Changing organisation of public-sector research in Europe - implications for benchmarking human resources in RTD

There have been widespread changes to the organisation and structure of public-sector research (PSR) throughout Europe. The changes appear to have negative consequences for human resources in research and technological development (RTD) but we lack reliable empirical evidence to assess their impact. Four elements of the reorganisation are discussed: the increase in short-term against long-term secure posts; the growth of student numbers; the erosion of PSR autonomy; and the introduction of new management practices. This discussion leads on to identification of the topics which benchmarking should address.