Science Minister Ofir Akunis said at the Ministerial Committee for Science and Technology held today under his chairmanship that "he will work to regulate the activities of the chief scientists in the government ministries through legislation or a government decision"
Science Minister Ofir Akunis said at the Science and Technology Ministerial Committee held today under his chairmanship that "he will work to regulate the activities of the chief scientists in government ministries through legislation or a government decision." Minister Akunis said at the meeting that "the importance of the activity of the chief scientists in the ministries is in promoting groundbreaking research and deepening the scientific knowledge available to the government ministries and ministers." At the meeting, the Deputy Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Science presented the government R&D activity report for 2014 of the Forum of Chief Scientists.
The civilian R&D system is divided into three: government R&D, academic R&D and industrial R&D. The government R&D is managed, budgeted and directed by the government according to its needs, and is done in the government research institutes and through the bureaus of the chief scientists in the government ministries. Academic R&D and industrial R&D are independent 3 in their R&D activities, but receive budgetary assistance from the government. The government R&D is intended to contribute to the advancement of the social and economic future of the State of Israel and to put its economy on a growth trajectory. Therefore, a long-term vision is required in its management, and it must be directed by the government, independent of market forces.
The chief scientists' forum includes all the chief scientists of the government ministries and those in charge of research and development in ministries where there is no chief scientist. Also, members of the forum are the Head of the Agricultural Research Administration and the Head of the Earth Sciences Research Administration at the Ministry of National Infrastructures. The governmental-civilian R&D system is a decentralized system, in which each ministry is responsible for R&D in its own field. Therefore, the Forum of the Chief Scientists serves as a coordinating body between the government-civilian R&D centers on issues such as research areas, goals, budgets and resources. The chairman of the forum is the Minister of Science (currently the Minister of Science and Technology, and Space), and the coordinator of the forum is the chief scientist of the Ministry of Science. The CEO of the office is also a member of the forum.
In a previous discussion on the subject that took place in the Knesset's Science Committee last December, Minister Akunis said: "The chief scientists in the government ministries are the most objective advice givers, who are not dependent on the matter. We are in the midst of regulating their operation and I accept the idea for legislation. If we come to the conclusion that it is required, we will do so."
In the same discussion, several chief scientists presented their activities and it became clear that there are large gaps between the various ministries in terms of personnel and budget for research. The outgoing chief scientist of the ministry, Prof. Nurit Yeremia said at the same meeting: "Not all government ministries have functioning chief scientists, and one of our recommendations is to appoint a person with such a position, in order to provide objective scientific knowledge. We want to standardize between the ministries, make science accessible to the community and develop international community relations."
The committee came to the conclusion that the role and status of the scientist must be done in legislation or in another way because this will strengthen the role and allow more powers."
