BASIC RESEARCH IN GOVERNMENT LABORATORIES 



The elements affecting the quality of the research environ- 

 ment in government laboratories are for the most part similar 

 to those in any other research laboratory. But the procedural 

 requirements within government are such that we have unusual 

 problems in achieving optimum conditions. There is too little 

 appreciation by the public of these problems and too little de- 

 mand by a knowledgeable public for improvement in the 

 laboratories which belong to them. 



Deterrents to Scientific Personnel 



The first problem is the matter of mission. Each laboratory 

 should have a clearly defined mission. The mission should be 

 sharp enough to provide focus, purpose, and essential elements 

 of uniqueness yet broad enough not only to permit but to 

 encourage creative research. In this connection, there is also 

 the matter of laboratory direction. Research directors should be 

 capable not only of providing inspirational leadership but they 

 also must be given authority to match their responsibilities. 

 In addition, there should be opportunity and incentive to re- 

 main in responsible charge long enough to see long-term re- 

 search projects bear fruit and to be held accountable if the 

 leadership errs too often. 



Next we come to the man who does the research, the work- 

 ing scientist to whom I referred earlier as an abused resource. I 

 am becoming more and more convinced that government per- 

 sonnel policies regarding scientists, in fact, regarding any spe- 

 cialized personnel, are unrealistic. The rules of the civil service 

 were not made for flexibility. Furthermore, administrative pro- 

 cedures devised in particular agencies frequently add signifi- 

 cantlv to this inflexibility. Civil service rules were rightfully 

 established to protect public servants from political abuse, but 

 they do, in turn, frequently abuse specialized personnel. They 

 often require of public servants who are scientists that they 



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