An Overview Physics Through the 1990's (1986) / Chapter Skim
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Supplement 3 - Organization and Support of Physics
Supplement 3 - Organization and Support of Physics
Pages 115-138
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From page 115... ...
This supplement focuses on the organization and support of physics as a whole. Specific problems of the various subfields are highlighted, but the reader should consult the accompanying panel reports for a thorough discussion of any particular one.
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From page 116... ...
Even in subfields such as atomic physics and condensed-matter physics, which pride themselves on their independent, self-sufficient, and individually sized research groups, some of the research now requires user programs with such facilities as synchrotron light sources, high-voltage electron microscopes, reactors, intensepulse neutron sources, and the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Materials Research Laboratories.
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From page 117... ...
Free of the responsibilities for programmatic research, the encumbrances of commercial justification, and, generally, restrictive commitments to large in-house facilities, the university component of physics research can be imaginative and flexible in pursuing new ideas. Because of this flexibility, and because of the diversity resulting from the large number of independent university researchers with interests covering the full range of physics, university laboratories have been able to compete successfully with national and industrial laboratories in spite of the overwhelming advantage that the other two components frequently have in terms of instrumentation and facilities.
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From page 118... ...
. As experimental work shifts from smaller local facilities to larger ones of national or international significance, it is clear that the pressures for the greatest possible efficiency in the use of the facility mount rapidly, as does competition for access to it.
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From page 119... ...
went through an initial decline from which it has gradually ~ In order to provide what we hope is ~ consistent set of rc w duct and to make the connection with historical records more convenient. the tables in this supplement list the various detailed funding data in current dollars (referenced to the fiscal ye or tor which they were appropriated)
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From page 120... ...
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From page 121... ...
Thus a constant level of funding over a decade can actually portray a deteriorating research condition. While the overall federal support for basic physics research appears to have largely recovered to its level in the late 1960s and early 1970s when expressed in FY 1983 dollars, this support has not kept pace with the increasing GNP (Figure S3.21.
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From page 122... ...
As discussed earlier, research is also performed in industrial laboratories and supported by private industry, particularly in the areas of condensed-matter physics and of atomic molecular, and optical physics. Because of the problem of distinguishing between basic and applied research and development, financial support in this sector is generally not so easy to identify and define.
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From page 124... ...
_~ 1970 1972 it, 1974 1 976 1978 ; ~ _ 1980 1981 Two subfields for which complete, detailed data are available covering this entire period (FY 1970-FY 1984) are elementary-particle physics and nuclear physics; the data for these subfields are presented in Figure S3.5 and Table S3.4, and Figure S3.6 and Table S3.5, respectively.
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From page 125... ...
In fact, in both of these subfields, there have been major facility closings and realignments of funding support. Of the seven elementaryparticle accelerators operating in the United States in 1970, four (PPA, CEA, 400 _ 300 o .
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From page 126... ...
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From page 127... ...
. The real growth in the past 5 years ranges from +9 percent for nuclear physics to +42 percent for cosmic and gravitational physics and +43 percent for plasma and fluid physics.
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From page 128... ...
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From page 129... ...
Fiscal Year 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Elementary-Particle Physics DOE Operations 207.2 235.0 255.6 308.6 324.6 DOE Theory 10.7 12.4 13.6 17.2 17.9 DOE Equipment 36.0 37.5 40.7 47.5 51.5 DOE Subtotal 253.9 284.9 309.9 373.3 394.0 NSF Operations + Equipment 22.6 25.2 26.2 28.7 35.9 NSF Theory 3.7 4.5 4.7 5.2 6.0 NSF Subtotal 26.3 29.7 30.9 33.9 41.9 Total Current 280.2 314.6 340.8 407.2 435.9 Total Deflated (CPI-W) 345.1 348.9 352.5 407.2 422.2 Nuclear Physics DOE Operations 88.2 95.7 104.7 107.9 122.0 DOE Theory 6.1 7.0 7.7 8.2 9.0 DOE Equipment 8.7 9.9 9.5 10.4 11.3 DOE Subtotal 103.0 112.6 121.9 126.5 142.3 NSF Operations + Equipment 21.3 23.2 23.5 25.6 30.8 NSF Theory 1.8 1.8 2.3 2.2 2.5 NSF Subtotal 23.1 25.0 25.8 27.8 33.3 NASA Int.
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From page 130... ...
The reduction of DOD sponsorship for basic research had an effect on most of the subfields in physics, but it seems to have been particularly severe in atomic, molecular, and optical physics (~20 percent funding loss) because the initial DOD support had been such a large fraction (~33 percent)
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From page 131... ...
c>6~ o (+ 40%) 1980 1981 1982 YEAR 1983 1 984 FIGURE S3.7 Federal funding support (excluding construction)
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From page 132... ...
elementary particles; (f) nuclear.
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From page 134... ...
: Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor PDX Neutral Beams Mirror Fusion Test Facility (LLNL) Doublet III Neutral Beams (General Atomic)
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From page 135... ...
ORGANIZATION AND DECISION MAKING As each of the subfields of physics continues to evolve toward more centralized big science, the specific decisions made by funding organizations have a larger and more direct effect on the subfield. In a broad research program, each group inevitably tends to regard its own efforts as undersupported relative to their importance, and thus there is constant pressure to reallocate resources.
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From page 136... ...
In 1977, following one of the recommendations of the NRC Ad Hoc Panel on the Future of Nuclear Science in its report Future of Nuclear Science (National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1977, p. 791: In a frontier field such as nuclear science, priorities and directions change rapidly with time, new discoveries spawn new programs and may make old ones obsolete, and funding constraints are not immutable.
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From page 137... ...
ORGANIZATION AND SUPPORT OF PHYSICS 137 flexibility and diversity of the system. By removing decisions from the local operating level, the more centralized European mode has the disadvantage of reducing its ability to respond readily to new, unexpected opportunities.
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