Relation of Uie Federal Government to Research 



185 



those who will profit by graduate work. The prob- 

 lem is largely complicated by the great number of 

 high school teachers whose chief desire is for a master's 

 degree in order to secure a salary increase. A more 

 clear-cut and effective policy on the admission and 

 classification of graduate students promises much. 



Limitation of number writing theses under one 

 faeidty member.- — By limiting the number of candi- 

 dates writing doctoral theses under one pi'ofessor, the 

 quality of Ph. D. graduates would be im^jroved. A 

 canvass of 1 great university showed few men direct- 

 ing more than 3 or 4 theses and only 3 directing 10 

 or more. While research leaders certainly vary in 

 ability, deans of graduate schools should assure them- 

 selves that departmental ambition does not lead to 

 overloading men with direction of thesis work so as 

 greatly to debase the service they render graduate 

 students. 



Raising the standard of graduate schools. — By rais- 

 ing the standard of adequacy of the graduate schools 

 conferring the doctorate the quality of research per- 

 sonnel would also be improved. There are now 86 

 institutions in the United States conferring the doc- 

 torate in one or more fields and undoubtedly this 

 number will be increased to about 100 within 1 or 2 

 decades. The full competency of some of these insti- 

 tutions adequately to train men for the doctorate in 

 certain fields in wliich the degree has been conferred 

 by them is open to question. On the other hand, it is 

 probable that none of these institutions desire in any 

 way to go further than their resources fully warrant. 

 The following section is an effort to set up a tentative 

 and suggestive basis for estimating the fitness of a 

 department to attempt to train men for the Ph. D. 

 degree. 



The essential needs of an institution to enable it 

 adequately to train research workers are: 



Material. — ^Able college graduates of the quality of 

 mind and the background of scholarship and culture 

 suitable for training for leadership in research. 



Faculty. — Department staffs of men of brilliant re- 

 search ability and experience who excel in character 

 and in teaching ability. Mediocre professors with tjie 

 Ph. D. degree cannot train able research workers. 



Libraries. — Libraries with generous funds and li- 

 brary staffs selected to give adequate service to re- 

 search men. Liberal supplies of books and journals 

 in the fields related to the departments in which the 

 doctorate is conferred. 



Research equipTnent and facilities or access to such 

 facilities. 



Fluid resea;rch funds available to serve emergency 

 current research needs in any department. 



122999—39 13 



Departmental 2'raining. — Recognition oii the types 

 (if graduate training that can be best provided by eacli 

 department; the limitation of each department to the 

 kinds of service it is able to render well ; the limitation 

 of admission of graduate students to the capacity of 

 the department and to those who wish, and will profit 

 by, the types of training available. Three distinct 

 types of training serve rather sharply defined occupa- 

 tional demands: (1) Research workers in pure science; 

 (2) research workers in applied science ; and (3) teach- 

 ers with knowledge of research technique, with broad 

 scholarly training, and with intellectual entluisiasiii. 



Limitation of Admission of candidates for the doc- 

 torate to those who desire to carry on research in the 

 specific field of a qualified member of the staff. 



Placement of graduates. — Institutions vary greatly 

 in their assumption of responsibility for the placement 

 of the men on whom they confer doctorates. It seems 

 that a heavy responsibility rests upon a university 

 that encourages a young man or woman to spend 3 ro 

 4 years studying for an advanced degi'ee to prepare him 

 to fill some useful position and to secure a suitable 

 position for him on graduation. In some institutions 

 where this attitude has been stressed over a period of 

 years, it has had a salutary effect on the selection of 

 graduate students for the doctorate, on their training, 

 and on the limitation of numbers. 



Offering opportunity for research in Government de- 

 partments. — Facilities and occasions for research in 

 Government departments are great and often unique. 

 It would seem that the Govermnent would greatly 

 profit by participating to some degree in the training 

 of men in research. It might well open opportunities 

 for research in Government departments to a limited 

 number of graduate students, especially in the social 

 sciences. Certam of those so trained would later prove 

 valuable Government employees. Cooperative relations 

 could be established with the universities so that such 

 work in limited amount could be carried on with very 

 little intrusion on regular Government service. 



Improvement of Research Personnel 

 at the Postdoctoral Level 



Until rather recently the training in research re- 

 quired for the doctorate, together with the training 

 on the job, seemed adequate in all research areas. As 

 (he use of research increases in all fields there is an 

 increasing need both for further training and for re- 

 stimulating research workers. Methods of accomplish- 

 injT these ends are of increasing importance. 



Postdoctoral fellowships. — Postdoctoral fellowships, 

 awarded by the councils and generously financed by the 

 foundations, have been of great value. About 1,100 of 

 these fellowships have been awarded by the National 



