Most physics research in Italy is organized and conducted through six national research groups. This way of organizing research through national groups has proved very successful and may in part explain how it is that Italian physicists have been able to remain competitive with their international colleagues despite their much lower levels of funding. (For example, in 1981 the total government funding for non‐nuclear physics in Italy was about $16 million and $75 million for nuclear physics, of which about $33 million was for CERN.) Our experience has been that the structure provided by the national groups enables the highest productivity possible under difficult financial constraints. The structure has also proved to be valuable in starting and carrying out scientific and technical programs requiring high levels of exchange between many different locations and across geographical, institutional and disciplinary barriers. I suggest that a similar approach could be used to advantage by developing countries and for specific fields in Europe or elsewhere, to counteract the difficult periods connected with funding and student enrollment expected in the near future. It might also be applied on an international basis for specific purposes and programs.
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August 1983
August 01 1983
Physics research organization, Italian style
Faced with the handicap that research funding in Italy is an order of magnitude lower than in other large countries, the Italian physics community has evolved a system for obtaining as much physics as possible per lira.
Carlo Rizzuto
Carlo Rizzuto
Scientific Council of the Gruppo Nazionale di Struttura Della Materia
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Physics Today 36 (8), 38–43 (1983);
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Carlo Rizzuto; Physics research organization, Italian style. Physics Today 1 August 1983; 36 (8): 38–43. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2915796
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