Science and technology in the service of the State: Understanding mission-oriented research systems in a changing world

以任务为导向的科学技术——即直接支持国家目标或任务的政府资助的科学技术——有着悠久的历史，占公共科技支出的很大一部分。每个任务领域（例如国防、卫生或农业政策）都有自己独特的行为者和组织体系。然而，以任务为导向的研究往往被科技政策的学术分析所忽视。然而，这些系统是更广泛的研究和创新系统以及公共政策系统的重要特征，并且被认为面临着深刻的挑战，这些挑战来自公共政策使命的变化（包括重大全球挑战的出现），来自政府活动组织的财政和政治压力，来自科学知识生产方式的转变和科学专业知识的全球分布，以及技术和创新的全球化。在当前预算下降和财政紧缩的背景下，在满足短期压力和需求的需要、处理长期问题的同时，确保知识和专业技能的适当平衡，以应对未来未知的挑战，这两者之间可能会出现特别的紧张关系。我们的研究旨在更好地理解这些以任务为导向的研究系统是如何工作的，以及它们是如何应对这些挑战的。在此过程中，我们将有助于对使命导向的科技政策的学术理解，以及对使命导向的科技政策未来的日益激烈的学术辩论。但我们也旨在为任务导向的科学和技术政策领域的政策和实践提供信息，并提高英国及其他地区利益相关者之间的辩论水平。具体来说，通过我们的研究，我们的目标是：1。描述并更好地理解不同类型的以任务为导向的研究系统及其显著特征；2. 详细了解选定的以任务为导向的研究系统及其近年来的发展情况；3. 检查这些系统的参与者和利益相关者如何看待他们面临的挑战和机遇，使我们能够识别所有面向任务的系统可能面临的共同挑战和特定系统特有的挑战；4. 评估选定的以任务为导向的研究系统如何应对挑战；5. 识别面向任务的研究系统的机会和威胁，区分面向任务的科学和技术系统作为一个整体的任何一般影响和国防和安全相关的面向任务的研究系统的任何具体影响。

Mission-oriented science and technology - that is Government funded science and technology in direct support of the goals or missions of the state - has a long history and accounts for a great deal of public spending on S&T. Each mission area (e.g. in defence, health or agriculture policy) has its own distinctive system of actors and organizations. However, mission-oriented research has tended to be overlooked by academic analysts of science and technology policy. Yet these systems are significant features of both the wider research and innovation systems and of public policy systems, and are thought to be facing profound challenges stemming from changes in public policy missions (including the emergence of significant global challenges), from financial and political pressures on the organization of government activities, from shifts in the way scientific knowledge is produced and the global distribution of scientific expertise, and from the globalization of technology and innovation. And in the current context of budgetary declines and fiscal austerity, there may be particular tensions between the need to meet short term pressures and needs, deal with longer-term problems and at the same time ensure that the right balance of knowledge and expertise is maintained to meet future, as yet unknown, challenges. Our research aims to better understand how these mission-oriented research systems work and how they are changing in response to these challenges. In doing so, we will contribute to academic understanding of mission-oriented science and technology policy and the growing academic debate on the future of mission-oriented science and technology policy. But we also aim to inform policy and practice in the field of mission-oriented science and technology policy, and improve the level of debate amongst stakeholders in the UK and beyond. Specifically, through our research we aim to: 1. Characterise and so better understand the different kinds of mission-oriented research systems and their distinguishing features; 2. Understand in detail selected mission-oriented research systems and how they have evolved in recent years; 3. Examine how actors in and stakeholders of those systems perceive the challenges and opportunities facing them, allowing us to identify challenges that may be common to all mission-oriented systems and challenges that are unique to specific systems; 4. Assess how the selected mission-oriented research systems are responding to the challenges; 5. Identify the opportunities for and threats to mission-oriented research systems, distinguishing between any generic implications for mission-oriented science and technology systems as a whole and any specific implications for defence and security-related mission-oriented research systems.