Setting priorities in Science and Technology (S&T) is one of the most crucial and at the same time most difficult tasks for governments, both in developed and developing countries. In transition economies, the lack of knowledge in foresight studies, Delphi, brainstorming and other methodological approaches in the process of strategy building is usually replaced by the collective work of special, so-called expert groups or committees, with the final outcome being a compromise between different interest groups rather than an expression of national priorities.

This chapter is organised in the following way: first, the broader concept of setting priorities is briefly explored, and different levels and dimensions of prioritisation and methods for the establishment of priorities are illustrated with several examples of national developmental priorities; second, one case study of research and development (R&D) project proposal selection procedure is presented, which is usually the next step in application of national S&T priorities; third, as concluding remarks, some lessons are extracted from a case study regarding the relationship between theory and practice in setting priorities and selection of R&D project proposals.