APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070028-8
which had been responsible for items involving technology, directed almost all of the priority areas in the National Economic Plan involving applied research and product development. The plans for basic research are worked out by the PAN. It is assumed that the new Ministry of Science, Higher Education, and Technology will take increasing responsibility for the planning of science and technology development. The various plans stress the need for professional scientists and assistants in all disciplines, and, therefore, provisions are included for developing an effective system of training technical, laboratory, and other auxiliary staffs for the research establishments. The plans are very specific in that the government supports particular research projects, rather than financing the operation of centers.
Scientific research and development activities are financed through funds from the state budget, special funds, and current expenditures of enterprises. The state budget provides directly about 40% of the total expenditure for research and development. It provides funds for the current expenditures of the institutes under the PAN and for the expenditures of research and development organizations under those ministries which do not accumulate special funds; much of the research conducted by higher educational institutions; certain special tasks initiated by the former by autonomous KNiT; and capital expenditures of all research and development organizations. The special funds include the New Production Starting Fund and the Technical and Economic Progress Fund; the latter is based on an average levy of 0.4% of the value of industrial products. This fund is used to finance research and development projects which carry a high priority with respect to the national economy. Some research and development is financed from current proceeds of the government-owned industrial enterprises.
In some cases the institutes of the PAN receive funds from the various government ministries; for example, the Institute for Fundamental Technical Problems (IPPT) has contracts with various industrial ministries under which it does work on industrial applications of scientific techniques and assists in the training of technicians. Some Polish scientists concerned with medical and public health research receive funds from the United States under PL-480.
According to information put out by the PAN and the former KNiT, Polish expenditures for research and development have been increasing at an annual rate of over 12% during recent years. As indicated below, the percentage of gross national product expended for research has also increased:
| 1961 | 1.1% |
| 1968 | 1.5% |
| 1969 | 1.7% |
| 1971 | 2.1% |
| 1975 (projected) | 2.5% |
The 1968 expenditure for research and development was about 10 billion zlotys. National policy calls for this expenditure to increase to about 25 billion zlotys by 1975, of which 8.3 billion zlotys is to be financed by the state budget, 10.5 billion by the Technical and Economic Progress Fund, and 6.2 billion by the current proceeds of enterprises. The PAN budget was only about 850 million zlotys in 1968. The Poles recognize that one of their major problems is in equipment investment. At the present time, the value of technical equipment per research worker directly involved in science programs is relatively small and attempts are being made to bring it in line with more advanced countries of Europe.
C. Scientific education, manpower, and facilities (S)
The quality of scientific education in higher educational institutions is good. Scientific and technical training is available at 48 higher schools, and at the PAN institutes which provide training at the graduate level. With the exception of 10 medical schools under the Ministry of Health and 4 military higher schools under the Ministry of National Defense, the country's universities and technical universities responsible for scientific and technical education at the college level are under the new Ministry of Science, Higher Education, and Technology. The ministry makes decisions on organization of research work at its universities and colleges and on their cooperation with other scientific research bodies. Some vocational schools are maintained by certain industrial ministries. The most important military research and development center is the General Jaroslawa Dabrowski Military Technical Academy (WAT) in Warsaw; it trains military engineers and awards both graduate and undergraduate degrees.
Polish universities have undergone extensive reorganizations since the student disturbances of early 1968; during 1969 many administrators were discharged and replaced by party members. Many of the new administrators are not scientifically competent, and the morale of scientists has declined. With the government's emphasis on industrialization,
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070028-8
