Preface
This book is a result of the joint efforts of a majority of the
participants in the NATO Advanced Training Course (ATC) "Modernisation of
Science Management Approaches in Central and South East Europe" that was held
on 28 and 29 November 2003 in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The event was
organised by the Slovenian Science Foundation and was attended by 45
participants from thirteen European countries and the USA. The speakers were
from NATO countries (Germany, Greece, Hungary, Great Britain and USA) and
Slovenia (which became a member in March 2004). The trainees were from the
South East (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia) and Central
European countries (Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia).
The motivation of the NATO ATC was to provide intensive training of
public administrators (e.g. state secretaries, state under-secretaries,
government counsellors and experts in science and technology policy) working at
the ministries responsible for science and technology in South East European
countries. Some of these countries, particularly the ones facing political and
economic crises, are still not integrated into the international community.
Furthermore, their scientific communities have not been able to seize the
opportunities offered to them on the international level. This has often been
the consequence of the fact that R&D is not supported by efficient science
policies. Their social and historical frameworks prevented public
administrators from acquiring adequate skills that would enable them to become
active participants in the international science and technology community. In
addition, many of the South East European (SEE) countries have not been able to
develop modern management approaches in science. As a result, national
scientific communities often do not have the support and information that they
need to become integral and active players in the international arena. Without
modern management strategies, these countries will not be able to use all of
their intellectual and other resources, which are an essential part of economic
development.
The NATO ATC helped public administrators to acquire the knowledge
and skills needed to overcome some of the problems facing them in science
policy management. The trainees of the course got deeper insight into the
skills and knowledge needed for the successful development and constitution of
national research programmes, for the development and support of international
science and technology co-operation and for science management.
The articles in this book are based on the presentations given by
participants of the course. We have also included a few studies (Chapters
1–3) that additionally illuminate the situation in Central and South East
Europe (knowledge-based economy and society, elements of national science and
technology policy). Moreover, a few special contributions from the Central and
South East European participants provide additional information for people who
work in science management and strive to internationalise the field of science.
As a result, this volume provides a comprehensive overview of S&T policies
in SEE countries for the first time and brings these countries into comparative
perspective with Central European and other EU countries. In addition, the
volume contains analysis of several important science policy issues (human
resource management, management of quality and finance, peer review and
networking); in this respect, the volume will be of interest to a wider
audience interested in S&T policy-making in general.
Edvard Kobal and Slavo Radosevic, Ljubljana and London, September
2004