Scientists everywhere are increasingly uneasy at the rising influence of business upon university research. They realize that direct financial connections with the private sector can damage their reputation for independence and integrity. Nevertheless, the traditional doors separating academia from industry are being quietly dismantled - sometimes even smashed down. Specious free-market doctrines are devaluing the public services that those doors protected, not least the free flow of well-informed, critical speech that is vital to open inquiry.
Scientists everywhere are increasingly uneasy at the rising influence of business upon university research. They realize that direct financial connections with the private sector can damage their reputation for independence and integrity. Nevertheless, the traditional doors separating academia from industry are being quietly dismantled - sometimes even smashed down. Specious free-market doctrines are devaluing the public services that those doors protected, not least the free flow of well-informed, critical speech that is vital to open inquiry.