Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 51
8-51
Predictably, the British government proceeded to adopt many of
Rothschild's main proposals -- the customer-contractor principle, the need to
hold ministers responsible for seeing that departmental objectives are
properly backed by research and development, and that there are effective
partnerships between departmental customers and research and development con-
tractors. The government also declared, in passing, that it cannot accept
the notion that there should be a Minister for Research and Development.
Applied research and development are a necessary part of government and cannot
be separated from the responsibilities of r~11 ministers.
For the coming years, the effect of tne Rothschild plan will be to en-
courage more mission-oriented research in a system that has traditionally
emphasized the freedom of the scientist to go wherever his curiosity takes
him.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION
OF MATERIALS RESEARCH IN THE U.S.
The thrust of the discussions in this section appears to be that there
is no one permanent solution or ideal administrative structure for allocating
and managing resources for basic and applied research. However, extremes are
to be avoided, either in which one organization is responsible for all basic
and applied research, or the other where these are the uncoordinated respon-
sibilities of separate, poorly-interacting organizations. The line between
basic and applied research remains extremely fuzzy and dynamic, and often so
in the activities of an individual scientist let alone in departments and
larger organizations. What seems to make most sense is that the "centers of
gravity of some organizations will be in basic research while those of others
will be in applied research. C1 early there will be some overlap between the
two sets of organizations. This overlap may outwardly seem like wasteful
duplication, but this is not necessarily so. It should be recognized as
vital for information and technology transfer between the two communities of
scientists. It also introduces some healthy competition.
As societal priorities fluctuate so will, to some extent, the balance
between basic and applied research. A heavy responsibility falls on those
whose job it is to allocate resources among the various basic and applied
research proposals. Whether at the administrative or working level, a
special kind of wisdom is called for -- one that recognizes and understands
the different motivations often operating within these two sectors, that can
appreciate the intellectual excitements, challenges, and satisfactions of
basic research as well as those of the technical and economic objectives of
applied research. The practical approach as far as policy is concerned is
to appoint a suitably representative advisory committee that reports to the
highest levels of government.
In the U.S. the administration and coordination of basic research has
traditionally been the province of the National Science Foundation. It has
only recently become involved in the administration and support of some
applied science in the private sector through the Research Applied to
National Needs (RANN) Program and the Experimental Technolocy Incentives
OCR for page 52
8-52
Program. The Interagency Council for Materials has for some time provided a
coordinating role for materials R&D programs among the various governmental
departments and agencies.
The main bodies concerned with coordination of U.S. science policy and
the federal support of R&D, particularly in the materials field, can be
summarized as follows:
Coordination of national science
policy with other national policies.
Advice on broad distribution among
sectors of federally-supported
basic and applied research
Coordination of materials research
carried on in various sectors.
Federal support of basic research
in the private sector.
Federal support of generic applied
research
Cabinet; Counsellors
The (former) Office of Science and
Technology; now the President's
Science Adviser, the NSF
Interagency Council for Materials
NSF
NSF - RANN
Dept. of Commerce - NBS -
Technology Incentives Program
At the highest level differences of opinion exist among various countries
as to whether the coordination should be associated with -- or even sub-
ordinated to -- a particular field of national activity (the economy, in-
dustry, education, etc.) or whether, on the contrary, such an association
might not have the effect of restricting to a single type of research, or a
single area of application, the interest and support which should be accorded
by the government to the national R&D system as a whole.
The (former) Office of Science and Technology, in principle, performed
an essential and central role in advising on the distribution of federal
resources for R&D among the various sectors competing for funds. It has its
counterpart in almost every other major country. While the U.S. Office of
Management and Budget has the final say in the disposition of funds, there
seems to be a clear need for effective scientific and technological advice of
the sort that could be expected from a properly constituted and staffed
Office of Science and Technology.
The Interagency Council for Materials performs useful liaison and
coordination in materials R&D among the various technical departments and
agencies of the federal government. It has no funds of its own, however,
for supporting R&D, nor does it have any substantial authority.
The NSF has traditionally been a main supporting agency for long-range
and basic research in the academic community. It is divided into various
operating divisions, one of these being the Materials Research Division
Representative terms from entire chapter:
nsf nsf nsf
