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ISSUES FOR THE 1990S & BEYOND 24 training scholars in research environments. There are increasing indications, however, that the link between teaching and research may be eroding, particularly as competition for research and development funds increases and research success becomes more closely associated with economic development. Other factors also challenge the teaching-research relationship, including declining graduate education support, changing faculty reward systems, and increasing use of âsoftâ money for faculty salaries. How will the changing research climate affect teaching responsibilities and the quality of intellectual life at institutions of higher education? What are the implications of the evolving research environment at the classroom and laboratory level? Can the link between academic research and teaching be strengthened without compromising the missions of either? What core values and programs should not be neglected? What is the optimal balance between the sciences and engineering and the arts and humanities? How should universities respond to the evolution of academic disciplines? During the past decade, many universities have begun to establish capacity for multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary research to meet emerging societal needs. In addition, new disciplines are emerging from older fields of inquiry. This development, however, has not been without problemsâmost notably, the faculty reward system that favors single-disciplinary research in established fields. How can the universities restructure themselves to meet emerging societal expectations? With the current faculty reward system, can they devise methods to reward those who perform and publish in the multi-disciplinary arena? How can inter- disciplinary collaboration be enhanced? Will enhancing inter-disciplinary collaboration compromise freedom of inquiry? CONDUCT OF RESEARCH AND TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE How will the scholarly agenda be set in the 1990s and by whom? The academic research agenda is guided by an increasingly complex array of influences. At a minimum, these include the precepts of the field of inquiry, the emergence of new technologies, and the social, political, and economic priorities of the country. How can the research agenda be managed to preserve a balance between internal academic priorities and research opportunities, and external influences and needs? What is the best method for establishing priorities to allocate resources among disciplines, programs, and projects? How can appropriate output measures of academic research be developed to evaluate research productivity and efficiency? How can academic scientists and engineers participate in setting future research funding priorities? As the research agenda evolves, how will it affect the role of investigators? Pressures for addressing political and socioeconomic priorities and for participating in larger scale research projects will increase. Future priorities among the modes of researchâsingle investigator, small groups, multi-disciplinary centersâwill be subject to intense debate.
