Industry, Academic Leaders Advocate Basic Research in Physical Sciences
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Industry, Academic Leaders Advocate Basic Research in Physical Sciences Concerned leaders from industry and academia unveiled an advocacy campaign at an April 20 press conference in Washington, D.C., to emphasize the importance of basic research to the future of U.S. innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Targeted at policymakers and the general public, the initiative seeks to reverse a decline in federal investment in basic research in the physical sciences and engineering, using paid advertising, traditional lobbying, and outreach to legislators on Capitol Hill. The initiative is sponsored by the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation. Specifically, the task force is calling on the federal government to grow the budgets of key research agencies by 10–12% over the next 5–7 years. These agencies include the National Institute for Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s Department of Science, and the Department of Defense’s research accounts. According to the Task Force, basic research in the United States over the last few decades has led to a multitude of breakthrough technologies that in turn create jobs. The semiconductor industry alone has created 226,000 jobs with worldwide sales of $166 billion. Basic research at U.S. universities has created 4000 spin-off companies with an estimated 1.1 million employees and annual worldwide sales of $232 billion. And according to Robert Solow, a Nobel Laureate in economics, at least 50% of the nation’s economic growth over the last 50 years has come from technological innovation. Yet U.S. federal investment in basic research continues to decline, according to the Task Force. While the gross domestic product (GDP) has nearly doubled from $6 trillion to $12 trillion since 1980, federal investment in R&D in the physical and mathematical sciences and engineering
decreased by 37%. President Bush’s FY05 budget request continues the trend of previous administrations. The overall research budget would be down 1.8%, apart from a 0.6% increase for the Department of Health and Human Services. Two days after the announcement, the American Association for the Advancement of Science issued an analysis showing that the proposed Bush administration’s budget for the next five years would cut funding for basic research at 21 of 24 federal agencies. Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness, said that the United States’ technological leadership faces greater competition from abroad as developing economies increase the number of scientists with PhD degrees in engineering and physical sciences and create new incentives for scientists and engineers to work outside the United States. Other nations are rapidly replicating the structural advantages that historically have made the United States the center of innovation: investing in education and job skills, building modern network infrastructures, financing new ventures, and open
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