On 19 March 1900, at the bicentenary celebrations of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Kaiser Wilhelm II established three new fellowships in engineering sciences. This was in many aspects an unwanted gift, and one which tested the Academy's relationship between pure and applied science. In the context of contemporary struggles between traditional…

In 1933, the Prussian Academy of Sciences and Humanities was an exclusive learned society, out of touch with modern methods and funding, which had also failed to re-establish itself as a "centre of research". During the Nazi regime, it was at best peripherally involved in the restructuring of German academia. While some of its members played a…

The German Revolution of November 1918 dramatically altered the Academy's view of its relationship with government. In particular, the Academy's Prussian tradition had to be rethought. From initial wariness to grudging acceptance, the Academy came to accept the Weimar regime. This paper studies the politics of the Academy, uncovers factions and…

Despite several attempts, the prolific writings of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz have not yet been brought together in a single edition. Efforts have been hampered by the sheer volume and diversity of the Leibniz estate, and also by changing political circumstances. This paper traces the history of the Leibniz edition as a long-term project of the…

In the 1950s and 1960s, Clark Kerr led the University of California's Berkeley campus, and then the University of California as a whole. Throughout these years, he developed a system of managerial strategies. This paper shows how Kerr's administrative views drew upon his background in industrial relations, his liberal theories of pluralistic…

This article investigates the contention that we are seeing the emergence of new forms of knowledge production, transforming the expectations and assessment of fundamental research. We examine three dimensions in the assessment of research. Our studies show little evidence of any significant change in practice in the three sectors in which…

This essay highlights three converging trends experienced by "public sector research" during the past decade. Looking especially at France, our discussion draws attention to the new roles of universities, the blurring of relationships between types of research institutions and research activities, and the development of "research collectives" as…

Today, there is increasing concern about the health of "basic research", yet considerable disagreement about its definition. This paper examines the way in which the term is used in everyday practice. Drawing upon interviews with British and American scientists and policy-makers, we identify six different definitions currently in use. Given the…