NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 
223 
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 
RESEARCH COMMITTEES IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 
A very large proportion of the scientific research of the United States is 
conducted in the laboratories of educational institutions. It is now widely 
appreciated that contact with knowledge in the making is the most effective 
means of seizing and holding the student's attention. And it is also recog- 
nized that no greater injury can be done to the cause of science than to com- 
pel a promising investigator, fresh from the researches of his graduate years, 
to rehnquish all hopes of further studies because of the complete absorption 
of his time and energy by other duties. 
It is with the fullest appreciation of the difficulties which financial limita- 
tions involve, and with a sincere desire not to interfere with the just demands 
of the teacher's profession, that the National Research Council invites the 
cooperation of educational institutions in the promotion of research at this 
critical period in our national progress. We beUeve it to be feasible, with- 
out decreasing the efficiency of the university, the college, or the professional 
school as teaching institutions, to increase greatly their contributions to 
knowledge through research. Indeed, we do not hesitate to say that if a 
portion of the time now given to teaching were devoted to investigation, and 
if the courses of instruction were so altered as to take full advantage of this 
change, the educational efficiency of the institutions in question would be 
materially enhanced. In extending a request for the formation of Research 
Committees in educational institutions of high standards, which accord 
serious support to scientific research undertaken by the faculty and advanced 
students, we beg to call attention to some of the possibilities which lie open 
to committees of this character. 
In view of the importance of encouraging research on the part of members 
of the faculties of colleges which do not undertake graduate instruction, the 
invitation of the Council is not hmited to universities and other institutions 
now giving specific recognition to research. It is highly important to encour- 
age competent men to continue the work of research begun in their univer- 
sity career, and a sympathetic Research Committee could help greatly in this 
respect. Even the existence of such a committee should serve as a valuable 
stimulus to men who properly look for some measure of encouragement. In 
small institutions, as an illustration cited below will indicate, powerful sup- 
port can be given to research by a body of men who genuinely appreciate 
its significance. 
Each Research Committee will doubtless discover its own best method of 
procedure, adapted to the circumstances of the case. The following sugges- 
tions, which embody the results of the discussions of the Council's Com- 
