An American Physiologist Abroad - continued...

Laboratory design and laboratory organisation continued to interest Benedict throughout his tours, as he considered the advantages and disadvantages of dedicated rooms or open workspaces, hierarchical or independent research structures, tight oversight or delegation of tasks and questions. Although Benedict developed his own model of laboratory governance for his large, non-university research institution, by applying a comparative perspective to dozens of laboratories over a quarter of a century, his reports identified numerous factors that could affect the success or failure of a particular lab in regard to the realisation, duration and effectiveness of its research programme.