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You don't say it, but I guess you mean it. The time politics and policies come into play things start going the wrong way. See "TED" [1] for example.

[1] http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-02-29/why-im-fed-up...

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I think I meant that while the prize is a great appreciation of a scientist's work, it is not like a gold medal in a sports competition. There is usually no way of knowing how to get one beforehand, and they don't always go to fields that have received special attention from governments.

'More Nobel prizes to our country' is therefore hard to accomplish by politicians (and sounds populistic). Instead of using the Nobel prize as a rhetorical tool, politicians would probably do better to foster good science in general. Keep universities healthy, leave the policy making to scientists instead of pointing out areas that are going to get increased funding. Make sure scientists can investigate whatever they find interesting based on scientific quality of a proposal/track record. Maybe do keep a check on scientific nepotism et al.

Both being a scientist and defining a proper science policy are hard though.

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