Along the same lines, the response from the 

 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) expresses the 

 need for multiyear funding but also advocates 

 flexibility in the distribution of funds, a point 

 made by many other agencies: 

 There are two primary regulation and policy 

 changes that could have a substantial positive 

 effect on research activities. First is the expan- 

 sion of the availability of multiyear funding. 

 Year-by-year funding is inconsistent with the 

 basic research, which is often a multiyear ef- 

 fort. Second is the method by which funds and 

 positions are appropriated and allocated. More 

 flexibility should be given to laboratory direc- 

 tors to distribute and redistribute research 

 funds and personnel among competing areas of 

 research. Concomitantly, laboratory directors 

 should be held more accountable for their per- 

 formance. 



Several other agencies feel that less restriction 

 on the limitation of funds by research category 

 would be helpful. Some (such as the Air Force) 

 assign a specific percentage of funds available to 

 in-house work. Others make specific allowances 

 to applied or basic work. Generally, however, 

 they feel that agency science administrators and 

 laboratory directors should have the freedom to 

 be more flexible. 



Position Control and Civil Service 

 Regulations 



Federal budget control is rigidly applied in the 

 allocation of positions. In some instances, agen- 

 cies have been granted appropriations to perform 

 an operational mission, but because of position 

 control, have not had adequate personnel to do 

 their work. Other agencies observe that they have 

 more missions and tasks than dollars or persons 

 to do the required work. Manpower barriers cited 

 include Civil Service requirements, personnel ceil- 

 ings, average grade level restrictions, hiring 

 freezes, and fixed salary levels. A greater problem — 

 the special requirements of employing scientists — is 

 one which has long been a concern of Federal sci- 

 ence administrators with a larger manpower prob- 

 lem. The retention and motivation of scientists, es- 

 pecially in light of competition with universities and 

 industry, is part of the problem. Salary levels are 

 apparently not as difficult to deal with in career man- 

 agement as the constraints of the Civil Service regu- 

 lations. As recently as 1970 a task force on Federal 

 laboratories recommended a two-category system 

 for senior Federal employees. One category would 

 consist of executive positions in policymaking and 

 major management responsibility and the other of 



professional specialists working on research requir- 

 ing creative and innovative talents. The report ema- 

 nating from the task group was never adopted. - 

 However, some science managers point to a continu- 

 ing need to be able to operate in a system outside of 

 the regular Civil Service rules. The particular re- 

 quirements of scientists employed by the Govern- 

 ment should be recognized. Theirrecruitment, devel- 

 opment, and promotion, and their need to transfer in 

 and out of particular laboratories and to move freely 

 between Government and universities, could be 

 dealt with more effectively if added flexibility were 

 provided for. 



Personnel 



In periods of science manpower shortages, re- 

 search is automatically limited. Now, when scien- 

 tists in some fields are readily available, position 

 controls and manpower ceilings are major barriers 

 for the agencies that want to operate more active- 

 ly. Shortage of competent persons in certain fields 

 is also a limiting situation. 



The prediction of the general manpower supply 

 of scientists is a perplexing task, but there is no 

 question that available young scientists in many 

 fields are not fully employed at present. With 

 university enrollments becoming stable, or even 

 declining in some sciences, available science fac- 

 ulty will exceed the number of university posi- 

 tions in some disciplines, e.g., the social sciences. 

 Research grant funds available for young investi- 

 gators are not increasing as proposals increase. It 

 is believed by some that many young scientists 

 are not being incorporated into the research sys- 

 tem as was previously the case. Fear has been 

 expressed both by agency respondents and by 

 others that the country may be losing part of a 

 generation in the normal stream of science man- 

 power. -* 



"Red Tape" i 



Many agencies are concerned with the require- 

 ments for accountability reporting and with the 

 effects of "red tape" on the operation of re- 



-Report to Federal Council for Science and Technology 

 dated November 2, 1970, prepared by the Committee on Fed- 

 eral laboratories, chaired by Dr. L.ewis M. Branscomb, and 

 transmitted to Dr. Edward David Jr., Chairman of the Coun- 

 cil, with additional review as contained in a letter from Dr. 

 Branscomb to Dr. David dated December 30, 1970. 



^Science at the Bicentennial, op. cit. 



284 BARRIERS TO OPTIMUM SUPPORT AND CONDUCT OF BASIC RESEARCH BY THE MISSION AGENCIES 



