Finally, basic research is an essential part of 

 education. It is not only an integral element of 

 advanced education in the sciences and engi- 

 neering but its findings constitute the objective 

 knowledge of the physical and social world 

 which is part of the education of the population 

 as a whole. 



Whether for educational and cultural 

 purposes, for technological and social reasons, or 

 for the sheer intellectual understanding basic 

 research provides, the health and vitality of such 

 research is a matter of national significance. 



RESOURCES FOR BASIC RESEARCH 



Expenditures by Performer 



Expenditures for the support of basic re- 

 search are used here as an indicator of the level 

 of this activity. Figure 21 shows total expendi- 

 tures, by year, for basic research in the United 

 States and the portions of the total performed by 

 the various sectors of the research community. 

 In terms of current dollars, expenditures in- 

 creased progressively during the 1960-72 period, 

 although the rate of increase slowed after 1968. 



Instead of the continuous rise in basic research 

 expenditures depicted by the current dollar 

 curve, expenditures expressed in constant 

 dollars peaked in 1^)68 and declined almost con- 

 tinuously thereafter (figure 21 ). The net result is 

 that 1972 expenditures were almost equivalent 

 (in constant dollars) to the 1967 level and some 6 

 percent smaller than the peak year of 1968. 



The small growth in current dollar expendi- 

 tures after 1968 was not sufficient to offset the 

 effects of inflation, in any of the five sectors. The 

 1968-72 decline in constant dollar expenditures 

 for basic research was largest in industry (14 

 percent) and smallest in universities and colleges 

 (3 percent). 



The share of the total basic research expendi- 

 tures used by the different sectors changed 

 significantly between 1960-72. The universities 

 increased their share from 43 to 57 percent, 

 while industry's share fell from 28 to 16 percent 

 and that of the nonprofit institutions declined 

 from 9 to 6 percent. The share of the Federal in- 

 house programs rose from 12 percent in 1960 to 

 14 percent in 1972, whereas the Federally 

 Funded Research and Development Centers' 



(FFRDC) share remained approximately con- 

 stant at about 7 percent. 



Expenditures by Sources 



It should be noted that for three of the sectors 

 reported— the Federal Government, universi- 

 ties and colleges, and other nonprofit institu- 

 tions—the definition of basic research stresses 

 that it is directed toward increases of knowl- 

 edge in science with "... the primary aim of the 

 investigator being ... a fuller knowledge or 

 understanding of the subject under study, rather 

 than a practical application thereof."- For the 

 industrial sector, in order to take account of an 

 individual industrial company's commercial 

 goals, the definition is modified to indicate that 

 basic research projects represent "original 

 investigations for the advancement of scientific 

 knowledge — which do not have specific 

 commercial objectives, although they may be in 

 fields of present or potential interest to the 

 reporting ccimpany."- 



Using these definitions, the total funds for 

 basic research supplied by these sectors are 

 shown for the period 1960-72 in current and in 

 constant dollars in figure 21. It can be seen that 

 the Federal funds increased rapidly during the 

 1960-68 period, but then slowed to small annual 

 increases, which convert to decreases in con- 

 stant dollars. 



As calculated from these data, the Federal 

 Government provided 62 percent of the total 

 funds for all U.S. basic research conducted in 

 1972; this proportion has changed little since the 

 mid-60's after rising from a level of 52 percent in 

 1960. Basic research funds provided by universi- 

 ties and colleges rose from some 16 percent of 

 the total in the early and mid-1960's to approxi- 

 mately 20 percent in 1972 (figure 21). The 

 largest proportional change occurred in 

 industry-funded basic research, the share for 

 which declined steadily from a high of 25 per- 

 cent in 1960 to only 13 percent in 1972. 



Federal Expenditures. Basic research expendi- 

 tures by the Federal Government are shown in 

 figure 22 for the five performing sectors. Federal 

 support of basic research in universities de- 



- National Science Foundation, National PaHerm of Rt>D 

 Resources 1953-72, (NSF 72-300). 



34 



