Bill Stewart, head of Britain鈥檚 Office of Science and Technology, warned
last week that he intends to oust the 鈥榦ld guard鈥� who have wielded the power
at the research councils for so many years. He wants to replace them with
younger, more dynamic scientists and engineers as part of reforms outlined
in the recent White Paper on science.
鈥業鈥檓 not a supporter of the geriatric committees we have in this country,鈥�
said Stewart, speaking at a conference in London last week. At present,
鈥榬esearch councils are simply small subcommittees deciding among themselves
how to spend the council鈥檚 money. The old men have done that for years while
the youngsters have actually been doing the research at the bench.鈥�
Stewart said he wants to attract 鈥榊oung Turks鈥� into the decision making
process. 鈥榃e want to capture what the chap at the bench thinks, and what
industrialists think.鈥� This, he said, would feed science and technology more
quickly into industry. It would also require scientists and engineers to be
more aware of how their work can contribute to wealth creation. 鈥楽cience and
technology is no longer a free ride,鈥� he warned.
Advertisement
