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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
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Fateful Choices

The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise

A Discussion Paper

GOVERNMENT-UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY RESEARCH ROUNDTABLE

National Academy Press
Washington, D.C. 1992

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×

The Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable, established in 1984, is a forum for discussion and debate among representatives of government, universities and industry. Discussions focus on issues related to research that challenge, confound and occasionally divide those in the U.S. research community. The Roundtable does not make recommendations regarding specific government policies or programs. Its purpose is to help all participants develop a better understanding of complex issues, to stimulate imaginative and creative thought and to provide a setting for seeking consensus. The Roundtable is jointly sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine.

The Roundtable’s agenda is set by a 25-member Council. The Council’s membership is comprised of distinguished scientists, engineers, administrators and policymakers from government, universities and industry. The presidents of the Roundtable’s three sponsoring institutions also hold seats on the Council. With the exception of the federal agency officials, who serve as long as they are in office, Council members are appointed to three-year terms.

Through all of its work, the Roundtable Council maintains working relationships with the vast array of parties with an interest in the conduct of research in the United States. These include professional associations, scientific societies, executive agencies, congressional offices, industries and state governments. Contact between the Roundtable and these groups takes place at various venues, including large symposia, workshops and smaller meetings.

Occasionally, working groups are appointed by the Council to examine selected topics in depth. Membership on the working groups is drawn from the Roundtable Council and includes other leading participants in the U.S. research system. The results of working group discussions are reported to the Council, where they receive critical review. Discussion papers, based on the working group deliberations, are disseminated to interested constituencies in the hope of stimulating a wider discussion of these issues.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 92-60536

International Standard Book Number 0-309-04643-4

S 485

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×

WORKING GROUP ON THE ACADEMIC RESEARCH ENTERPRISE

ERICH BLOCH, Chairman, Distinguished Fellow,

Council on Competitiveness

WILLIAM H. DANFORTH, Vice-Chairman, Chancellor,

Washington University in St. Louis

FREDERICK BERNTHAL, Deputy Director,

National Science Foundation

JOEL S. BIRNBAUM, Vice President and General Manager,

Information Architecture Group, Hewlett-Packard Company

JOHN W. DIGGS, Deputy Director for Extramural Research,

National Institutes of Health

HAROLD H. HALL, Retired Vice President,

CRG Technical Staff, XEROX Corporation

BARRY MUNITZ, Chancellor,

California State University System

T. ALEXANDER POND, Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer,

Emeritus, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

RUDI SCHMID, Associate Dean of International Relations,

School of Medicine, University of California-San Francisco

HAROLD T. SHAPIRO, President,

Princeton University

LARRY L. SMARR, Director,

National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

ROBERT L. SPROULL, President Emeritus,

University of Rochester

S. FREDERICK STARR, President,

Oberlin College

JOHN D. WILEY, Dean,

Graduate Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

LINDA S. WILSON, President,

Radcliffe College

MARK S. WRIGHTON, Provost,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

HARRIET ZUCKERMAN, Vice-President,

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Associate Member:

MARTA CEHELSKY, Policy Officer,

National Science Board

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×

STAFF

DON I. PHILLIPS, Executive Director,

Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable

JOHN P. CAMPBELL, Senior Program Officer,

Roundtable Working Group on the Academic Research Enterprise

GREG W. PEARSON, Writer/Editor

PAUL D. HILL, Project Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With the publication of this discussion paper, the Roundtable working group fulfills its charge to look at both the current status of and future prospects for the academic research enterprise. The Roundtable Council showed great foresight in establishing the group over four years ago. Throughout our work we have benefitted from the guidance and insightful questions by the Council, especially the contributions of Jim Ebert, the Roundtable Chairman, who actively participated in working group deliberations.

John Campbell, the project director, did a superb job of organizing the group's ideas throughout our deliberative process and presenting provocative and constructive ideas of his own. Greg Pearson played a critical role in the writing and editing of this paper. We also wish to acknowledge the guidance and participation of Don Phillips, the Roundtable Executive Director.

Special thanks go to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for financial support for the publication and dissemination of this paper. The staff of the National Science Foundation was most helpful in providing statistical analyses of trends in the academic research enterprise.

The document is first and foremost the product of the working group. We hope we have provided a coherent framework for making choices about policies, programs, and resources for the future of the academic research enterprise.

Erich Bloch

Chairman

Roundtable Working Group on the Academic Research Enterprise

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
This page in the original is blank.
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×

PREFACE

One of the major areas of interest for the Research Roundtable has been academic research in the United States. In 1987, the Roundtable Council assembled the Working Group on the Academic Research Enterprise to study this issue. Among the many concerns driving this effort were the changing nature of research, the changing demographics of the college-age population, the increasing financial and human resources required for carrying out research, and the growing expectations placed on academic research. These concerns raised questions about the role of universities and colleges within the U.S. research system, the nation's ability to support academic research, the management of research institutions and the responsibilities of those who sponsor research.

CHARGE TO THE WORKING GROUP

The charge to the working group was four-fold: (1) to examine recent trends affecting academic research in the United States; (2) to consider the impact of these trends on the current academic research enterprise 1; (3) to identify the longer-term issues that will affect the enterprise in the decades ahead; and (4) to explore ways in which the enterprise might best meet the challenges of the future.

It should be emphasized that the working group was asked to focus its attention on the broad, underlying issues affecting the long-term health of academic research, rather than to dwell on the narrower concerns of the day. In addition, the group was asked to limit its study to the sciences and engineering. Other areas of academic scholarship—the arts and humanities, for example—also merit analysis, but are beyond the scope of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable.

WORKING GROUP ACTIVITIES

The working group divided its work into two phases. During the first phase, the working group addressed the status of the current academic research enterprise, reviewed statistical evidence of recent trends, and identified pertinent issues for further consideration. A resulting discussion paper was published in October 1989.2

1  

As used by the Working Group, the U.S. academic research enterprise refers generally to the group of American universities and colleges performing significant research in the sciences and engineering. The U.S. research system refers collectively to all institutions that perform or fund research, including universities and colleges, federally and state-supported laboratories, federal and state research funding agencies, foundations, and industry.

2  

Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable, Science and Technology in the Academic Enterprise: Status, Trends and Issues, Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, October 1989.

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×

During the second phase, the working group conducted further analyses of issues identified in the October 1989 discussion paper, paying particular attention to their implications for the future of U.S. academic research. In addition to holding numerous meetings itself, the working group convened five special workshops focused on the phase-two objectives. The workshops, held from March through October 1990, addressed the following topics: the changing organization and management of universities; the future role of universities; the changing conduct of research and its implications for funding agencies; the future of scientific and engineering education; and the future funding of academic research.

For international perspectives on the issues being addressed, the working group benefited from two symposia co-sponsored by the Research Roundtable and the National Science Foundation. The first, in March 1989, focused on the historical evolution of the research systems of six countries: the United States, Japan, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.3 The topic of the second, in February 1991, was future national research policies, which were presented and discussed by senior government officials and leading scientists directly involved in formulating research and higher-education policies in the United States, Japan, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the European Community.4

The current program of activities culminated in a national conference on the future of the U.S. academic research enterprise, held December 9-10, 1991, in Washington, D.C. Conference participants were asked to assess the range of options identified by the working group and to explore the possibilities for national consensus on the future of the enterprise.5

MAJOR THEMES OF DISCUSSION PAPER

This discussion paper presents the working group's thoughts from its second-phase deliberations and inquiries. The Research Roundtable hopes this discussion paper will stimulate debate within the research community and the public at large about the future course of academic research in the United States.

Part One presents an optimistic and challenging vision of the future of U.S. academic research. In this vision, the working group outlines the significant changes that it believes lie ahead for the research community. These include an emerging global research system, a broadened research work-force, new communication systems, and an expanded role for academic research in advancing social, health, and economic goals.

3  

Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable, The Academic Research Enterprise Within the Industrialized Nations: Comparative Perspectives, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, March 1990.

4  

Government-University-Industry, Research Roundtable, Future National Research Policies Within the Industrialized Nations, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, April 1992.

5  

For a summary of the conference proceedings, see Government-University-Industry Research Round-table, The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise: Report of a Conference, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, March 1992.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×

Part Two outlines the steps necessary to pursue this vision. In the view of the working group, two processes need to begin simultaneously.

  • First, universities and research sponsors need to take immediate, concrete steps to respond to the changes occurring within the enterprise. The working group believes that decisionmakers at the highest levels need to set overall national research priorities with input from the university and research communities. Universities and funding agencies need to clarify their respective responsibilities for funding university-based research, and they need to update their organizational and management strategies. The research community and universities need to adapt to shifting demographics and the changing value systems of many young investigators. Finally, universities need to improve the quality of science and engineering education, especially at the undergraduate level.

  • Second, all those with a stake in academic research—including the political, corporate, and public interest sectors—should begin to think strategically about the future of the research enterprise. To start this process, the working group describes a heuristic framework for considering future options. Central to this framework is a better understanding of the large-scale forces that affect the enterprise: the pace and nature of research, the economy, politics, and international events. Based on a consideration of possible interactions of these forces, the working group sets forth several "scenarios" depicting the future size and structure of the enterprise. The working group then identifies key policies or programs, specific to each scenario, that would be required to maintain the quality and productivity of the enterprise.

Following these two important discussions, the working group outlines several fateful choices that lie at the heart of these near-term decisions and strategic options. These choices will shape the capacity and character of the U.S. research enterprise over the next several decades.

Part Three describes the changing environment for decisionmaking. Wise decisionmaking will require a broad perspective that encompasses the full range of elements essential to the enterprise—people, programs, infrastructure, and financial support. In the view of the working group, innovative approaches to decisionmaking are called for that will require new forms of leadership and a sense of common purpose.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
This page in the original is blank.
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
This page in the original is blank.
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
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Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Fateful Choices: The Future of the U.S. Academic Research Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1980.
×
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This volume describes a vision for the future of U.S. academic research and the near-term actions and policies required to maintain the quality of academic research in the United States. It also describes longer-term strategic considerations for the enterprise in the next century, concluding with a discussion of new approaches to decision making within the academic research enterprise.

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