men trained in science is the most 

 appropriate agency for carrying on 

 this phase of the Government's re- 

 sponsibiHtv for scientific progress. 

 Recommendations for the formation 

 of a National Research Foundation 

 and additional responsibilities with 

 which it mav be charged appear else- 

 where in this report. The following 

 paragraphs are devoted to an outline 

 of the committee's views respecting its 

 operation in relation to universities. 



To give funds intelligently in sup- 

 port of fundamental research is a 

 difficult task and there is no gener- 

 ally accepted rule of procedure. The 

 private foundations follow a number 

 of different policies and' are con- 

 stantly revising their procedures on 

 the basis of accumulating experience. 

 A Government board would have 

 new and perplexing problems stem- 

 ming from its status as an arm of the 

 Government, and from the fact that 

 the resources at its command would 

 presumably be large in comparison 

 with those of any single university 

 or private foundation. The commit- 

 tee recommends, therefore, that such 

 a board be in large measure free to 

 formulate its own rules of procedure 

 for allocating funds to universities, 

 as long as these do not transgress 

 certain broad general principles. 



The most important of these gen- 

 eral principles are as follows: 



(1) The funds supplied to the 

 universities should be used for the 

 support of significant research with 

 special emphasis on the universi- 

 ties' position as the chief contribu- 

 tor to pure science. 



(2) In making grants the board 

 should assure itself that the univer- 

 sity has competent and adequately 

 trained personnel to guide the 

 studies. 



(3) Grants to uni\'ersities or to 



men working in universities must 

 be made in such a way as to avoid 

 control of the internal policy of 

 the university, so that the univer- 

 sity and not the board will have 

 full responsibility for the admin- 

 istration of the grant after it is 

 once made. 



(4) A constant effort should be 

 made to improve the general re- 

 search level in institutions of 

 higher education throughout the 

 country. 



No matter on what conditions 

 money is given to universities, the 

 very existence of such support will, 

 of course, modify university policy. 

 In fact, the increased emphasis on 

 research, which will be the object of 

 the Foundation, itself constitutes a 

 change in policy. And despite the 

 fact that our committee is concerned 

 only with the natural sciences, action 

 along the lines proposed cannot fail 

 to have influence on the humanities 

 and the social sciences. It is our hope 

 and belief that the provision of funds 

 for the natural sciences would, in 

 some measure, free university funds 

 for use in the other fields. Aside 

 from such general influences, how- 

 ever, it would be necessary to devise 

 ways and means of allocating funds 

 in large measure without deterviining 

 what particular jirohlevis are to he 

 worked on and who is to carry theiii 

 otit. The principle of variety and de- 

 centralization of control is nowhere 

 more important than in scientific 

 work, where the fostering of novelty 

 must be the first concern. One of the 

 most useful ways of preserving these 

 opportunities is to allow the greatest 

 possible latitude to the accumulated 

 wisdom of university administrative 

 officers and faculties. 



The committee has given a great 

 deal of thought to the technical form 



94 



