Trends in Federal Support of Research and Graduate Education (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
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These include fields whose earlier advances contributed to the surge in productivity and economic growth of the late 1990S2 and fields that underlie progress in energy production and conservation, pollution abatement, medical diagnosis and treatment, and other national priorities. BACKGROUND In the early 1990s shifting national priorities stemming from the end of the Cold War and a political consensus to eliminate the federal budget deficit began to reduce federal funding of research and development in real terms.3 DeiMichael McGeary and Stephen A
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· Although federal research funding began to increase after 1997, the new composition of federal support remained relatively unchanged. In 1999, the life sciences had 40q 35 an to ~ 25— o a)
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· The patterns in federal funding of basic research and research performed at universities are similar to that for overall funding of research but somewhat more favorable, suggesting that by the late 1990s agencies were tending to protect basic and university research relative to applied research and other performers. · Although federal funding of research assistant positions through research grants and contracts is but one factor among many in determining the number of graduate students in training and the number of Ph.D.'s produced in a field, graduate enrollments and Ph.D.
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Generally speaking, moreover, federal funding for research has a longer time horizon and can be more stable than investments from other sources. The funding trends leading to shifts in the federal research portfolio will continue under the administration's budget plan.
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There is cause for concern about the allocation of funding among fields in the federal research portfolio, in particular with respect to most of the physical sciences and engineering whose funding, in contrast with the biomedical sciences, has with few exceptions stagnated or declined. The current level of funding in some fields may not be optimal from a national perspective or from the The rationale for a diverse portfolio is articulated in National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine.
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and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) , with assistance from federal agencies and appropriate advisory bodies, should evaluate the federal research portfolio, with an initial focus on fields related to industrial performance and other national priorities and a recent history of declining funding.
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Researchers, professional societies, industry associations, and federal research agencies should explore the relationships between federal research funding and other factors (e.g., population flows through the educational system, domestic and foreign student demand, labor market conditions, etc.) in the development and use of scientific and engineering talent.
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Recommendation 8. The philanthropic community should cooperate in collecting and publishing data on a basis comparable to federal research statistics.
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