CHANGES IN THE MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE OF THE RESEARCH SYSTEM IN POLAND - A SURVEY OF THE OPINIONS OF GRANT APPLICANTS

Before World-War II, the research management and funding system in Pol and was based on freedom of research and the autonomy of science. Duri ng the communist regime, it was subordinated to the state's planned an d command system of government. After the political turnover, the refo rms undertaken in 1991 included the establishment of a Committee for S cientific Research which gave to democratically elected representative s of the scientific community (which constituted the majority of its m embers) the responsibility for elaborating and implementing science po licy. A grant system was also introduced, with direct competition betw een all institutions and researchers applying for research money. This covers the whole research sphere, despite the subordination of resear ch institutions to different administrative sectors - the Polish Acade my of Sciences, higher education or government units. Four theoretical models of research coordination are introduced to help explicate thes e changes and the views surrounding them. How were the principal chang es perceived by the community of grant applicants, and what factors di fferentiated their opinions This paper presents results from a survey conducted in 1993, among more than 700 applicants.