on the downgrade. At the same time 

 research has become increasingh' ex- 

 pensive and man\' State legislatures 

 are finding it diBlcult to provide ade- 

 quate support for such activities in 

 their universities. 



The science departments of univer- 

 sities have found it necessary, in view 

 of the decrease in gifts by individ- 

 uals, to relv more upon industrial 

 corporations for assistance. This may 

 imply the distortion of university re- 

 search in the direction of short-range 

 problems at the expense of more 

 fundamental research. Also the free- 

 dom of the university scientist may 

 be decreased by the introduction of 

 some degree of commercial control. 

 Undoubtedly, if proper safeguards 

 are maintained, cooperative research 

 performed for industry in universities 

 can be expected to increase in the 

 future to the advantage of both 

 parties concerned. But in this report 

 which wishes steadily to emphasize 

 the need for freedom in science, it is 

 well to speak of the need to guard 

 against control of science by industry 

 as well as against control of science 

 bv government. 



If university research is to keep 

 pace with the growth of our economy, 

 if able people are to be attracted to 

 college research and teaching, it is 

 clear that new sources of financial 

 support must be found. Incomes of 

 other professions — doctors, lawyers, 

 dentists, engineers, etc. — have in- 

 creased considerablv during the war. 

 The cost of living has risen markedly. 

 For the first time the personal in- 

 come tax bears sharply on the middle- 

 income groups. And in the face of 

 these factors, professorial earnings 

 have been frozen at a level which 

 was not considered to be overgen- 

 erous 15 vears ago. A continuation 

 of this trend will certainly ha\'e an 



adverse effect upon the recruitment 

 and retention of able university sci- 

 entists. 



3. Immediate Effects of the War 



The above trends were in evidence 

 even before the war. Yet in addition, 

 the present conflict has added a num- 

 ber of very special problems which 

 will dominate the situation for a 

 number of years to come. 



First, and most important, has been 

 the virtual cessation of training of 

 new scientific personnel. As a result, 

 we must simply accept as axiomatic 

 the fact that there will be an insuffi- 

 ciency of fully trained young scien- 

 tists after the war and that it will 

 take a considerable period of time to 

 repair the deficiency. 



The war has also created a serious 

 problem of reconversion and reha- 

 bilitation for the individual scientist. 

 The mature scholar, as well as the 

 advanced student whose curriculum 

 had to be interrupted, needs re-edu- 

 cation and readjustment. The prob- 

 lem is not simply one of returning to 

 the status quo ante helium. In many 

 cases the war has increased the re- 

 search time and opportunities of 

 American college scientists. Neces- 

 sarily the concentration in relatively 

 few centers of the bulk of war re- 

 search will, and should, be reversed 

 in time of peace. But it would defi- 

 nitely not be in the national interest 

 if the dispersal of research staffs away 

 from the largest institutions should 

 mean a marked reduction in the re- 

 search opportunities and effectiveness 

 of university scientists. 



Teaching and research are comple- 

 mentary activities, each aiding and 

 reinforcing the other. But if too 

 much of the teaching is of a routine, 

 elementary character, and if the num- 

 ber of teaching hours is so great as 



91 



