training is needed to fill assignments which make up these roles? and (3) What are some of the major challenges facing analytical chemists during the next five years? Includes information about a workshop for students. (JN)

Describes the activities of the National Submicron Facility which was established at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York to serve as an information resource for the nation's research community in microstructure science and engineering. (HM)

Highlights of "Research and Development in Industry, 1979" are presented in this report, including summaries on total research and development (R&D) funds, federal and industrial funds, funding for applied and basic R&D, energy R&D, and R&D scientists and engineers. (SK)

Research funding by the federal state comprises a broad range of financial and intangible measures with direct and indirect effects. "Financial research funding" is based, on the one hand, on financing the establishment and operation of research institutions, that is, their personnel and infrastructure costs, and, on the other hand, on…