Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

Research Universities and the Future of America
Pages 1-20

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 1...
... Our nation's primary source of both new knowledge and graduates with advanced skills continues to be our research universities. However, these institutions now face an array of challenges, from unstable revenue streams and antiquated policies and practices to increasing competition from universities abroad.
From page 2...
... • Business and industry have largely dismantled the large corporate research laboratories that new and CritiCal ChallengeS drove American industrial leadership in the 20th century (e.g., Bell Labs) , but have not yet fully American research universities are widely recog partnered with research universities to fill the gap nized as the best in the world, admired for their at a time when the new knowledge and ideas education and research.
From page 3...
... population research universities, the federal government, the necessitates strategies for increasing the success of states, and business will require: female and underrepresented minority students. • A balanced set of commitments by each of the • Institutions abroad are increasingly compet- partners -- the federal government, state governing for international students, researchers, and ments, research universities, and business and scholars.
From page 4...
... of which enable universities to provide the broad Building talent. The final three actions will ensure research and education programs required by a that America's pipeline of future talent in science, knowledge- and innovation-driven global economy.
From page 5...
... By completing funding increases that Congress has already authorized through the America COMPETES Revitalizing the Partnership Act, the nation would ensure robust support for critical basic research programs, achieving a balanced research portfolio capable of driving the innovation necessary for economic prosperity. Together with cost-efficient regulation, this stable funding will enable universities to make comparable investments in research facilities and graduate programs.
From page 6...
... • Federal programs designed to stimulate innovation and workforce development at the state level, in cluding those recommended in this report, should be accompanied by strong incentives to stimulate and sustain state support for their public universities, which are both state and national assets. For states to compete for the prosperity and welfare of their citizens in a knowledge-driven global economy, the advanced education, research, and innovation programs provided by their research univer sities are absolutely essential.
From page 7...
... • The relationship between business and higher education should become more peer-to-peer in nature, stressing collaboration in areas of joint interest rather than remaining in a traditional customer-supplier relationship, in which business procures graduates and intellectual property from universities. • Businesses and universities should work closely together to develop new graduate degree programs that address strategic workforce gaps for science-based employers.
From page 8...
... Based on their re- use of ozone-depleting substances. Fully in force search, Molina and Rowland by 1989, the Montreal Protocol on Substances published an influential article That Deplete the Ozone Layer relied on scien in the journal Nature in 1974 tific findings from American research universi that predicted the destruction of ties to build an international consensus on the ozone layer through the break- action to phase out the use of ozone-depleting down of CFC gases in the upper atmo- substances.
From page 9...
... Universities should also encourage greater collaboration among research investigators and among research institutions, particularly in acquiring and using expensive research equipment and facilities. • University associations should develop and make available more powerful and strategic tools for finan cial management and cost accounting that enable universities to determine the most effective ways to contain costs and increase productivity and efficiency.
From page 10...
... , became pos sible and practical because of discoveries at American research universities. Thomas Brock of Indiana University stands next to Mushroom Spring in Yellowstone National Park, one of PCR works by repeatedly copying DNA, which the hot springs where he and his colleagues found the is composed of two strands that fit together to bacterium Thermus aquaticus.
From page 11...
... 40 This program will develop and 39 enhance the human, physical, and 38 cyberinfrastructure necessary for cutting-edge research and advanced 37 education. The investment in rap- 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Strengthening Institutions idly evolving cyberinfrastructure will In the biomedical sciences, fewer recent doctorates are obtaining tenure-track increase productivity and collabora- faculty positions and, as this figure shows, the average age at receipt of one's first NIH research grant has increased to over 43 years old.
From page 12...
... This change will entail no net change in cost to the federal government, since federal coverage of a higher portion of indirect costs would, at the margins, shift part of federal research funding from direct to indirect costs. Strengthening Institutions
From page 13...
... Reducing or eliminating regulations can reduce administrative costs, enhance productivity, and in crease the agility of institutions. Minimizing administrative and compliance costs will also provide a cost benefit to the federal government and to university administrators, faculty, and students by freeing up resources and time to support education and research efforts directly.
From page 14...
... In recent years it has exploded into a major source of economic growth, technological innovation, and social interaction. It is not hard to see that the Web has changed the world, and a university's A screen shot of the Mosaic home page development of the first popular Web browser from 1997, viewed in the Mosaic played an essential role in that transformation.
From page 15...
... • Research universities and federal agencies should ensure, as they implement the above measures, that they improve education across the full spectrum of research university graduate programs -- including the social and behavioral sciences, the humanities, and the arts -- because of the increasing breadth of academic and professional disciplines necessary to address the challenges facing our changing world. • The federal government should significantly increase its support for graduate education through balanced programs of fellowships, traineeships, and research assistantships provided by all science agencies that depend upon individuals with advanced training.
From page 16...
... Researchers from developed at an American research university universities across the country use the survey's with federal funding. data to investigate issues as diverse as the use PSID began in 1968 at the University of Michi- of food stamps by different age groups, the gan with a survey of 5,000 households.
From page 17...
... As career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math continue to expand at a rapid pace, recruiting more underrepresented minorities and women into STEM careers and ensuring that they remain in the pipeline is essential not only for meeting the workforce needs of an increasingly technological nation, but also for obtaining the intellectual vitality and innovation nec essary for economic prosperity, national security, and social well-being. peRcentage of 2004 fReshmen at 4-yeaR institutions who aspiRe to stem majoRs who then completed stem degRees in 4 and 5 yeaRs, by Race/ethnicity 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 Building Talent 0 4-Year Completion 5-Year Completion White Asian American Latino Black Native American Latino, Black, and Native American students have significantly lower completion rates after 4 and 5 years of study in STEM fields than white and Asian American students.
From page 18...
... In response, chemist Robert Holton of Florida State University set out to find a method of producing Taxol that did not kill the Pacific yew trees. While others were looking for a completely synthetic alternative, Holton focused on finding a semi-synthetic method.
From page 19...
... It is in our nation's interest to attract and keep individuals who will create new knowledge or convert it to new products, industries, and jobs in the United States. doctoRate awaRds to tempoRaRy visa holdeRs by majoR field of study, 2009 70% 60% 55.2% 50% 42.4% 40% 30.1% 30% 27.2% 21.8% 20% 14.8% 8.7% 10% 0% Engineering Physical Life Social/ Humanities Education Other Sciences Sciences Behavioral Non-S&E Sciences Fields Building Talent The number of doctoral degrees awarded to temporary visa holders (international stu dents)
From page 20...
... The continued development of Nuclear resonance fluorescence imaging, NRF imaging may provide an efficient way to which is being developed by researcher Wil- scan cargo entering American ports, improv liam Bertozzi of the Massachusetts Institute of ing security without disrupting the pace of Technology, uses gamma rays to determine international trade.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.