Individual autonomy and research creativity in time of COVID-19

This chapter wants to shed light on the value of the autonomy in the organization of the individual work, with respect to the production of new scientific knowledge in non-university research institutions. The empirical base is the experience of smart working implemented in the Public Research Organizations (PROs) during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, and the individual adaptation/reaction of the research personnel in two Italian PROs: the National Research Council (CNR) and the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). During the health-emergency period, scholars were required to work for most of the time at home, and several restrictions on free movement of people were imposed. The aim of this paper is to understand how this special condition influenced the activities of researchers and technologists and the production of original research work, thus impacting positively or negatively their creativity -namely, their attitudes of going beyond the exploitation of existing capabilities and routines.