Should the Clinton Administration and Congress devote more funds to basic or applied research?
The question neglects the fact that all research has a purpose, says Michael Crow, vice provost of Columbia. Researchers and government science officials need to specify every project’s reason for existence, evaluate it with respect to the mission of the funding agency and measure its contribution to the public good, Dr. Crow says. Does technology investment create widespread economic returns? Yes, but nationalist approaches to technology investment, such as the SEMATECH initiative to promote the American semiconductor industry, are likely to fail, says David C. Mowery, professor of business and public policy at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. International collaboration is more likely to bring economic benefits to the U.S. and its trading partners, says Eugene Skolnikoff, professor of political science at MIT. Should the way funds are distributed be revamped? Panelists have proposed that scientists set a national research agenda that would give politic
