Zuckerman Archive: Committee on the Management and Control of Research and Development

This series covers the business of the Committee in its entirety.

The Committee on the Management and Control of Research and Development was set up by the Lord President of the Council and Minister for Science in May, 1958, under the chairmanship of Sir Claude Gibb. Initially it was entitled simply the Committee on the Management of Research. On Gibb's sudden death in January 1959, Solly Zuckerman was appointed Chairman. The other members were Sir Patrick Linstead, Sir Willis Jackson, and A.A. Part. On Zuckerman's promotion to the chairmanship, Sir George Edwards joined the Committee.

The Committee's terms of reference were To enquire into the techniques employed by Government Departments and other bodies wholly financed by the Exchequer for the management and control of research and development carried out by them or on their behalf, and to make recommendations.

The Committee submitted its report in July 1961 [Office of the Minister for Science: Report of the Committee on the Management and Control of Research and Development, London, HMSO, 1961]. It also submitted an Epilogue, which was not published. The Epilogue indicates that the Committee felt somewhat constrained by its terms of reference, and that the more familiar we have become with the problems which we have studied, the stronger has our conviction grown that an examination is needed, not only of the way the separate parts of the present machine work, but also of the character of the machine itself. Particular attention was drawn to the issues of the numerous, and often small, publicly-funded research establishments, the formulaic approach to the composition of the research councils, and the absence of a co-ordinated national strategy for civil science. The Committee was convinced that the issues raised in this epilogue to our report are of major importance and we feel that they should be reviewed as a matter of urgency... by a small independent body specially chosen for the purpose with members drawn from both within and outside the public service.

• SZ/MR/1 Agenda, Minutes, and Chairman's Briefs, 1958-1961
• SZ/MR/2 Documents, 1958-1962
• SZ/MR/3 Correspondence, 1958-1963
• SZ/MR/4 Report, 1961

Please refer to the fonds-level description for GB 1187 SZ.

BG; DNS

Please refer to the fonds-level description for GB 1187 SZ.