ABSTRACT
There is a dearth of scientists in public life. Furthermore, there has been a recent trend to replace scientists by managers as leaders of research organizations. As an example, ministers responsible for the science portfolio in Australian governments from 1932 to 2013 included mainly graduates in law and economics and no scientists. R.G. Casey was one successful minister for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) between 1950 and 1960. As a result of reviews of CSIRO, its structure was changed. Its governance changed from having outstanding scientists at the head to a board comprising mainly managerial personnel. The culture changed from one in which a scientific approach directed research to one that was controlled by managerial policies. The managerial approach to research follows a controlled path based on the initial objectives, whereas the scientific approach allows for the following up of ideas that can lead to unexpected important discoveries. Other changes were to introduce more short-term applied research and to require researchers to procure a proportion of their funding. These changes threatened the employment stability of researchers and caused a lowering of job satisfaction and morale. This has led to formation of a “Victims of CSIRO” blog on the web in which scientists have documented cases of bullying and other misconduct.
