Transforming Research and
Higher Education Institutions
in the Next 75 Years

_____

Jeena M. Thomas and Steve Olson,
Rapporteurs

Policy and Global Affairs

Proceedings of the 2022 Endless Frontier Symposium

NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001

This activity was supported by the Kavli Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-69961-7
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-69961-4
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26863

This publication is available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2023 by the National Academy of Sciences. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and National Academies Press and the graphical logos for each are all trademarks of the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Transforming Research and Higher Education Institutions in the Next 75 Years: Proceedings of the 2022 Endless Frontier Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26863.

The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Marcia McNutt is president.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation. Members are elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. John L. Anderson is president.

The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president.

The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The National Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.

Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at www.nationalacademies.org.

Consensus Study Reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine document the evidence-based consensus on the study’s statement of task by an authoring committee of experts. Reports typically include findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on information gathered by the committee and the committee’s deliberations. Each report has been subjected to a rigorous and independent peer-review process and it represents the position of the National Academies on the statement of task.

Proceedings published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine chronicle the presentations and discussions at a workshop, symposium, or other event convened by the National Academies. The statements and opinions contained in proceedings are those of the participants and are not endorsed by other participants, the planning committee, or the National Academies.

Rapid Expert Consultations published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are authored by subject-matter experts on narrowly focused topics that can be supported by a body of evidence. The discussions contained in rapid expert consultations are considered those of the authors and do not contain policy recommendations. Rapid expert consultations are reviewed by the institution before release.

For information about other products and activities of the National Academies, please visit www.nationalacademies.org/about/whatwedo.

PLANNING COMMITTEE ON ENDLESS FRONTIER SYMPOSIUM 2022: RESEARCH AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS FOR THE NEXT 75 YEARS

ALAN I. LESHNER [NAM] (Chair), Chief Executive Officer, Emeritus, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

MAHDIEH AGHAZADEH, Principal Engineer, Janssen Supply Chain, Johnson & Johnson

KIM HUNTER REED, Commissioner of Higher Education, Louisiana

RICHARD A. MESERVE [NAE], President Emeritus, Carnegie Institution for Science; Senior Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP

SHIRLEY TILGHMAN [NAS/NAM], President Emerita and Professor of Molecular Biology, Princeton University

MICHAEL WITHERELL [NAS], Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, MEDICINE, AND PUBLIC POLICY

ALAN I. LESHNER [NAM] (Chair), Chief Executive Officer, Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science

JOHN L. ANDERSON [NAE], (Ex Officio Member), President, National Academy of Engineering

CLAIRE D. BRINDIS [NAM], Emerita Director, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy, Director of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

VICTOR J. DZAU [NAM] (Ex Officio Member), President, National Academy of Medicine

KATHARINE G. FRASE [NAE], International Business Machines Corporation (retired)

JOHN G. HILDEBRAND [NAS], Regents Professor, Department of Neuroscience, College of Science, University of Arizona

EDWARD D. LAZOWSKA [NAE], Professor, and Bill & Melinda Gates Chair, Emeritus, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, and Senior Data Science Fellow, eScience Institute, University of Washington

FRANCES S. LIGLER [NAE], Professor, Biomedical Engineering, and Eppright Chair in Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University

JUANITA L. MERCHANT [NAM], Professor of Medicine; Chief, Division of Gastroenterology; and Research Member, Cancer Biology Program, University of Arizona Cancer Center University of Arizona College of Medicine

MARCIA MCNUTT [NAS/NAE] (Ex Officio Member), President, National Academy of Sciences

RICHARD A. MESERVE [NAE], Senior of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP

C. PAUL ROBINSON [NAE], President Emeritus, Sandia National Laboratories

ROBERT F. SPROULL [NAE], Vice President and Director (retired), Oracle Labs; Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

JAMES M. TIEN [NAE], Distinguished Professor and Dean Emeritus, College of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Miami

RUTH J. WILLIAMS [NAS], Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Charles Lee Powell Chair in Mathematics I, Department of Mathematics, University of California, San Diego

SUSAN M. WOLF [NAM], McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine, and Public Policy; Faegre Baker Daniels Professor of Law; and Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota

Project Staff

JEENA M. THOMAS, Project Director and Program Officer, Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S. Science and Innovation Policy

TOM ARRISON, Board Director, Board on Research Data and Information, U.S. Science and Innovation Policy

SOPHIE BILLINGE, Senior Program Assistant, Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Policy, U.S. Science and Innovation Policy (until April 2022)

ABIGAIL HARLESS, Senior Program Assistant, Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S. Science and Innovation Policy (until September 2022)

CHRISTA NAIRN, Senior Program Assistant, Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable, U.S. Science and Innovation Policy

TOM WANG, Policy Theme Lead and Senior Board Director, Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Policy, U.S. Science and Innovation Policy

STEVE OLSON, Consultant Writer

Preface

In February 2020, just as a new infectious disease that would become known as COVID-19 began to sweep across the globe, the National Academy of Sciences held a symposium to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Vannevar Bush’s famous report Science, the Endless Frontier.¹ With support from the Kavli Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the event brought together researchers, policy analysts, legislators, and other experts to brainstorm how to continue exploring the endless frontier in light of changing norms and practices, changing relationships between science and society, and changing international competition. Among the questions asked were: What partnerships currently exist? How do those need to change? How do institutional structures need to change? How does education need to evolve in the 21st century?

The analogy between 1945 and 2020 was more precise than anyone in that room could have imagined. In 1945, Bush wrote his report in the midst of great uncertainty. The end of World War II, made possible in large measure by technologies based on scientific research, had produced a new world in which prewar institutions seemed outdated and obsolete. Bush outlined an approach to the support of basic research at universities and independent research institutions that broke with the past and produced a tremendous outpouring of technological advances and societal benefits.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was similarly about to change the world forever. The pandemic put to the test the role of research institutions—both public and private—in meeting societal needs at a level not seen since World War II. To take a close-at-hand example, before 2020 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine prided themselves on their ability to bring together experts to reach consensus on pressing matters of public policy. Yet within a few months that model of convening people in a single place had been turned on its head. Meeting electronically eliminated all the travel required previously to bring people together while also enabling the Academies to get more work done faster than ever before. Similarly, research institutions around the world found new and, at least to some extent, even more productive ways to operate and interact.

In September 2022, with support again from the Kavli Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences held a follow-up to the 2020 event. As became clear during the 2022 symposium, speakers in February 2020 may have been too cautious in their thoughts as to how quickly and dramatically the

___________________

¹ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2020, The Endless Frontier: The Next 75 Years in Science, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, https://doi.org/10.17226/25990; V. Bush, 1945, Science, the Endless Frontier, A Report to the President by Vannevar Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, July 1945, Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, https://www.nsf.gov/about/history/nsf50/vbush1945.jsp.

science and technology enterprise would be able to change in response to an external shock. Within a year of the pandemic’s origin, the enterprise had undertaken a massive and coordinated effort to develop a revolutionary new vaccine and had pushed it through research, trials, and development. New communication technologies and workforce arrangements gained prominence in education, health care, and many other sectors of society. The effects of science and technology on the broader society became both more apparent and more subject to examination.

We represent organizations devoted to advancing human knowledge for the benefit of society. We envision a future for science, engineering, and medicine that works to the benefit of all people everywhere, not just a select few. We believe that science is still an endless frontier and that tremendous benefits from the science and technology enterprise lie in the future as well as the past.

The symposium summarized in this volume brought together a diverse set of people who care and have thought deeply about the role of science and technology in society. Their insightful and provocative observations provide valuable guidance in ensuring that the science and technology enterprise continues to lead the world toward a better future.

We would like to thank the planning committee that organized the symposium, as well as Jeena Thomas, who led a superb team at the National Academy of Sciences that planned and carried out the event.

Marcia McNutt, President, National Academy of Sciences

Cynthia Friend, President, The Kavli Foundation

Adam F. Falk, President, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Chair, Planning Committee

Reviewers

This Proceedings of a Symposium was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published proceedings as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings:

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the proceedings nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this proceedings was overseen by EDWARD LAZOWSKA, University of Washington. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the rapporteurs and the National Academies.

This page intentionally left blank.

Contents

Introduction

1 Reevaluating the Structure of Institutions and the Scientific Enterprise

2 The “Valleys of Death”: Addressing the Translational Gap Between Discovery and Innovation

3 Producing the Right Technical and Professional Science Workforce: Ensuring Inclusivity, Increasing Diversity, and Improving Training

4 Is the Science and Technology Enterprise Optimized to Benefit Society?

5 Final Observations

Appendixes

A Symposium Agenda

B Relevant Session Articles Found in Issues in Science and Technology

C Planning Committee Biographical Sketches

This page intentionally left blank.