The Cardassian government's scientific arm, which sent Ulani Belor and Gilora Rejal to Deep Space 9 in 2371 for the first joint project with the Federation and Bajor.
The Cardassian Science Ministry directs civilian research in the Cardassian Union. It comes to the fore in the Deep Space Nine episode Destiny, soon after the peace treaty between Cardassia and Bajor.
Two of its scientists, Ulani Belor and Gilora Rejal, arrive to help install a subspace relay that would allow communication through the wormhole. A third, Dejar, joins them late and turns out to be an Obsidian Order operative sent to wreck the project, since the Order opposes cooperation.
The visit is shadowed by Vedek Yarka's warning that an ancient prophecy of three vipers foretells disaster. A comic thread has Gilora mistake O'Brien's irritable manner for courtship, as Cardassian engineering is a field led by women.