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和技术-即政府资助的直接支持国家目标或任务的科学和技术-有着悠久的历史，并占科学和技术公共开支的很大一部分。每个使命领域（例如国防、卫生或农业政策）都有其独特的行为者和组织系统。然而，面向任务的研究往往被科学和技术政策的学术分析家所忽视。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，并被认为面临着公共政策任务变化带来的深刻挑战（包括出现重大的全球挑战），对政府活动的组织工作造成财政和政治压力，科学知识产生方式的转变和科学专门知识的全球分布，以及技术和创新的全球化。在目前预算减少和财政紧缩的情况下，在满足短期压力和需求、处理长期问题和同时确保保持知识和专门知识的适当平衡以应对未来未知的挑战之间可能存在特别的紧张关系。我们的研究旨在更好地了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。在这样做的过程中，我们将有助于学术界对面向任务的科学和技术政策的理解，以及对面向任务的科学和技术政策的未来日益增长的学术辩论。但我们的目标也是为以使命为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。具体而言，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任务导向研究系统及其区别特征; 2.详细了解选定的任务为导向的研究系统，以及它们是如何在近年来演变; 3。研究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，使我们能够确定所有面向任务的系统可能共同面临的挑战和特定系统特有的挑战; 4.评估所选的任务导向研究系统如何应对挑战; 5.确定面向任务的研究系统面临的机会和威胁，区分对面向任务的科学和技术系统整体的任何一般影响和对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.