THE COORDINATION OF RESEARCH

LOUIS-PHILIPPE BONNEAU

It would be helpful, first, to review the principal purpose or goal of work on interdisciplinary research. For many years scientific research and the techn ology which it implies has been an important factor in the life and economy of nations. Culturally, it has marked to an increasing degree peoples and their manners of acting.

When one inquires concerning one's destiny, the future of humanity or the goals of one's actions ready answers are provided by the scientific attitude and the results of scientific research. Often, however, these answers stifle any spiritual awareness, even such as might be had by an unbeliever. This attitude is exemplified in Jacques Monod's Chance and Necessity.

This problem is not new, for the two notions of science and faith have long evoked one another. Often it has been taken as certain that the two were simply parallel projects and that any thought of their reconciliation was a waste of time. Nevertheless, the problem arises again even in speaking of a parallelism of science and faith, for if that be true the need for dialogue on the part of those who raise such questions is increasingly necessary.

In addition, increasing note has been made of the complementarity which results from bringing together different scientific procedures. In a multidisciplinary team one often finds the generation of new ideas which did not exist originally in any of the disciplines taken separately. As an example, it might be noted that cybernetics is the result of the work of a team composed of mathematicians, engineers and neurologists. It would be difficult to imagine that one of these disciplines by itself could have given birth to the theory of fee dback and all that follows therefrom.

This complementarity is even stronger between the human and religious sciences. For example, it would be a daring theologian who would treat such great contemporary problems as popu lation, de velopment, poll ution, distribution of wealth, etc., without having first immersed himself in the sciences of bi ology, econ omics, ethn ology and even astroph ysics; indeed, without having teamed up with scientists in these disciplines. One might reflect on the light shed upon the scriptures by teams drawing upon the lingu istic, historical and paleogr aphic sciences.

This cooperation of researchers of different orientations is not new; it has simply become indispensable for the majority of the important scientific projects which can be imagined or desired.

Were this to be limited to researchers it would be sufficient motivation to develop one or more of the needed structures. Many persons, including the Fathers of Va tican II, have recognized that this necessity also concerns the Church. Certainly, from the

beginning, one should except revealed dogmas which research does not treat because the source of knowledge on which they depend, namely f aith, does not involve a scientific process. It remains, however, that the incarnation of these dog mas should take account of the new types of knowledge which become available and which can modify their presentation or even their interpretation.

At the same time, the Church is not an abstract idea, but a people in progress towards heaven. In view of this it must be able to develop a sure ability concerning the phenomena of nature which react with men and their actions. Too often in the past, it seems, the Church has directed the conscience of its people on the basis of erroneous understandings of nature.

Thus there would be great advantage to developing deliberate and coordinated effort in research needed to achieve the required knowledge of beings and of things. Toward this end, this paper:

(a) will treat certain requirements which are related to the process of research which, if not taken into account, could weaken that process or render it fruitless;

(b) in the light of this identification of the need to coordinate the efforts of different researchers in Catholic institutions and the specific requirements of the process of research, it will outline a strategy designed to promote this coordination;

(c) it will detail a concrete plan of action designed to promote cooperation; and finally

(d) it will project what could be a well articulated system for providing the Church with a modern research apparatus capable of assisting it better to accept and love the Go spel of Christ.

The characteristics of the scientific research community are well known by persons who do research or work in relation to it as administrators. In order to set a common perspective it may be useful to outline the principal among them. For many people these characteristics should be taken as axioms, for the soci ology of research confirms to come degree that if they are not taken into account the nature of the scientific process is not understood and one risks failure in attempting to influence it in an appropriate manner.

(a) Research as an intellectual process is characterized by contingency. It is a commonplace to say that the researcher does not know what he is going to discover. In practice, however, one often acts as if it is possible to plan research and as if one can with full assurance extrapolate the known from the unknown. Certainly, the work of futurologists tend to adopt such an attitude when, for example, they say that between 1995 and 2000 a particular problem in nature will be solved. Nevertheless, these extrapolations always carry as a condition that there be no surprises in the sequence of discovery. From the statistical point of view one can say that the extrapolations often turn out to be good. Nonetheless, one is always subject to a break-through in knowledge which produces a surprise and reverses all projections.

(b) Researchers are the dominant parties in the research system. This also is a truism, though there is a tendency in many strongly structured situations to forget this fact. Often it seems to be believed that one has only to create the auxiliary structures and to furnish the funds for equipment and operating expenses in order that the system of research produce full results. It is sometimes forgotten that the quality of research is the indispensable condition for the success of the research procedure and that the researcher must be deeply motivated and in full accord with the objective sought. These conditions are difficult to realize and are always in danger of disappearing, despite the availability of resources required for the research project.

(c) The coordination of research efforts should be voluntary and, if possible, spontaneous. In effect, researchers themselves must take a real interest in the coordination of their research efforts with those of others. They must see this coordination as making possible a real break-through by reason of the multi- disciplinarity resulting from the collaboration between researchers, or as contributing a revelatory illumination due to the new insights obtained through collaboration, or as producing by convergence a quality of thought and discovery not at first sight implicit in the work of individuals. If this collaboration which leads to the integration of research efforts is spontaneous so much the better: the researchers will have seen by themselves the benefit or even the necessity of such procedure.

(d) The coordination of work establishes itself first of all between researchers. Sometimes cooperation is derived spontaneously from a community of interests due to the fact that the researchers are exploring the same area. The history of science provides numerous examples of such cooperation: 300 years ago mathematicians working in related areas collaborated, mostly by correspondence, calling the attention of their colleagues to their essential procedures and new theorems.

Despite the difficulty of piercing political frontiers, similar collaboration has often been developed. For example, Russian physicians communicated to their English colleagues their discoveries in the area of plasmas and their manner of preserving them in "magnetic bottles." Often no structure for collaboration exists, and political conditions are such as to kill efforts at collaboration. Nevertheless, collaboration does develop, even if weak and sporadic.

(e) Collaboration between researchers and particularly coordination of research efforts can be greatly amplified by the support and encouragement of the administrations under whose direction the researchers are employed. Collaboration and even coordination can exist without this condition being realized. In many cases administrations can promote a proper balance. Indeed, the assent of administrations can sometimes be determining. One might think of what the Center for Study and Research in Nuclear Physics (C ERN) established at the border of Switzerland and France might have been had not the government administrations given their respective support to the project of the team of researchers who conceived the idea of this collaboration and cooperation.

(f) The financing of projects is a delicate area which should be based on the collective judgment of the researchers themselves. Governments furnish the funds for equipment and operation and sometimes express preferences as to the use of these funds. Rarely, however, are these grants made without the advice of researchers chosen from among those who have acquired the greatest prestige in their discipline. A fortiori the disbursement of funds for research must be based upon the judgment of one's peers concerning the specific quality of the researcher and his or her project. In international cooperation one must not neglect this judgment by one's peers and the normal financing by national agencies.

This enumeration of essential characteristics of the research process, of the motivation of researchers and of conditions which promote the establishment of cooperation seems sufficient even if a different list might be imagined which would put the emphasis on points other than those chosen here. Work to bring together men of good will and create conditions favorable for cooperation will probably not be fruitful if it neglects one or another of these givens.

If it be desirable to coordinate the research work done in these institutions and therefore to take the steps required for this purpose, let us proceed to the consideration of an appropriate strategy for achieving this coordination. For purposes of ease and clarity I would enumerate the phases of such a strategy as follows.

The creation of the conditions required for generating ideas. As an example, let us take the university milieu as a propitious place for generating ideas. In this respect, certain universities have been very fertile while, for all practical purposes, others have been sterile. If one attempts to determine the conditions which make some institutions fertile one discovers, among other things, the quality of the teaching body, the tradition of freedom in research, the internal emulation between professors/researchers, the teaching work load and the physical conditions. The following observations concern the average Catholic university, recognizing that some institutions are of international stature. Let us briefly review each of the conditions.

(1) The quality of the teaching body is perhaps more difficult to establish. In effect, because of frequently deficient physical conditions, institutions often have had to focus upon assuring what has traditionally been considered their essential mission, i.e., teaching. In certain cases a good teacher is not a researcher, especially when the mission that is considered to be of principal importance is teaching rather than research. In addition, the professorial bodies of certain institutions, especially faculties of theology, often have been deprived of their best persons when these were elevated to the episcopacy.

(2) The tradition of freedom in the process of research has not always been one of the characteristics. All would willingly concede that between the ology and ph ysics, for example, the freedom of the researcher must be differentiated. In physics it must be total or the researcher would risk being banished by his colleagues, whereas theology is guided by certain unchanging landmarks or do gmas which fr eedom cannot ignore. In physics the researcher can reject at the outset the constancy of the speed of light, for example, and in his work either arrive at an impasse or make a breakthrough onto a new path. In theology, the negation of the fundamental dogmas of the Chu rch would place the researcher in a completely false position; having excluded himself from the Ch urch his research work would become meaningless.

It remains true that between the essence of a dogma and its expression here and now there are often important variations bound to history, culture and the interpretation of the meaning of words. The Byza ntine controversies in the history of the Church give witness to this. In sum, in many cases it is a question of the judgment of the researcher against that of an arbitrator. The error can be as entirely on the part of the arbitrator who refuses to advance as on the part of the researcher who may be leading the field.

(3) Intramural emulation. In certain institutions there is division due to some faculties being so isolated from university life that no dialogue is possible. There was a time, which perhaps is not completely changed, when in certain universities theology refused the contributions of the so-called human sciences unless it had complete authority over them. The distinction between soci ology and religious sociology, for example, is sometimes specious, with the adjective being used at times to signify the inflexibility of the structures rather than to imply a fundamental difference. Emulation should be a universal aid; there is everything to gain and nothing to lose.

(4) The teaching load is heavy at many of institutions. There is no need to enumerate the reasons for this situation. All that need be acknowledged is that research cannot progress effectively when the academic personnel spends most of its energies on teaching. Furthermore, in the field of research, one cannot distinguish a priori the researcher with great potential from those with average ability. A universal system offering equal opportunity for everyone to make an attempt is therefore required, allowing the highly gifted individuals to rise rapidly. This implies for each a work load enabling one to progress according to one's potential.

(5) Material conditions can, at times, be a major factor in the generation of ideas. This is evidently more important in high-energy physics, for instance, than in theology. Every research endeavor should nevertheless be able to rely upon adequate library resources and, in certain areas, upon computerized information, as well as on the necessary travel and living allowances for the researcher needing to consult others at a distant institution.

The coordination of existing research endeavors. Many researchers are personally aware of the progress being made in their own research disciplines. They read published articles of major significance and the most important books; they attend conferences where they meet their colleagues. But even in the best of circumstances, this knowledge can be fragmented or limited. What is needed, therefore, is a systematically organized file on each major problem, containing reference to all published material, an appraisal of their merit and relevance--even at the risk of revealing the appraiser's critical views--and a sufficiently coherent synthesis expounding the problem in question and indicating favorable approaches and hidden pitfalls. Needless to say, the constitution of such files should not be left to junior secretaries; it requires the attention of the most mature and learned minds in the discipline concerned. Once the files have been constituted, they can be easily and inexpensively kept up to date.

Most disciplines have such files, either in volume size or as specialized periodical articles. This task is seemingly being carried out in a semi-spontaneous fashion: a distinguished researcher decides to spend some time on it occasionally to replenish his own thoughts, renew his perspectives and alleviate the work of younger colleagues entering a new profession. Do research fields dealing with man and his destiny have such files? If not, we must resolutely set about establishing them.

Agreement on the criteria for selecting areas for research. This matter was discussed at the International Federation of Catholic Universities (I.F.C.U.) meeting in Salamanca, but the participating members failed to agree on a limited number of criteria after discussing four predistributed papers.

The first text suggested the selection of research fields specifically related to mankind and its destiny as proclaimed by the Gospel. One of the primary criteria suggested for selecting certain research fields was the potential value of the research results in promoting the theological virtues among the children of God. A second paper proposed first to determine which objectives are the most important to the Church and then to seek ways to organize coordinated research projects to meet those objectives.

The third selection method suggested was through dialogue between researchers and organs created by the hierarchy to guide the pastoral work of the Church, especially those in the front line. Research projects should be related to the religious and human sciences and be characterized by clearly ecumenical purposes.

Finally, the fourth solution suggested that in choosing research areas emphasis be placed on controlling and deepening the relationship between revealed truth and the continually developing scientific givens; that research be directed towards fields of major significance to mankind's integral development; and that it provide the Church with a means for testing pastoral needs related to existing reality.

The discussion in Salamanca tended to give preference to choosing concrete problems of interest to the Church, such as the development of nations and the demographic evolution of mankind. It can be hoped that discussions will make it possible to specify a few essential criteria governing the selection of research projects to be eventually coordinated. A far reaching undertaking, initiated without this first step, would soon lose its identity and be of no useful purpose to the Church.

Fostering meetings between researchers and administrators. This part of the strategy seems evident since, even with the most comprehensive and useful files, meetings among researchers and the confrontation of ideas in the course of formal presentations during conferences or in private conversations are irreplaceable.

Funds are required to further such meetings. Grants in aid of research as well as university budgets have provided for travel allowances of this nature. But the fact remains that, in view of the great disparity of resources between institutions, the necessary travel expenses must be sought from sources other than the national or institutional budgets. Administration of such funds will always be a delicate matter: a sound balance between scientific tourism and an excessive restriction of travels either in number or in scope must indeed be maintained.

Promotion of a closer bond between researchers and the hierarchy. It is said that bishops willingly avail themselves of specific services from professionals in their dioceses: writing documents of special import, investigating a number of complex situations. In spite of that, it appears that hardly any dialogue takes place between the Church and the researchers through a deeply nurtured and more profitable dialogue would certainly be beneficial to the pastors of the Church. Imagine the cooperation that could be created as a result of coordinating the problems of the Church with the resourcefulness of researchers willing to participate in its mission. Episcopal groups in various countries face such major obstacles in their mission as development in the Third World, pollu tion in developed countries, overpopu lation in others, and cultural secular ization. It is quite obvious that the Bishops themselves, as well as the Roman Commissions can best define the range of support which researchers can offer. Yet, for all that, dialogue needs to be established with mutual openness and subsequently pursued in an orderly fashion.

Encouragement of timely investigations. Once the scope of the research field has been decided upon, one will be tempted to be discouraged by the incompatibility between needs and resources. We must resolve not to intervene at all levels, but only in those areas chosen according to the above-mentioned criteria and in view of their particular relevance. This does not mean that we must proceed to create stimuli as does one who plays the piano: by a series of quick but ineffectual interventions. On the contrary, this would dissipate efforts and confuse researchers. Between this dispersion and average or dull uniformity there is room for timely stimuli powerful enough to sustain researchers in their endeavors until the expected results are produced.

Provision for the dissemination of results. This part of the strategy may or may not be necessary, depending on the research fields chosen. Actually, some disciplines are well organized for diffusing results; all that is required are the necessary funds to subscribe to specialized periodicals. On the other hand, multidisciplinary fields under development may not have any of the required media for dissemi nation at their disposal. We must therefore resolve to create them, since this is how the research control loop, from which new ideas emerge, will complete its full cycle.

The above strategic elements have been presented in somewhat undigested form so that they may be interchanged to suit various methods of procedure. The following remains within the bounds of a unique action plan explicitly or implicitly drawn from the preceding suggestions. It is offered not as the only possible procedure, but as a potentially acceptable course of action. Through discussion it can be nuanced, eliminated or corroborated.

In sum, I propose an international organization depending upon national agencies and administered by a fund or Foundation.

International Organization. Due to the particular nature of the research and in order to prevent undue friction between researchers and the hierarchy, this organization should be composed mostly of university people. The International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) has, for some years, provided good service to the Church through its close examination of the function and role of the Catholic university throughout the world and in the Church. It is a normal extension of its central mission, to play a major role in this concerted action. In order to create favorable conditions for dialogue between researchers and the hierarchy, a certain number of people from the hierarchy should sit on the board of directors of the international organization. Lastly, active researchers should make up the better part of the organization. Specifically this would mean a total of 20 members of which 15 would be university representatives and 5 from congregations, Roman commissions, or episcopal bodies; at least 12 of those 20 members should be active researchers.

The role of the international organization would be to: 1) draw up a list of pressing problems which could be solved by research; 2) list those problems in an annually revised order of priority; 3) periodically circulate the research topics so listed; 4) obtain researchers' reactions following publication of the lists or any other event prompting a research initiative; 5) see that research projects are financed, either by ascertaining that grants-in-aid originating from domestic sources be adequate or by granting research subsidies; and 6) administer the fund or Foundation.

This fund, or better still, this Foundation, could be instituted by soliciting donations from known sources: wealthy families sympathetic to this cause; industries connected with certain problems (pharmac eutical, for example); and perhaps some German, American or Canadian foun dations. The Foundation would use only the income from donations received and would be expertly and professionally administered to profit from the appreciation of certain investments. The yield would grow proportionally with the fund itself and, after a few years and with some perseverance, the Foundation could draw upon a significant income in order to finance coordinated projects of considerable importance.

The board of directors should meet twice a year to work on dossiers prepared by the staff of the secretariat. The secretariat would operate on a part-time basis at first, extending its activities should the need arise. In any event, the secretariat should always remain small to prevent ineffective centralization.

A National Organ. In countries where university people and the hierarchy experience the need, the establishment of a national agency with similar characteristics could be considered. These national agencies would be in liaison with the international organization and constitute a network whereby an exchange of ideas, from core to periphery and vice versa, would ensure that pressing problems were brought to the attention of the most competent researchers.

Lastly, a system for disseminating news and ideas by, e.g., a periodic bulletin at the national and international level would keep researchers posted on matters of particular interest to them; inform the hierarchy of worthy achievements; and enable the scientific community to take account of important contributions to the development of scientific work.

Projections. One could imagine some possible developments in the case that a plan and method be agreed upon. One could foresee a determination of the priority to be given to concerted efforts in a few research fields, such as bi ology and the ology, soci ology of religi on and human development and progress. Each member of the Board would have a comprehensive file on each field with information on the nature of the problem, on who is doing research in that particular area, the import of that research, the avenues worth exploring, the minimum amount of financial support required in order to achieve the maximum positive results, and the local funds available from domestic and university budgets.

With this information, representatives from the hierarchy, researchers, and university administrations would be able to determine the funds available for distribution; the support such as travel and living expenses to be given to groups already functioning well but, due to the distance that separates them, are unable to meet one another and coordinate their work; and the investigations to be conducted prior to the meeting.

Emphasis would be placed upon the initiatives of the Board and of the researchers, administrators and hierarchy, rather than upon defensive reactions to the publication of a provocative works. These initiatives would be centered around pressing problems confronting the religious man of the 20th century, on his destiny as a child of God and on the clarification of the biblical virtues of fa ith, ho pe and cha rity. Without forsaking their own disciplines, Catholic researchers themselves would be growing more and more aware of this community of ideals and their loyalty to the Church and be increasingly interested in cooperating with their Catholic colleagues in other countries with a view to coordinating their research efforts in order to achieve more complete and relevant results.

Gradually, these joint initiatives could contribute to a spirit which would restore spiritual meaning to its proper place and reestablish the balance of matter and spirit which has been threatened by some types of scientific research.

This could well be a turning point that would make possible dynamic coordination oriented toward the future. It could facilitate scientific research that would shed light upon the Gospel and its postulates and enable man to be more definitely and deeply enlightened concerning his destiny.

The Club of Rome has analogous objectives: a coordinated study on an international scale of man's destiny on earth. The Club has already contributed, even with limited resources, to deepening the understanding of problems and marking out critical areas. We are invited to a similar, but more stimulating, mission: to aid the Church by scientific research to make the Gospel of Christ in its full meaning better known and more fully accepted by men in our day.

University of Laval

Quebec, Canada