Who's balancing the federal research portfolio and how?
Merrill, S.A.; McGeary, M.
Science 285(5434): 1679-1680
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 10523184 Document Number: 503178
The Federal Research Investment Act, passed in the Senate, calls for a near doubling of U.S. government investment in civilian science and engineering research over the next decade. In addition, the President's science adviser and budget director has said the administration will guarantee that the government-wide portfolio of RandD investments will create a desirable balance among science fields. Much is known about certain areas of science and engineering that have congressional or administration attention, such as biomedical, high-performance computing, and global-change research, but surprisingly scant interest has been given to the research fields that have not prospered, the reason why they have fallen behind, and what the consequences might be. Any balancing of the federal research portfolio should be informed by thorough knowledge of the changes in research support during the cold war, new national security requirements, and attempts to reduce the federal budget deficit.