AAAS Forum Explores the Changing and Uncertain Climate for R&D

Support for ambitious new innovation efforts has reached critical mass in the United States, but financial constraints compounded by military campaigns and deficit-reduction efforts will limit the federal government's ability to expand investment in research and development, speakers said at a recent AAAS forum.

It was a recurring theme at the 32nd annual AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy: Many nations in Asia are dramatically expanding R&D investment, Europe has formed a new council to encourage a competitive research environment, and U.S. research capacity is growing dramatically. But the field is changing in the United States, with research universities, states, private industry and foundations playing new roles and creating new partnerships.

"The message here is that federal funding for science will not grow fast enough in the foreseeable future to keep up with the geometrically expanding research capacity, and that state and private sector resources should be considered more systematically in formulating federal science policy," said John H. Marburger III, science adviser to President George W. Bush.

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