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# System prepended metadata

title: 'Death of a Department: The Great Science Purge of 2563'

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# Death of a Department: The Great Science Purge of 2563

## The Execution Warrant
![](https://i.imgur.com/mTuIxUV.png)

## Why is Science Bad
~~oranges doesn't like it~~

Science as a department, and in particular the general scientist job, has grown over time into a tangled mess of systems with a general lack of coherence.

Many of the scientist features are disconnected from each other and many lack enough depth and breadth to serve as an interesting job to do for the round, such as:
* Research and Development: One person is needed to click on tech nodes to buy them, and sometimes pass items over a table to the public.
* Circuits: Succeeds at depth, but there's not enough to do to justify someone sitting in the circuits lab all round.
* Toxins: Has enough content to prepare a bomb mix and do the gas experiment, then goes unused for the rest of the round.
* Experimentor: This is barely used anyway.
* Science Experiments: Scanning toilets memes aside, going around the station upgrading people's machines and pointing an experi-scanner at them is about the only time scientists have to see the outside of their department, and this is a job for approximately one person.
* Xenobiology: One or two people sit in here for the round and interact with nobody else, not even the other scientists.

This leads to a tendency of having a lot of scientists who either:
* A: Never leave their department because they settled down in xenobiology for the round
* B: Do all the content the niche they took at roundstart has to offer, find all the areas with longevity have already been claimed, and leave their department never to be seen again

Outside of the Big Three (Xenobiology, Robotics, Genetics) the science department's content is comprised of smaller features which could easily be worked into other existing jobs as a part of their content. 

Based on that understanding, this change implements such a redistribution, preserving the Big Three as jobs under new departments.

Research and Development is a special case, as somebody needs to be present to push the buy button. Currently any scientist can do that, as can anyone who steals an R&D console to dump points into their own department at will.

This easy access to tech purchasing makes it difficult to incentivise departments to actively participate by withholding advancements from those who refuse to pull their weight, as they can easily buy their techs themselves.

This responsibility is assigned to a new single slot job with sole control of research point spending. By concentrating the power of research to a single individual, they have much more power to also act in a social role by interacting with departments to decide what needs to be researched in what order, and to coerce cooperation by withholding research.

## Where is the Content Now
Due to the unfortunate disappearance of the science department, its content has been redistributed both to other departments and the general public.

### Executive Summary
* Robotics: Moved to engineering
* Xenobiology: New Xenobiologist job in medical
* Circuits: Given to the public
* Toxins: Given to atmospherics
* R&D: New Research Administrator job
* Genetics: Moves to medical
* Experimentor: Given to the public
* Science Experiments: Given to all departments

### Robotics
The roboticist job is retained, and is now under engineering.

### Xenobiology
Xenobiology has sufficient content (and will to a greater extent following the maintainer-decreed overhaul) to justify indepentend existence. It is split into its own seprate job with (???) slots available, and comes under medical.

### Circuits
Circuits as a feature aren't large enough to justify their own job slot, nor closely enough related to an existing job to be added to its responsibilities. Instead the circuit lab is now publicly accessible for anyone who wants to make use of them.

### Toxins
Toxins is effectively just gas manipulation, this is easily slotted into the responsibilities of the atmospheric technician job.

### Research and Development
A new job is introduced to manage techweb research, the Research Administrator. The RA is responsible for overall oversight of all research activities and is entrusted with the R&D console. R&D console is now access locked to RA access.

The science protolathe is eliminated as the department no longer exists, designs unique to this departmental lathe are redistributed to the most appropriate department.

### Genetics
The geneticist job is retained, and is now under medical.

### Experimentor
This exists? Now publicly accessible, not like anyone uses it more than once a month for something that isn't activating strange objects.

### Science Experiments
Experi-Scanners are made available to all departments so everyone can contribute to completing experiments in their own department. Machine upgrades in particular are now engineering's job.

## The Research Administrator

### Executive Summary
* Research Administrator controls the purchase of techweb nodes
* Is not under the authority of anyone, even the captain
* Has an office with the R&D console 
* Has basic access to all departments

### New Phone Who Dis
The Research Administrator is the person responsible for spending ~~your tax dollars~~ research points on techweb progression, and ensuring departments are keeping up with their responsibility to complete experiments.

The RA is the direct representative of Nanotrasen Futures and Innovation Division and their interests, and stands outside the chain of command. They have final authority over the direction of research activities, and which tech nodes they research in support of those activities.

As they are not within the chain of command and do not directly oversee any staff of their own, the RA is *not* granted the privileges of a head of staff.

### Job Equipment
A nice outfit and basic stationery supplies, a headset with high volume and access to departmental radio channels to discuss research matters with departments, but not command radio as they are not a head of staff.

### Workspace
The RA has an office containing the R&D console, general office equipment, and Lamarr (Whom they inherited from the research director when he was fired). Access is restricted to the RA and the captain, similar to the level of restriction head of staff offices have.

### Accesses
The RA has access to their office, as well as low level access to all departments to enable in-person harrassment of departments who refuse to pull their weight.

## Job Changes Summarised
* Research Director: Deleted
* Scientist: Deleted
* Roboticist: Moved to engineering
* Geneticist: Moved to eedical
* Xenobiologist: Added under medical
* Research Administrator: Added under nobody

## The ~~Five~~ Three Stages of (Mapping) Grief

### Stage 1: Testmerges
For testmerge purposes, only the absolute necessary map changes are needed. Doors and access requirements are changed in order to allow the correct people to be able to access the research areas they have been given control of.

### Stage 2: Merge
Due to the level of effort required to massively rework every map at once, at the point of initially merging this change only the minimum map changed necessary for the rework to be viable are included.

Research areas assigned to new departments are relocated to live in their new department, and public research areas are rearranged to be in more accessible areas at the front of the old research department.

The remaining unused parts of the old department are boarded up as abandoned areas.

### Stage 3: Map Overhauls
After the rework has been merged, maps can be individually looked at by the mapping team for broader redevelopment to integrate the changes in a more organised way.
