14

This paper contributes to the analysis of the organizational embeddeness of scientific practices. It explores one organizational dimension which has been given little attention so far, that of the rules organizing the monetary relations between research groups from the same academic laboratory. Based on an ethnographic survey conducted at two French laboratories in chemistry and biology, the paper argues that these financial rules are not determined by the labs profile (in terms of size, activities, budgets etc.). They are rather linked to the collective project, with respect to both its scientific and organizational features, which underlies the evolution of each lab. The paper compares the diverging choices members of the two labs make in order to mutualize part of the financing from teams’ research contracts. It associates these choices to the collective project each lab draws, to the specific definition of collective performance each lab gives, and last but not least to the exchange systems between research groups wich enhance this collective performance.