THE MAJORITY of Britain鈥檚 research will soon be done by teams drawn from more than one institution, according to a report released this week by the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex. By the turn of the century 鈥渃ollaboration will be the rule not the exception鈥�, says Sylvan Katz, one of the report鈥檚 authors. The trend has profound implications for how research will be evaluated and funded in future.
Researchers at the SPRU examined the origins of all publications by British researchers listed in Science Citation Index for the years 1981 to 1991. Of the 5000 institutions that had published research, fewer than 100 were universities. About 2000 were private companies. Others included research institutes and hospitals.
Over the 11 years, the team found that a paper鈥檚 authors were increasingly likely to come from several institutions. In 1981, only 28 per cent of the publications listed authors from more than one establishment. By 1991 that figure had risen to 41 per cent.
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Researchers were also reaching out for partners in other sectors. More and more, universities were collaborating with industry, industry with government departments, and so on. The trend, says the SPRU, suggests that a single institution鈥檚 skills are no longer enough to generate new findings.
The growing number of collaboration will be welcomed by the government, though its policies are not the cause of the change. The trend precedes the White Paper on science and technology, published in 1993, which advocated more collaboration.
But Katz says that such a fundamental change in the way research is done means that the government needs to adapt its policies. The report calls for a change in the way research is assessed and funded.
鈥淗ow can you evaluate researchers when half the research is done with someone else?鈥� asks Diana Hicks, another of the report鈥檚 authors. She points out that finding someone to review a paper will be another problem if most experts in a given field work together.
At present, Britain鈥檚 higher education funding councils share out 拢900 million between university departments. Their scientific publications are one factor that decides who gets the money. The system may have to change if a department is conducting research with in dustry or with a government laboratory. (see Graph)
