Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Pentagon Agency Thrives on In-Your-Face Science

1999; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 285; Issue: 5433 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.285.5433.1476

1095-9203

David Malakoff,

Space exploration and regulation

MILITARY RESEARCHFor 41 years, the Defense Department's $2 billion research agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has given a small group of program managers extensive power to direct high-risk, and sometimes wacky, research projects, in sharp contrast to the larger and more mainstream science agencies, which use peer-review panels to pick grant winners and then stay out of a researcher's way. Although some researchers grumble that DARPA's approach is heavy-handed, its unorthodox management style has had some spectacular successes, including the Internet, night-vision goggles, and radar-evading stealth aircraft. And it's winning converts in Congress and at some federal science agencies, notably the National Institutes of Health.