PCAST Drafts Principles for Federal Support of Science and Technology

Along with a letter to President Clinton and congressional leaders, as reported in FYI #141, the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology produced a Statement of Principles for guiding federal science and technology policy and future budgets. The six principles, along with selected portions of the Committee’s justifications, are quoted below:

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES 1. Science and technology have been major determinants of the American quality of life and will be of even greater importance in the years ahead.

“Over the last 50 years, our economic productivity, environmental quality, personal health, and national security have become firmly grounded on our scientific and technological strength. More than half of our growth in economic productivity and per capita income has resulted from technological advances.... As we enter the information age, science and technology will play an even greater role in both economic and social structures....”

2. Public support of science and technology should be considered as an investment for the future.

”...The marketplace alone cannot fund basic and applied research in science and technology at a sufficient level because the benefits are generally too far in the future and too widely distributed for individual companies to justify the investment...[particularly] in these times of increasing global competition, which is shortening horizons for the returns derived from industrial research and development expenditures.”

3. Education and training in science, mathematics, and engineering are crucial to America’s future.

“America’s world renowned research universities have been a driving force behind our nation’s primacy in science and technology, but they are currently under institutional stress.... In contrast to the world leadership in advanced education, our K-12 education, especially in science and mathematics, needs significant improvement. The knowledge-based society of the 21st century will place a high premium on scientific and technical literacy.... [T]he Federal government should play a role in establishing educational standards, in encouraging young people from diverse backgrounds to choose careers in science and technology (including the teaching of science and technology), in providing disadvantaged students with the opportunity for full participation in society, and in developing and offering cutting edge instructional tools.”

4. The Federal government should continue to support strong research institutions -- universities, research institutions, and national laboratories -- as part of the nation’s science and technology infrastructure.

“Federal investment develops the science and technology infrastructure needed to meet future national needs. Frontier research and educational excellence require world-class research institutions, facilities, and instrumentation.... We cannot allow short-term pressures or fluctuations in funding to diminish this precious national resource.”

“Federal agencies conduct a great deal of research and development at in-house and contractor-operated laboratories.... Government laboratories will be subject to ongoing streamlining and mission redefinition, but must be viewed as an essential component of our national science and technology infrastructure, complementing the capabilities of universities and industrial laboratories.”

5. The Federal investment portfolio in science and technology must support both basic and applied research, including the development of precompetitive technologies with and for the private sector as well as for national needs.

“The need for Federal support of basic research is widely recognized. It is the research that ultimately underlies and stimulates technological innovation.... The benefits of basic research are generally too long term, too widely distributed, and too high risk for individual companies to justify the costs. Recently, even the premier corporations that have historically funded basic research are now cutting back.”

“Applied research and development are largely supported in the private sector. However, Federal support plays a crucial role.... Federal support provides an essential bridge between research results and product development.... Without Federal support for generic applied research and development, often in cost-sharing arrangements with the private sector, our industries will be at a significant competitive disadvantage and our nation’s economic strength will be diminished....”

6. Stability of funding, based on long-range planning, is essential for effective and efficient use of the Federal investment in research and its associated educational function and for enhancing international collaboration.

“Building outstanding research and development capacity requires a long lead time, so funding must be sustained and reliable to be cost-effective....”

“International collaborations will become increasingly important for the advancement of large science projects. Stable, long-term commitments are especially central to such collaborations. Commitments to international projects should be made only with strong bipartisan support and with multi-year Congressional authorization.”