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lex.ling.nwu.edu>UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE ---29 September 1992--- UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE *** BASIC RESEARCH IN PERIL at the NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) *** The Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Walter Massey, has expressed clear intent to redirect the NSF away from its mission in basic research toward a new mission to "accept a major role in fostering links between research and technology" to foster product development and assist industry. As a result of his efforts, Congress passed a report with language similar to the original Senate report appearing below (at the bottom). This was attached to a large VA/HUD/IA appropriations bill, consequently receiving very little attention, and was not publicized. All of this comes at the urging of the National Science Board (NSB), the agency overseeing NSF. The NSB report is also excerpted below. James Duderstadt, President of the University of Michigan, is chairman of NSB. A special commission was created to study how to integrate NSF efforts with the needs of industry. This "Special Commission on the Future of NSF" has been given only 75 days from its first meeting to come up with a final report. They are accepting input through October 15 -- THAT'S JUST 2 WEEKS FROM NOW This whole process has not been well advertised in the scientific community, and most of the scientific community does not know about it! **************************************************************************** WHAT YOU MUST DO: remember, input deadline is Oct 15 1) PASS THE WORD AROUND-- share with faculty members in all interested departments (physics, chemistry, atmospheric & oceanic sciences, earth sciences, math, and various humanities including linguistics, poli. sci. and anthropology). Share with YOUR DEANS AND RESEARCH ADMINISTRATORS 2) WRITE TO THE COMMITTEE: Special Commission on the Future of NSF, Rm. 546 National Science Foundation 1800 G St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20550 fax: (202)-357-7346 3) TALK TO THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS: *=member of National Science Board William Danforth, Co-Chair. Chancellor of Washington U. in St.Louis Robert Galvin, Co-Chair. Former CEO of Motorola, and a lawyer. Jacqueline Barton prof. of chemistry at Cal Tech University Lindy Boggs former U.S. Representative from Louisiana Lewis Branscomb prof. of public service at Harvard University Peter Eisenberger director of Materials Institute at Princeton Marye Anne Fox * prof. of chemistry at U. of Texas C. Peter Magrath president, National Association of State Univerisities and Land-Grant Colleges Ruben Mettler former CEO of TRW Percy Pierre research vice-president at Michigan State University Frank Rhodes * president of Cornell University Earl Richardson president of Morgan State University Ian Ross * president emeritus of AT&T Bell Labs William Rutter CEO of Chiron Corporation Donna Shalala Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison *************************************************************************** Data and definitions from Science and Engineering Indicators, 10th Edition, NSB-91-1, issued by the National Science Board: Basic research: Basic research has as its objective a fuller knowledge or understanding of the subject under study, without specific applications in mind. In industry, basic research is defined as research that advances scientific knowledge but does not have specific commercial objectives, although such investigations may be in fields of present or potential interest to the reporting company. Applied research: Applied research is directed toward gaining knowledge or understanding necessary for determining the means by which a recognized and specific need may be met. In industry, applied research includes investigations directed to the discovery of new scientific knowledge having specific commercial objectives with respect to products, proceses, or services. U.S. R&D funds in millions of constant 1982 dollars (dollars adjusted by GNP) 1=total R&D(sum of 2,3,4) 2=basic research 3=applied research 4=development FFRDC=Federally Funded Research and Development Center *=preliminary -----SOURCE OF FUNDS------ -------PERFORMER OF WORK--------- fed. indus- univer- non- fed. indus- univer- non- year total govt try sities profits govt try sities FFRDC profits 1 1990* 110470 48591 56757 3376 1746 12213 79173 12137 3641 3305 2 1990* 16636 10357 3441 1972 865 1972 3609 7851 1896 1307 3 1990* 25742 9622 14337 1161 623 2883 17514 3675 569 1102 4 1990* 68092 28612 38979 243 258 7358 58050 611 1176 897 1 1980 73255 34557 36065 1574 1059 9006 51919 7171 2650 2508 2 1980 9922 6963 1485 939 535 1395 1546 4769 1326 887 3 1980 16232 7530 7809 525 368 2931 9858 2004 594 846 4 1980 47101 20065 26771 110 156 4680 40516 399 730 776 International Research & Development, as a % of Gross National Product 1/2/3: 1=total R&D, 2=non-defense R&D, 3=% of total R&D on basic research 19xx United West United year States Japan Germany France Kingdom Italy Sweden 75 2.2/1.6/13 2.0/2.0/12 2.2/2.1/26 1.8/1.5/NA 2.1/1.5/14 0.9/0.9/20 1.7/1.4/NA 76 2.2/1.6/13 2.0/2.0/15 2.1/2.0/25 1.8/1.4/NA NA/ NA/13 0.9/0.8/20 NA/ NA/NA 77 2.2/1.6/13 2.0/2.0/15 2.1/2.0/25 1.8/1.4/21 NA/ NA/13 0.9/0.9/20 1.8/1.5/18 78 2.1/1.6/14 2.0/2.0/16 2.2/2.1/22 1.8/1.4/NA 2.2/1.6/13 0.8/0.8/19 NA/ NA/NA 79 2.2/1.6/14 2.1/2.1/15 2.4/2.3/21 1.8/1.4/21 NA/ NA/13 0.8/0.8/16 1.9/1.7/18 80 2.3/1.7/13 2.2/2.2/14 2.4/2.3/21 1.8/1.4/21 NA/ NA/13 0.9/0.8/15 NA/ NA/NA 81 2.4/1.8/13 2.3/2.3/13 2.5/2.4/22 2.0/1.5/21 2.4/1.7/13 1.0/1.0/15 2.4/2.2/23 82 2.5/1.8/13 2.4/2.4/13 2.6/2.5/21 2.1/1.6/21 NA/ NA/NA 1.1/1.0/15 NA/ NA/NA 83 2.6/1.9/13 2.6/2.5/13 2.5/2.4/21 2.1/1.7/21 2.2/1.6/NA 1.1/1.1/16 2.6/2.4/NA 84 2.7/1.9/13 2.6/2.6/13 2.6/2.5/NA 2.2/1.7/20 NA/ NA/NA 1.0/ NA/16 NA/ NA/NA 85 2.8/2.0/12 2.8/2.8/12 2.8/2.7/18 2.3/1.8/20 2.3/1.6/NA 1.1/1.1/16 3.0/2.6/20 86 2.8/1.9/14 2.8/2.8/13 2.8/2.7/NA 2.2/1.8/20 2.4/1.7/NA 1.1/1.1/17 NA/ NA/NA 87 2.8/1.9/14 2.8/2.8/13 2.9/2.8/19 2.3/1.8/20 2.3/1.8/NA 1.2/1.2/NA 3.0/2.7/23 88 2.7/1.9/14 2.9/2.9/13 2.9/2.7/NA 2.3/1.8/23 2.2/1.7/NA 1.3/1.3/NA NA/ NA/NA Note how basic research is a small fraction of the total research, and is supported primarily by the federal government, with most of the work being done at universities. Basic research is the underpinning of the advancement of science, the very foundation of technology, and we get all this for a mere 0.4% of the GNP. But the total pot for NSF is unlikely to increase commensurately with the new demands on it, so reductions in basic research are inevitable unless we can convince the Committee to restore basic science as the principle mission of NSF. In 1985, NSF was ordered to support "fundamental engineering research" but the budget was not increased to accomodate the expanded mission. The following has been excerpted from an e-mail put out by APS:Mail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue