Research Expenditures in a Small Sample of Leading Universities, Industrial 

 Research Laboratories and Nonprofit Science Institutes 



To obtain a detailed pieture of re- 

 search expenditures in natural sci- 

 ence departments, a special investi- 

 gation was made in 13 leading uni- 

 versities and institutes of technology 

 throughout the country. In each uni- 

 versity, the president was requested 

 to appoint a consultant in the natural 

 sciences to cooperate in securing the 

 necessary information. Inquiries were 

 made with respect to the departments 

 of chemistry, physics and biology, 

 and of electrical, mechanical and 

 chemical engineering. In those uni- 

 versities which had medical schools, 

 similar inquiries were made in the 

 departments of anatomy, physiology, 

 biochemistry, and bacteriology. The 

 relevant data were then compared 

 with research expenditures in 10 of 

 our leading industrial laboratories 

 and in 7 nonprofit science institutes. 



It should be remembered, in assess- 

 ing the results, that the data were 

 prepared under pressure of time. The 

 accounting systems in different insti- 

 tutions differ widely; in some in- 

 stances, detailed figures could be ob- 

 tained with relative ease, while in 

 others it was necessary to make some 

 rather crude guesses. 



University Research 

 Expenditures 



Time and funds for research varied 

 substantially between departments in 

 the same university and between uni- 

 versities. Analysis of these variations 

 suggests that much remains to be 



done if the majority of natural sci- 

 entists with research interests are to 

 be given the opportunities for re- 

 search that are available in the most 

 favored departments. Engineering 

 departments, in general, appear to 

 have very meager funds for research, 

 although there are a few notable ex- 

 ceptions. At least two of the engi- 

 neering schools under consideration 

 have undertaken far-reaching expan- 

 sions in research activity since the 

 year 1940 — expansions not due to the 

 war, and, indeed, impeded by the 

 war. If these are carried through ac- 

 cording to present plans, the postwar 

 research picture in these institutions 

 will be very different from that for 

 1939-40. 



Extraordinary variations are shown 

 in the extent to which direct research 

 expenditures are met from outside 

 sources — especiallv grants from in- 

 dustry or the foundations. Many de- 

 partments draw more than half of 

 their support from these outside 

 sources and some of them get all their 

 funds in this way. 



Comparisons were made of re- 

 search expenditures in various uni- 

 versity departments, industrial labo- 

 ratories and science institutes. Ex- 

 penses were divided into professional 

 salaries and direct operating expenses 

 of research.^ This latter category in- 

 cluded expenditures for equipment, 

 apparatus, technical and research as- 



1 See tables II-VI inclusive, columns 4 and 6; 

 and table VII, columns 2 and 3. 



125 



