ly, universities vary in their manner of performing 

 basic research for the Federal Government. At 

 any one time, there are thousands of ongoing pro- 

 jects and thousands of individual investigators at 

 work. These projects may be conducted by indivi- 

 dual investigators, teams of investigators, or con- 

 sortia of universities — and in large laboratories, 

 ships and stations, or national laboratories man- 

 aged by university consortia (see Chapter 1). 



Most R&D supported by the Federal Govern- 

 ment is in applied and developmental work. Uni- 

 versities are not heavily involved in either. In 

 1977. of research classified as applied, universities 

 performed only 21 percent of the total supported 

 by Federal agencies, and of activities classified as 

 development, they performed only 2 percent. 



Much basic research in universities is supported 

 by grants made for projects proposed to the fund- 

 ing agency by investigators. NSF and NIH allo- 

 cate almost half the total Federal money spent on 

 basic research and with DOD, DOA, Interior, 

 ERDA, and NASA supply over 96 percent (see 

 Figure 3 and_ Table 2 in the Introduction). The al- 

 locations of NSF and NIH primarily are in the 

 form of grants rather than contracts, and are 

 made to investigators in response to unsolicited 

 proposals.-* 



The agencies recognize the need for basic 

 research to advance human knowledge. They also 

 believe that universities provide a sustaining envi- 

 ronment for the conduct of such work and assert 

 that high quality work is done in universities. 

 When listing their basic research achievements 

 and contributions supported by their agency, offi- 

 cials cite the awards, prizes, and recognition their 

 investigators have received. They mention these 

 with pride and as proof that their peer review 

 process is effective in selecting outstanding scien- 

 tists to support. Much of the work cited was done 

 by university faculty scientists. 



It is important to note that research, whether 

 federally supported or not, is a normal activity of 

 a university science faculty. Faculty research is 

 supported in substantial part by State or local 

 governments. In most universities the salary paid 

 university faculty members, in or out of the sci- 

 ences, is for research and scholarship in their re- 

 spective disciplines as well as for teaching. 



Agency Concerns 



The relationship of the Federal Government to 

 universities has been debated since the country 



'A solicited proposal is one in response to an agency's invi- 

 tation to undertake specific work; it usually results in a con- 

 tract and is most often applied in nature. (See Ctiapter 5 re- 

 garding management of research by agencies.) 



258 AGENCY SUPPORT OF BASIC RESEARCH IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES 



was founded (see Part III). The agencies remain 

 concerned about the health of the university sci- 

 ence establishment, especially because of the re- 

 duction over the past decade in Federal programs 

 designed to support university institutional capaci- 

 ties. This reduction is viewed as adverse to agen- 

 cy objectives and is frequently mentioned as an 

 important concern. 



In recent years repeated attempts have been 

 made to formulate a system of general Federal 

 support for universities in recognition of their role 

 as partners in science. Legislation proposed and 

 debated intensively in the I960's would have de- 

 veloped a formula to recognize the universities' 

 role in science education and sponsored research 

 and would have funded them according to their 

 efforts and contributions as institutions. DOD, 

 NASA, NIH, and NSF have had at one time or 

 another formula grant systems to recognize the 

 general costs incurred by universities as they be- 

 come involved in federally supported science 

 education and research. Since the early 1960's, 

 substantial funds have been provided for (1) fel- 

 lowships and training grants, (2) major equipment 

 and special laboratories, (3) university science 

 development, and (4) university science buildings 

 or remodeling. By 1977 these programs had been 

 largely reduced or terminated. 



The agencies are worried about the reductions 

 in institutional programs and how they are affect- 

 ing the university capacity to respond to Federal 

 needs. Among the agency concerns specifically 

 mentioned are: 



• Quality and adequacy of the science man- 

 power supply. The need for more and better 

 trained and educated people as well as places 

 for them in the agencies is regarded as nec- 

 essary to accomplish their missions. The 

 managers of Federal laboratories are espe- 

 cially concerned about the manpower issue. 



• Instability of funding. Basic research is long- 

 term and needs continuity of funding. "Stop- 

 and-go" funding does not insure a continuing 

 high-quality scientific capability. 



• The increasing complexity of record keeping 

 and reporting and the increasing require- 

 ments of accountability. Good relationships 

 with university scientists are most difficult to 

 maintain in the midst of a tangle of "red 

 tape," the agencies say. 



• The deterioration of any systematic and long- 

 term general support of university research. 

 Agency administrators mention this frequent- 

 ly. They seek to renew the level of effort 

 existing in the 1960"s by NSF, NIH, DOD, 

 and NASA and to have university grants, 

 special development programs, and laborato- 

 ry or departmental funding. Many agencies 



