Institutional transformation of the STS in Poland

Transformation is the process of destruction of one system and the shift to another. It is characterised by the co-existence of three contexts: being destroyed but not destroyed, being created but not created and the complex interaction of "new" and "old". This complex interaction deserves special attention. My aim is to explain how the heritage of the communist S&T system influences current issues of S&T policy in Poland, and, in particular, how the recently renewed autonomy of science in Poland, a reaction to some features of pre-1989 science, hampers the introduction of deeper changes to S&T policy at present.