In the framework of the Government’s policy to encourage R&D activity, the office of the Chief Scientist in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce supports about 7 research centers, among them the Israel Ceramics and Silicate Institute. During the last few years this support was expressed in the following subjects:
- Direct funding of infrastructure research at the Institute.
- Indirect funding of industrial factors buying services from the Institute.
- Financing absorption of new immigrant scientists and projects executed by them.
Further to this support which was given for a long period the Ministry initiated and financed an examination of the contribution and the influence of such support on the industry and its growth. The examination started in November 1993 and lasted for about 6 months. It comprised 6 activites:
- Locating the target population
- Literature survey
- Formulating questionnaires
- Distribution of questionnaires and interviewing the sample clients
- Data processing and writing first conclusions
- Writing the final report and presenting it to the sponsor
