Private Institute Briefs

The Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is searching for a director to launch a Department of Conservation/Research that will coordinate the institute's investigations into the reproduction, behavior, and nutrition of captive animals and endangered species. "We want someone to come in and look at what we've been doing and lay out a master plan," says biologist Dennis Meritt, assistant director of the zoo. The new director will be able to decide the size and scope of the new department, but must continue the zoo's current projects. These include an investigation into why the zoo's gorillas are failing to reproduce in captivity and a complete analysis of all zoo diets.

In a quest for improved efficiency, Draper Lab has completely reshuffled its corporate structure. Previously, the 1,000 engineers and scientists at the Cambridge, Mass., defense contractor worked exclusively in one of eight programs, ranging from ocean science to aerospace. But in the new structure, they are organized according to 10 areas of engineering expertise. "Now all the engineers are available to all the programs," explains a spokesman. President Ralph H. Jacobson, who was a major general in the U.S. Air Force before coming to Draper in March 1987, observed that this type of structure—similar to that of many aerospace companies—was creeping in informally at the lab anyway when he officially made the change on August 1.

In India, astronomy is the lonely science, says Jayant V. Narlikar of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay. Individual astronomers are often the only representatives of their breed at universities, and usually work without colleagues, adequate equipment, or new library journals. But Narlikar wants to change all that. He is now setting up a new, government-funded national center to serve as a resource for university scientists and students in India and surrounding countries, If all goes according to plan, the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics will be built next year on the campus of Poona University and will include up-todate facilities, including instrumentation laboratories. Its core staff of 20 scientists will turn over every five years to ensure the spread of information and ideas throughout the country. For more information, contact: Jayant V. Narlikar, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Bombay-400 005.