Question: What is CSIRO’s response to claims that CSIRO needs to ‘bring back a science culture to the organisation’?
CSIRO Response: The staff at CSIRO are some of the best and brightest in Australia and the world. CSIRO is currently ranked in the top one per cent of institutions worldwide in 14 of 22 research fields. In four of these fields it is ranked in the top 0.1 per cent, namely Agricultural Science, Environment & Ecology, Plant & Animal Science, and Geosciences.
The Executive, Business Unit leaders, science leaders, and senior scientists in the organisation come from a background of science excellence combined with other attributes to ensure that CSIRO does, and will continue, to deliver excellent science and the application of that science. With that in mind, CSIRO and other research institutions are more than science papers and citation rates. To pass judgement based solely on those would be simplistic, misleading and wrong.
Every day CSIRO scientists and staff are working with industry, universities, governments, NGOs and individuals to translate science into practical and important solutions to some of the most important questions and challenges facing Australia and the world.