Research and Science
The pursuit of scientific knowledge was considered a luxury in previous eras. Brilliant scientists with bold new ideas were often persecuted when their views conflicted with the prevailing beliefs of the church or state. In 1633 Galileo was found guilty of heresy for suggesting that the Earth orbited the Sun. In 1925, John T Scopes was found guilty after teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution in his classroom. Throughout the twentieth century oppressive governments persecuted and punished scientists in Russia, China and many others. There are no individual governments to protect today. There are no inner parties attempting to maintain power. There is one world, and one collective scientific knowledge.
Today, all research is conducted under the supervision of The Research Council. This organization reviews ongoing projects, approves new ones, and approves the allocation of labor and resources to projects. The Council not only administrates scientific research, but is also responsible for research in sociology, criminal justice, logistics, engineering, education, business management, and virtually every other aspect of society. There are many subdivisions under this hierarchal structure, each responsible for supervising research in a given area such as psychology or biology. It is common for projects to be multidisciplinary as well.
All areas of scientific research are supported; both applied and abstract pursuits, as it is impossible to predict what knowledge will ultimately be of use to society. History has repeatedly shown that at an abstract concept such as nuclear physics can pave the way for a brilliant application such as nuclear power; crystalographic research of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid has lead to gene therapy.
Our researchers usually progress through the university system and begin work as an assistant in laboratories run by more senior investigators. As they progress through their careers, they may move to other institutions that are performing studies more in line with their interests. A researcher may successfully apply for the allocation of her own laboratory if she can prove that she has novel approach to a problem that cannot be accommodated in another lab. Otherwise, resources may be allocated for her in an existing facility.
Occasionally a researcher may emerge from outside the university system whose ideas merit investigation. This person may be paired with a knowledgeable investigator in a related area.
There are topics of research that are restricted. We do not allocate resources for any form of warfare research. However, some weapons are needed for use by the Police and new technologies are continuously explored including non-lethal weapons, safe take-down and restraint devices, psychology of panic and crowd control and correction theory. All questionable research topics must be reviewed by the Research Ethics Committee. Our society continues to debate research topics such as human cloning, but research into this area continues as important technologies may result from this work. However, since individuals cannot obtain the resources to set up a clandestine cloning laboratory, the research is felt to pose little danger.
One difference between our scientific research and that of the Old World is that all experimental trials are published, regardless of whether the experiment produces the desired results or fails. In this way investigators can learn from other failed trials and can avoid reduplicating the effort of others. A series of failed experiments is not a waste of resources if the experimental design is good and something can be learned from the data.
Universities can tenure senior investigators, thereby maintaining access to their expertise in experimental design, analytical thinking, and publication. Tenured investigators act as consultants and usually teach as well.
Scientific achievement is honored in our society and there are various distinguishing awards including the Nobel Prize. For this reason there is competition between laboratories that are working on related projects. However, our researchers are proud to share an award rather than take any steps to avoid giving information to another investigator working on a related project.
Those unfamiliar with our World, often raise concerns that if the government authorizes and controls research, there can be no academic freedom and that research in politically undesirable areas, such as alternative world governments, might be suppressed. To speak in our defense, we feel that the Council allocates resources to research quite liberally and without undue favoritism. On the other hand, it is natural that proven researchers and well prepared proposals are more likely to be approved than disorganized projects by lesser investigators. That makes good economic sense. We do hear an occasional grievence from an investigator who feels he is the vicitim of favoritisim, but the concil does the best it can to balance resources with needs.
Others have asked why we do not centralize our research facilities in to one, or a few centers. Surely that would decrease duplication of equipment and decrease the need for labor. We have found that regionalization works better. There are thousands of universities in the World today. Several Hundred are researching molecular genetics, while the others are not. Likewise several hundred centers are conducting research on cellular immunology. Some of those centers coincide and are researching both. In this way, there can be thousands of research centers, with research in given areas confined to several hundred centers of excellence. This model brings similarly focused researchers together, yet allows enough breathing room to avoid direct competition and unrest.