Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research (2005) / Chapter Skim
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Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research
Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research
Pages 7-24
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From page 7... ...
In addition, to ensure a well-grounded understanding of DOD basic research management and its effect on researchers, the committee interviewed approximately 140 program managers and researchers located at 7 DOD organizations that manage and/or conduct basic research and 14 universities that are among those receiving the largest aggregate of DOD grants and contracts for research. These DOD organizations and universities are listed in Appendix C
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From page 8... ...
DEFINITIONS AND THEIR ROLE IN MANAGING BASIC RESEARCH On the basis of its plenary sessions and contacts with program managers and researchers, the committee concludes that those responsible for directing and managing basic research in the DOD are well motivated and generally successful in directing basic research resources for purposes appropriate to the DOD definition of basic research: that is, "systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without specific applications towards process or products in mind."1 Research managers comply generally with the spirit of this definition, although if it was taken literally and researchers had specific applications in mind, their programs would be disqualified from receiving basic research support. Research managers and the committee agree that such a practice would be inappropriate.
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From page 9... ...
The committee devoted significant time to creating a reasonably simple, straightforward description of basic research and concluded that the combination of slight change in the current DOD definition and a description of characteristics would best serve the needs of effective management of basic research. Accordingly, the first change that the committee suggests is that the opening statement in the DOD definition (see Appendix D for the current definition)
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From page 10... ...
3The complete proposed definition, included in Recommendation 1 in this section, is the current DOD definition of basic research, slightly revised to address what the committee believes is the most serious problem with the current definition. Rather than propose an entirely new definition that might have its own shortcomings, the committee decided that it would be better to recommend the minimum change necessary to the current definition.
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Recommendation 2. The Department of Defense should include the following attributes in its guidance to basic research managers and direct that these attributes be used to characterize 6.1-funded research: a spirit that seeks first and foremost to discover new fundamental understanding, flexibility to modify goals or approaches in the near term based on discovery, freedom to pursue unexpected paths opened by new insights, high-risk research questions with the potential for high payoff in future developments, minimum requirements for detailed reporting, open communications with other researchers and external peers, freedom to
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From page 12... ...
A literal interpretation could lead to the perception that the levels of research in 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, and so on, are sequential -- that is, it could lead to the erroneous view that basic research (funded as 6.1) provides fundamental knowledge that, when it is to be directed at specific applications, transitions to applied research (funded by 6.2)
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Basic research enables the potential for broadly defined specific applications and continues to contribute until basic and applied research together bring the technology to system development. There is no formal or symbolic handover from basic research to applied research to system development.
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MULTIPLE MISSIONS, MOTIVATIONS, AND MANAGEMENT APPROACHES Department of Defense 6.1-funded research consists of multiple types of activities, and the mix varies over time in response to multiple missions and motivations. The DOD's needs for the fundamental discovery expected of 6.1funded research are complex and variable, and they will not fit a simple, onedimensional mold.
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Universities create raw materials in the form of new knowledge and human competencies across broad areas of science and engineering. DOD laboratories create new knowledge, but normally in focused areas of importance to DOD applications.
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And the values expected evolve continuously, reflecting the dynamic character of the need for military capabilities. Strategic planning, investment decisions, and retrospective evaluation of the results achieved based on the values expected are the core of an effective management system.
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Instead, the committee concludes that the key to effective management of basic research lies in having a cadre of experienced, empowered, and respected 6.1 program managers, supported by uniformly understanding senior leadership deeply committed to basic research. From presentations by DOD research managers, the committee has some concerns relative to the degree of emphasis on maintaining a strong cadre of program managers.
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Recommendation 6. Personnel policies should provide for the needed continuity of research management in order to ensure a cadre of experienced managers capable of exercising the level of authority needed to effectively direct research resources.
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12Defense Science Board, Defense Science Board Letter Report on DoD Science and Technology Program, Washington, D.C., August 2000; and DSB, Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Future Strategic Strike Forces, Washington, D.C., February 2004.
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Ð5 Consumer Price Index (CPI) Ð10 Percent Change Ð15 Ð20 Ð25 Ð30 Ð35 Ð40 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Year FIGURE 3 Constant-dollar change in annual Department of Defense 6.1 funding (as percentage change from 1993 value)
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From page 21... ...
• University research managers indicated that the shrinking support for uni versity research makes it difficult for younger faculty members interested in working on DOD research to get started in DOD research.14 Con sequently, they turn their research attention elsewhere. • With the increased reporting requirements, principal investigators and graduate students spend more time preparing reports and less time on research.
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From page 22... ...
17National Security Decision Directive 189 was a response to the 1982 report Scientific Communi cation and National Security. The recommendations of the Panel on Scientific Communication and National Security, chaired by Dale Corson, of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, concluded that there is no practical way to restrict international scientific communication without also disrupting domestic scientific information (Scientific Communication and National Security, Washington D.C.: National Academy Press, 1982)
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20Department of Commerce Inspector General, Report of the Department of Commerce Inspector General, Deemed Export Controls May Not Stop the Transfer of Sensitive Technology to Foreign Nationals in the U.S., IPE-16176, Washington, D.C., March 31, 2004. Available online at http:// www.oig.doc.gov/oig/reports/2004/BIS-IPE-16176-03-2004.pdf.
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Recent pressures to apply restrictions on participation and publication through export controls on Department of Defense-sponsored research funded in 6.1 both disqualify it from being considered basic research as defined by National Security Decision Directive 189 and threaten to change fundamentally the open and public character of basic university research. This finding does not apply to research funded in 6.2.
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