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Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research
Executive Summary
THE BOTTOM LINE
On the basis of its extensive discussions and review of documents, the Committee on Department of Defense Basic Research finds reason to question the appropriateness of the classification of only a small part of the Department of Defense (DOD) 6.1 basic research portfolio. Even in those cases, the issue is usually centered on the implication in the current DOD definition of basic research that having specific applications in mind is inconsistent with the purposes of basic research. And in most of these cases, the issue often comes down to “how specific is specific?” The committee concludes that such discussion is not productive, just as that distinction in the DOD definition is not useful. Hence, the committee’s conclusion is that there is no evidence of significant misapplication of DOD basic research funding.
The committee concludes that those responsible for directing and managing basic research in the DOD are well motivated and generally successful in directing basic research resources for purposes appropriate to the DOD definition of basic research: that is, “systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without specific applications towards process or products in mind.”1 Research managers generally comply with the spirit of the definition, although if it was taken literally,
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Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research
Executive Summary
THE BOTTOM LINE
On the basis of its extensive discussions and review of documents, the Committee on Department of Defense Basic Research finds reason to question the appropriateness of the classification of only a small part of the Department of Defense (DOD) 6.1 basic research portfolio. Even in those cases, the issue is usually centered on the implication in the current DOD definition of basic research that having specific applications in mind is inconsistent with the purposes of basic research. And in most of these cases, the issue often comes down to “how specific is specific?” The committee concludes that such discussion is not productive, just as that distinction in the DOD definition is not useful. Hence, the committee’s conclusion is that there is no evidence of significant misapplication of DOD basic research funding.
The committee concludes that those responsible for directing and managing basic research in the DOD are well motivated and generally successful in directing basic research resources for purposes appropriate to the DOD definition of basic research: that is, “systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without specific applications towards process or products in mind.”1 Research managers generally comply with the spirit of the definition, although if it was taken literally,
1
Department of Defense, Financial Management Regulation, DOD 7000.14-R, Vol. 2B, Ch. 5, June 2004. Available online at http://www.dtic.mil/descriptivesum/budget_activities.pdf. Last accessed on November 16, 2004.
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Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research
having specific applications in mind would be disqualifying. The committee found that research managers apply consistent and reasonable judgment on the level of specificity that is appropriate to the purposes of basic research.
There has been a trend within DOD 6.1 basic research, however, toward reduced unfettered exploratory research and increased support for meeting more specific needs. The DOD needs to reset this balance in favor of the discovery of new fundamental understanding.
SPECIFIC FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The committee’s findings and recommendations, which appear in the main body of the report with related discussion, are presented below.
Findings
Finding 1. Department of Defense basic research funds under 6.1 have not been directed in significant amounts to support projects typical of 6.2 or 6.3 funding.
Finding 2. Research managers are well motivated and generally successful in focusing 6.1 funding on the discovery of fundamental knowledge in support of the range of Department of Defense needs.
Finding 3. Having specific applications in mind is not a useful criterion for discriminating between basic and applied research.
Finding 4. The set of attributes and desirable characteristics of basic research widely shared among experienced basic research managers can be beneficial in distinguishing between basic and applied research.
Finding 5. The basic research needs of the Department of Defense are complex and do not end when specific applications are identified.
Finding 6. The need for ongoing discovery from basic research can, and usually does, continue through the applied research, system development, and system operation phases.
Finding 7. Included in the range of values expected from basic research in the Department of Defense are (1) discovery arising from unfettered exploration, (2) focused research in response to identified DOD technology needs, and (3) assessment of technical feasibility.
Finding 8. A recent trend in basic research emphasis within the Department of Defense has led to a reduced effort in unfettered exploration, which historically
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has been a critical enabler of the most important breakthroughs in military capabilities.
Finding 9. Generated by important near-term Department of Defense needs and by limitations in available resources, there is significant pressure to focus DOD basic research more narrowly in support of more specific needs.
Finding 10. Universities, government laboratories, and industry have overlapping roles in basic research: universities primarily address the creation of broad new knowledge and human competencies, and Department of Defense laboratories and industry are more sharply focused on discovery tied more directly to identified DOD needs.
Finding 11. A clear understanding of the value expected from basic research across its full range provides the most reliable assurance of long-term Department of Defense leadership support for the basic research.
Finding 12. A variety of management approaches in the Department of Defense is appropriate to the widely diverse missions and motivations for basic research.
Finding 13. The key to effective management of basic research lies in having experienced and empowered program managers. Current assignment policies and priorities (such as leaving substantial numbers of program manager positions unfilled) are not always consistent with this need, which might result in negative consequences for the effectiveness of basic research management in the long term.
Finding 14. The breadth and depth of the sciences and technologies essential to the Department of Defense mission have greatly expanded over the past decade.
Finding 15. In real terms the resources provided for Department of Defense basic research have declined substantially over the past decade.
Finding 16. The demand for new discovery argues for significantly increased involvement of university researchers. Yet some younger university researchers in the expanded fields of interest to the Department of Defense are often discouraged by the difficulty in acquiring research support from the department.
Finding 17. Recent pressures to apply restrictions on participation and publication through export controls on Department of Defense-sponsored research funded in 6.1 both disqualify it from being considered basic research as defined by National Security Decision Directive 189 and threaten to change fundamentally the open and public character of basic university research. This finding does not apply to research funded in 6.2.
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Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research
Recommendations
Recommendation 1. The Department of Defense should change its definition of basic research to the following:
Basic research is systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and has the potential for broad, rather than specific, application. It includes all scientific study and experimentation directed toward increasing fundamental knowledge and understanding in those fields of the physical, engineering, environmental, social, and life sciences related to longterm national security needs. It is farsighted high-payoff research that provides the bases for technological progress. Basic research may lead to (a) subsequent applied research and advance technology developments in Defense-related technologies, (b) new and improved military functional capabilities, or (c) the discovery of new knowledge that may later lead to more focused advances in areas relevant to the Department of Defense.
Recommendation 2. The Department of Defense should include the following attributes in its guidance to basic research managers and direct that these attributes be used to characterize 6.1-funded research: a spirit that seeks first and foremost to discover new fundamental understanding, flexibility to modify goals or approaches in the near term based on discovery, freedom to pursue unexpected paths opened by new insights, high-risk research questions with the potential for high payoff in future developments, minimum requirements for detailed reporting, open communications with other researchers and external peers, freedom to publish in journals and present at meetings without restriction and permission, unrestricted involvement of students and postdoctoral candidates, no restrictions on the nationality of researchers, and stable funding for an agreed timetable to carry out the research.
Recommendation 3. The Department of Defense should abandon its view of basic research as being part of a sequential or linear process of research and development (in this view, the results of basic research are handed off to applied research, the results of applied research are handed off to advanced technology development, and so forth). Instead, the DOD should view basic research, applied research, and the other phases of research and development as continuing activities that occur in parallel, with numerous supporting connections among them.
Recommendation 4. The Department of Defense should set the balance of support within 6.1 basic research more in favor of unfettered exploration than of research related to short-term needs.
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Recommendation 5. Senior Department of Defense leadership should clearly communicate to research managers its understanding of the need for long-term exploration and discovery.
Recommendation 6. Personnel policies should provide for the needed continuity of research management in order to ensure a cadre of experienced managers capable of exercising the level of authority needed to effectively direct research resources. Further, in light of the reductions in positions reported to the Committee on Department of Defense Basic Research, the Department of Defense should carefully examine the adequacy of the number of basic research management positions.
Recommendation 7. The Department of Defense should redress the imbalance between its current basic research allocation, which has declined critically over the past decade, and its need to better support the expanded areas of technology, the need for increased unfettered basic research, and the support of new researchers.
Recommendation 8. The Department of Defense should, through its funding and policies for university research, encourage increased participation by younger researchers as principal investigators.
Recommendation 9. To avoid weakening the long and fruitful partnership between universities and Department of Defense agencies, DOD agreements and subagreements with universities for basic research should recognize National Security Decision Directive 189, the fundamental research exclusion providing for the open and unrestricted character of basic research. DOD program managers should also explicitly retain the authority to negotiate export compliance clauses out of basic research grants to universities, on the basis of both the program’s specific technologies and its objectives.
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Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research
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