Issue: The Conduct of Research 



Some of the most far-reaching changes in the research environment are occurring in the con- 

 duct of research itself, including the intellectual organization of the task, the processes by which 

 it is accomplished, and the institutional relationships that support it. The net result is an increase 

 in cost and complexity of research along with an explosion of opportunities to expand 

 knowledge. 



RECOMMENDATION: 



• Federal agencies should increase bilateral and multiagency cooperative activities, there- 

 by encouraging significant multidisciplinary initiatives that might otherwise not be 

 funded. 



State-of-the-art facilities and instruments for advanced education at RIUs are vital elements 

 of American education as well as research. The costs of these facilities have risen rapidly, as 

 frontier research has become increasingly dependent on advanced technology. There is a shared 

 Federal and university interest in maintaining capability for frontier research at universities. Such 

 facilities are not only essential to graduate education and state-of-the-art research but also to the 

 advancement of the national research agenda and execution of individual agency missions. 



Support provided by Federal agencies through research grants includes salary for researchers, 

 in some cases full salary support. Full salary support may be an appropriate aspect of full pay- 

 ment of costs of research procured by the Federal government from universities. However, full 

 salary support is inappropriate in situations where the interests and responsibilities are shared be- 

 tween the university and the Federal government. Furthermore, Federal salary support in the lat- 

 ter instance should not displace universities' own responsibilities for faculty support. 



RECOMMENDA TIONS 



• Federal agencies should act on their shared interest in the health of university research 

 infrastructure, including equipment and facilities, by clarifying and establishing their 

 shared responsibilities and those of universities based on a careful and focused alloca- 

 tion of shared resources. 



• The challenges to science and technology require a diversity of research mechanisms. 

 Federal agencies should balance continued strong support for individual investigators 

 with effective focus on centers and groups, and on multidisciplinary research. 



• Federal agencies should pay even greater attention to efficiency in the allocation of 

 resources for university-based research, to encourage shared facilities, and to ensure 

 that resources are commensurate with the objectives for which they are allocated. 



