Only in Canada, you say? MIT president calls for increased R&D spending

Science and technology (S&T) has slipped off the list of national priorities in the United States despite the spectacular success of the nation’s innovation system over the past 50 years, says Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) president Dr Charles Vest. In a speech at the 25th anniversary celebration of the federal Office of Science and Technology Policy, Vest called for a reinvigoration of support for fundamental research. He noted that US federal spending on R&D has declined over the past 15 years as a percentage of GDP while the number of engineers graduating from US universities has declined by 20%.

Speaking before a gathering that included eight former science advisors to US presidents, Vest argued that increase support for S&T is vital to everything from improving health and safety and alleviating suffering globally to protecting national security. “The engine (of innovation) can only run if governments supply the fuel of support for fundamental research,” he said. “As a nation, we are not doing what we must do to ensure our future strength in innovation.”

Ironically, on the same day as Vest’s speech was delivered, president George Bush unveiled his vision for a new missile defence system — a decision made without a science advisor as he has yet to appoint one.

Vest also stated that recent commitments to accelerate funding of biomedical research was creating “a fundamental and corrosive imbalance” in federal support for S&T that ignores the increasing importance of interdisciplinary research. “In this era of intellectual interdependence, when the most interesting ideas are emerging at the surprising overlaps and intersections between previously unrelated fields, that unbalanced investment represents a serious strategic error,” said Vest. “We need to persuade federal leaders that broad-based, fundamental research is an investment, not a cost. That innovation is not something that will ‘just take care of itself’. That our future economy, jobs, and security will not simply grow on trees.”

The full text of Vest’s speech can be found at: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/ostpcmv.html.

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