themselves involved in R&D as a primary or a 

 secondary activity.-^ 



The type of R&D carried out by these 

 academic scientists and engineers is heavily 

 focused in the research area. An indicator of the 

 extent of this concentration is R&D expen- 

 ditures; in 1974, 96 percent of academic R&D 

 funding was expended for research activities 

 (basic and applied), with only 4 percent reported 

 for development activities. ^^ 



The extent of the involvement in research by 

 scientists and engineers who have recently 

 received doctoral degrees is indicated in figure 5- 

 14. This figure applies to those faculty spending 

 20 percent or more of their time in R&D; young 

 investigators are defined as those who had held 

 their doctorate seven years or less at the time of 

 each of the studies. The proportion of young 

 investigators in relationship to the total number 



of faculty investigators has decreased 

 significantly. These decreases, however, match 

 the overall changes in faculty age distribution, 

 regardless of activity. The physical sciences and 

 electrical engineering have been most affected, 

 while the decreases in young investigators have 

 been least pronounced in biology and psy- 

 chology. 



In 1974, more than one-half of the faculty 

 investigators28 in the fifteen fields listed in the 

 table below were performing R&D directly 

 connected with project grants and contracts 

 awarded by Federal agencies. -"This represents a 

 considerable decrease from 1968, when two- 

 thirds of faculty investigators were involved in 

 Federal projects. There were large differences 

 among the several scientific fields, however. For 



2" National Science Foundation, special tabulations 



2* "Investigators" were defined as those spending at least 

 20 percent of their time in research. 



2" Youtig and Senior Science and Engineertng faculty, 1 974: Support, 

 Participation, and Tenure, National Science Foundation (NSF 75- 

 302). 



Figure 5-14 



Young doctorate faculty' investigators' as a percent of all faculty investigators, 1968 and 1974 



(Percent) 

 60- 



1968 

 11974 



40- 



30- 



20- 



Biology Chemistry Economics 



I Those who had held doctorates seven years or less at the time of each study. 

 - Spending 20 percent or more of their time in research. 

 SOURCE: National Science Foundation. 



n 



Mathematics 



Physics 



Psychology 



129 



