Metabolism of Public Research Organizations : How Do Laboratories Consume State Subsidies?

The goal of this study is to suggest a new approach, called metabolism of research organizations, to analyze how labs consume public funding to manage their structures. A case study of one of the biggest European public research organizations reveals that public funding for research is mainly used for the cost of personnel, which has higher growth rates than revenue given by state subsidy and public contracts over time. This imbalance of growth rates within public research body under study seems to be a source of organizational inefficiencies. This new approach can support best practices of R&D management