A View from the Academic Sector

Transcription

1 National Priorities for Science and Technology A View from the Academic Sector Dr. G. Wayne Clough President, Georgia Institute of Technology April 11, 2002

2 Effective Science Research Requires: Stable funding Balanced portfolio Expanding talent Rita Colwell Director, NSF

3 The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of all the future. National Archives plaque Nikita Krushchev

4 % U.S. Industry Patents Citing Federally Funded Research, Narin, Francis, Kimberly Hamilton, Dominic Olivastro. Increasing Linkage Between U.S. Technology and Public Science, AAAS Science & Technology Policy Yearbook 1998.

5 Federal Funding for R&D As percentage of the Gross Domestic Product U.S. Competitiveness 2001, Council on Competitiveness

6 Total R&D as Percentage of GDP National Science Board: Science & Engineering Indicators 2000

7 Total R&D Funding as Percent of GDP In 1992 Dollars National Science Board: Science & Engineering Indicators 2000

8 R&D Expenditures by Type of Research National Science Board: Science & Engineering Indicators 2000

9 Surprise is the element that distinguishes applied science from basic When you are organized to apply knowledge, set up targets, produce a usable product, you require a high degree of certainty from the outset In basic research, everything is just the opposite You start with an incomplete roster of facts, characterized by their ambiguity; often the problem consists of discovering the connections between unrelated pieces of information. Dr. Lewis Thomas The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher

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11 Mechanical Eng Change in Federal Research Funding FY Total University Electrical Eng Chemistry Chemical Eng Biological Sci Physics Percent Medical Sci Computer Sci National Research Council: Trends in Federal Support of Research and Graduate Education

12 Engineering Enrollment, National Science Board: Science & Engineering Indicators 2000

13 Graduate Enrollment (in Thousands) National Science Board: Science & Engineering Indicators 2000

14 U.S. Doctoral Degrees Awarded in Science & Engineering National Science Board: Science & Engineering Indicators 2000

15 Percentage of 24-year-olds with Science or Engineering Degrees 1998 National Science Board: Science & Engineering Indicators 2000

16 The acquisition of knowledge is the mission of research the application of knowledge is the mission of public service. Dr. James A. Perkins Former President, Cornell University

17 The Bayh-Dole Act The most pertinent question to ask is: In whose hands will the vestiture of primary rights to inventions serve to transfer the inventive technology most quickly to the public for its use and benefit? In the United States, the answer has been the university-private sector partnership. Howard W. Bremer to NASULGC, Nov 11, 2001

18 Georgia Tech undergraduate Christyn Magill was the youngest presenter at the Biomedical Engineering Society last October. Patent royalties helped fund her research in replacement tissues for articular cartilage.

19 Academic Patents Granted National Science Board: Science & Engineering Indicators 2000

20 The return to the federal government in taxes paid on university technology transfer induced corporate and individual earnings alone equals a 15 percent return on sales of licensed products. Annual gross revenues generated from a university s technology transfer activities generally total less than three percent of research dollars spent by that university. Council on Governmental Relations Technology Transfer in U.S. Research Universities: Dispelling Common Myths

21 For maximum economic leverage, the culture at university and government research facilities must be open to the prospect of commercial application. Localities in which academics are encouraged to license their research and to move freely between the non-profit and the private sectors will be ahead of the game. Ross C. DeVol The Milken Institute Review First Quarter 2002