Science in East and West: Transformation and integration of the East German science system

In the GDR, science was largely oriented on underpinning political objectives and in particular on promoting the economy. On the basis of a linear model of research and innovation processes, a specific hierarchically structured organizational and management structure for research was created and integrated into the overall centralist state management system. In the process of German unification, efficient nuclei of this research system were to be retained and integrated into a new science system for the whole of Germany on the West Germany model. Although the transfer of institutions from West to East has largely been completed, research in East Germany differs considerably from that in West Germany in both quantitative and structural respects. The decline and structural deformation of industrial research is a particular obstacle to resuscitating academy-industry relations, and displays the mark of 'peripheral development' in East Germany.