University faculty in the physical sciences and mathematics— the quantitative sciences—must generate their own research funds, often including funds to support their graduate students. The major funding source is the federal government, through its various funding agencies; the competition for research funds is intense. As a result, an agency's funding criteria, which depend on the agency's mission, can greatly influence research directions in a broad field of quantitative science. In particular, such influences—amounting to a significant skewing of research directions and subfield growth in university quantitative science, with possible effects on university recruiting and administrative policies as well—have resulted from the mission orientation of the Department of Defense (DoD), coupled with recent increases in DoD funding. Concluding observations discuss some possible means of alleviating the problems posed by DoD funding of university quantitative science.
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References
1.
1. Henceforth in this article, the phrase “the quantitative sciences” will denote “the physical sciences and mathematics,” to avoid repetitive inclusion of the awkward appendage “and mathematics”; the phrase “quantitative scientists” is to be similarly interpreted.
2.
2. Daniel J. Kevles, The Physicists (New York: Knopf, 1979), p. 355.
3.
3. U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Federal Support of Basic Research in Institutions of Higher Learning, 1964, p. 38.
4.
4. Vannevar Bush, Science, the Endless Frontier (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1945), p. 80.
5.
5. Paul Forman, “Behind Quantum Electronics: National Security as Basis for Physical Research in the United States 1940-1960,”Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences, 1987, vol. 18, pt. 1, p. 188.
6.
U.S. National Science Foundation, National Science Board , Basic Research in the Mission Agencies, 1978, p. 286.
7.
7. Kevles, Physicists, p. 355.
8.
8. The criteria and rationale for setting up FFRDCs are given in U.S. General Accounting Office, Issues on Establishing and Using Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, GAO/NSIAD-88-22, 1988, pp. 26-29.
9.
The 10 DoD-funded FFRDCs, only 2 of which are university managed, are listed in General Accounting Office, Research and Development Centers, p. 14.
10.
The factors for converting from actual expenditures to constant dollars may be inferred from U.S. Department of Defense, Report on the University Role in Defense Research and Development, prepared for U.S. Congress, Committees on Appropriations, Apr. 1987, tab. 1, p. 7.
11.
11. National Science Foundation, Federal Funds for Research and Development.
12.
John P. Holdren and F. Bailey Green, “Military Spending, the SDI, and Government Support of Research and Development: Effects on the Economy and the Health of American Science,”FAS Public Interest Report, 39(7):1 (Sept. 1986).
13.
13. National Science Foundation, Federal Funds for Research and Development, p. 272, tab. 35A, and p. 274, tab. 35B.
14.
14. The period from about 1955 to about 1967 has been called “the golden age of academic science in the United States.”Harvey Brooks, “The Dynamics of Funding, Enrollments, Curriculum and Employment,” in Physics Careers, Employment and Education, ed. Martin L. Perl (New York: American Institute of Physics, 1978), p. 94.
15.
15. Dael Wolfle, The Home of Science (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972).
16.
ibid., vol. 2, Background Papers (1978).
17.
17. Forman, “Behind Quantum Electronics.” See also the other papers in Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences, 1987, vol. 18, pt. 1, in which Forman's paper appeared.
18.
18. Marilyn McCoy, Jack Krakower, and David Makowski, “Financing at the Leading 100 Research Universities,”Research in Higher Education, 16(4): 340 (1982).
19.
19. The evolution we describe was not inevitable. In Britain, for example, graduate students are not supported via charges to their thesis advisers' grants. Instead, a three-year grant is awarded directly to the graduate student, from funds supplied by the national government.
20.
Elinor G. Barber and Robert P. Morgan, “Boon or Bane” (Report, Institute of International Education, 1988), pp. 18-21.
21.
21. Proposal Review at NSF: Perceptions of Principal Investigators, NSF report 88-4, Feb. 1988, p. 28. Not all the quantitative sciences have equal needs for graduate students, however. An excellent discussion of the differences between the disciplines in this regard is given by David W. Brenaman, “Effects of Recent Trends in Graduate Education on University Research Capability in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics,” in State of Academic Science, ed. Smith and Karlesky, 2:133.
22.
Edward E. David, Jr. , “The Federal Support of Mathematics,”Scientific American, 252(5):45 (May 1985).
23.
23. Lynn Arthur Steen, “The Science of Patterns,”Science, 29 Apr. 1988, p. 611.
24.
24. Allyn Jackson, “Geometry-Supercomputer Project Inaugurated,”Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 35(2):253 (Feb. 1988).
25.
25. Stuart Geman, of Brown University, quoted in Allyn Jackson, “Supercomputers and the NSF,”Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 34:9 (1987).
26.
26. Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 32:2221 (1987).
27.
These totals include the papers published in Physical Review Letters, a journal initiated by the American Physical Society in 1958 to enable rapid publication of important short communications, which previously had to appear in the less rapidly printed Physical Review. Actually, the growth in the number of physics papers published in this country has been considerably greater than even these numbers indicate, because the American Institute of Physics, an umbrella organization of physical societies to which the American Physical Society belongs, also has introduced new research journals since World War II, for example, the Journal of Mathematical Physics, begun in 1960, which in 1987 published 392 papers.
28.
28. Similar increases occurred in chemistry and mathematics during the 1920-70 period. The number of institutions granting the Ph.D. increased from 43 to 194 for chemistry and from 22 to 159 for mathematics. The number of Ph.D.s awarded in chemistry increased from 77 to 2284 and in mathematics from 19 to 1282. U.S. National Academy of Sciences, A Century of Doctorates: Data Analyses of Growth and Change, 1978, tab. 2A, p. 12, and tab. 39, p. 95.
29.
29. McCoy, Krakower, and Makowski, “Financing at the Leading 100 Research Universities,” pp. 334-335.
30.
30. An established physicist who changed fields has told one of us (EB), “If it hadn't been for the never-ending proposal-writing rat race, I never would have left physics to become a lawyer.”
31.
31. National Science Board, Basic Research in the Mission Agencies, p. 191.
32.
32. Ibid., p. 268.
33.
33. Ibid., p. 184, quoting the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, 42 U.S.C. §2452.
34.
34. Ibid., p. 267.
35.
35. Ibid., p. 286.
36.
36. U.S. Department of Defense, The Department of Defense Report on the Merit Review Process for Competitive Selection of University Research Projects and an Analysis of the Potential of Expanding the Geographical Distribution of Research, prepared for U.S. Congress, Committees on Appropriations, Apr. 1987.
37.
37. For an instructive, detailed description of how the military agencies select the research proposals they fund, see Stanton A. Glantz and Norm V. Albers, “Department of Defense R&D in the University,”Science, 186:706 (1974).
38.
John Walsh , “Pentagon Plans Boost for Basic Research,”Science, 205:566 (1979).
39.
Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 1986, 1987 and 1988, NSF Science Resources Series, 1987, tabs. C-86, C-89, and C-92.
40.
40. Joel S. Yudken and Barbara B. Simons, “Federal Funding in Computer Science: A Preliminary Report,”SIGACT News, 19(1):53 (Fall 1987).
41.
41. Academic Science/Engineering: Graduate Enrollment and Support, NSF Science Resources Series, 1988, tab. C-18. Unfortunately, this report gives data for broad fields only.
42.
Kevles , Physicists, p. 402.
43.
U.S. Department of Defense , Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, Fiscal Year 1988, announcement available from ONR Code 11SP, 1988.
44.
44. Using published breakdowns of the research budgets of various agencies by area within physics, we estimate that approximately 30 percent of the DoE research funds, 30 percent of the NSF funds, and 100 percent of the DoD and NASA funds awarded to physics researchers in universities fall within the fields of atomic and condensed-matter physics. Irwin Goodwin, “Washington Reports,”Physics Today, 41(4) (Apr. 1988). Using these justquoted figures and the tables listed in fn. 39 of this article, we arrive at the 30 percent figure quoted in the text.
45.
Robert Park , “Physics in the FY 1988 Budget,” in AAAS Report XII, Research and Development FY 1988 (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1987), p. 157.
46.
46. Federal Support to Universities, Colleges, and Selected Nonprofit Institutions, Fiscal Year: 1986, NSF Surveys of Science Resources Series, Jan. 1988, tab. B-9. Much of the DoD funding received by Johns Hopkins is expended in its Applied Physics Laboratory, however, which is not classified as an FFRDC, though its operations and functions are very similar to most FFRDCs; if the Applied Physics Laboratory funding is subtracted, the 71 percent figure stated in the text would be significantly reduced.
47.
In 1985, DoD funding of Livermore projects amounted to $192 million, which equaled 29 percent of DoE's own funding of Livermore; the corresponding 1985 figures for Los Alamos were $178 million and 33 percent. General Accounting Office, Research and Development Centers, pp. 35-36.
48.
48. An internationally recognized atomic physicist, who recently has resigned from his professorship at a medium-prestige university in favor of an appointment at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory after having been a consultant for a time, has told one of us (EG), “Not only did I significantly increase my salary, but I now have over thirty atomic physics colleagues I can talk to. At the university I was the only one in my field.”
49.
See also, for example, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
50.
and ibid., Apr. 1988, p. 141, as well as in Science, 22 Apr. 1988, p. 565. These advertised postdoctoral fellowships carry a salary of $32,820 to $34,580 per annum; exceptionally qualified candidates may receive J. Robert Oppenheimer fellowships at an annual salary of $50,600.
51.
Annual Register of Grant Support, 1987-88 (Wilmette, IL: National Register, 1988), p. 646.
52.
52. Department of Defense, Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, p. 4.
53.
AAAS Report XIII: Research and Development, FY 1989 (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1988), pp. 222-223.
54.
54. See fn. 42 of this article.
55.
55. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 34(6):1014 (Oct. 1987).
56.
56. Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 Apr. 1988, p. A4.
57.
57. Robert M. Rosenzweig, “Statement on Behalf of AAU, AGE, NASULGC, AGS and ACS,” testimony presented to U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Research and Development, 17 Mar. 1988; “Rosenzweig Testifies before HASC R&D Subcommittee; Subcommittee Marks up FY89 Authorization,”AAU Washington Report, 25 Mar. 1988.
58.
58. President Reagan's Executive Order no. 12,356, §1.3(b), 47 Fed. Reg. 14.874 (1982).
59.
59. “Report of the Committee on Threats to Autonomy in University Research” (Association of Graduate Schools, 1987).
60.
60. Mitchel B. Wallerstein and Lawrence E. McCray, “Scientific Communication and National Security: The Issues in 1984” (Report, Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, National Research Council, Jan. 1984), p. 14. This analysis of 123,000 DoD reports showed that of the 23,119 originating in universities only 1.3 percent were classified; every classified report was generated in off-campus facilities affiliated with universities—for example, FFRDCs—not on university campuses as such.
61.
61. “National Security Controls and University Research: Information For Investigators and Administrators” (Report, Association of American Universities, June 1987), p. 8.
62.
62. See the discussion of attempts at information control in David Wilson, “Consequential Controversies,” this issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
63.
63. See, for example, the 1986 remarks of then Under Secretary of Defense Donald Hicks, quoted in Vera Kistiakowsky, “Military Funding of University Research,” this issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
64.
There also were demonstrations against Columbia's faculty involvement with the Jason group (recall fn. 42). Kevles, Physicists, p. 403.
65.
65. Kevles, Physicists, p. 403.
66.
66. Walter S. Baer, “The Changing Relationship: Universities and Other R&D Performers,” in State of Academic Science, ed. Smith and Karlesky, 2:78.
67.
67. Ibid.
68.
68. Ibid., p. 79.
69.
69. John F. Benton, “Chronology of Army Analysis Program at Caltech” (Memo to voting faculty, California Institute of Technology, 27 Jan. 1984).
70.
70. Ibid.
71.
71. M. L. Goldberger and R. E. Vogt, “Background Material for Faculty Discussion” (Memo to the faculty, California Institute of Technology, 23 Jan. 1984), esp. app. A, “Arroyo Center FY 1984 Program Content.”
72.
72. Lee Dembart, “Army Think Tank Plan Stirs Caltech,”Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 1984.
73.
73. Graduate Student Council, “Army Analysis Program, a.k.a. Arroyo Center” (Memo to Cal Tech faculty, n.d. but apparently written shortly after 12 Jan. 1984). The faculty and graduate student outcry may have been exacerbated by the fact that Cal Tech's agreement to administer the Arroyo Center closely coincided with the appointment—as vice-president of Cal Tech and director of JPL—of Lew Allen, Jr., former Air Force general and chief of staff, who had just retired.
74.
74. Colleen Cordes, “Pentagon Awards $1.4 Billion in R&D Contracts,”Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 Apr. 1988, p. A32.
75.
75. The SEI was established as a new FFRDC, to be managed by CMU, in December 1984. General Accounting Office, Research and Development Centers, p. 42.
76.
76. Ibid., p. 14.
77.
77. Tela C. Zasloff, “The University, by Definition, May Be the Wrong Place for Military Research,”Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 Apr. 1988, p. A52.
78.
78. Ibid.; the picketing has been seen by the authors of this article.
79.
ibid., 29 Feb. 1988.
80.
80. Private communication to one of us (EB) from a CMU faculty member.
81.
81. David E. Sanger, “Martin Marietta Selected by U.S. for Tests Simulating `Star Wars,' ”New York Times, 23 Jan. 1988, p. 1.
82.
82. General Accounting Office, Research and Development Centers, p. 28.
83.
83. In 1982, U.S. scientists authored 27 percent of the entire world's production of physics papers. The corresponding figures for chemistry and mathematics were 21 percent and 37 percent, respectively. Physics papers published in U.S. journals during 1982 were cited 1.5 times as often as the average published paper in the field; the corresponding ratios for chemistry and mathematics were 1.63 and 1.23. International Science and Technology Data Update 1987, NSF report 87-319, 1987.
84.
84. Foreign Students Fueled 2% Rise in 1985 Graduate Science and Engineering Enrollment, NSF Science Resource Studies Highlights, NSF 87-306, 12 June 1987, p. 2.
85.
85. This very point was made during the early discussions about the pros and cons of the Mansfield Amendment. Rodney W. Nichols, “Mission-Oriented R&D,”Science, 2 Apr. 1971, p. 31.
86.
86. Ibid., p. 30.
87.
87. We use the phrase “obviously militarily related research” rather than “weapons research” because much DoD-supported research—for example, the aforementioned SEI project on reducing pilot error in targeting—has obvious military application but cannot be identified with any specific weapons system.
88.
88. To illustrate the kind of criticism that has been expressed, with which we do not necessarily agree, we cite Marchant, “Political Constraints.” He quotes physicist Michio Kaku, author of “To Win A Nuclear War,” as saying that he knows scientists who double their salaries by consulting for the Pentagon and that such scientists are “like prostitutes who sell themselves to the highest bidder—only they are selling their brain instead of their body.” See also Ross Flewelling and Charles Schwartz, “Resurgent Militarism in Academia,”Science for the People, July-Aug. 1981, p. 5.
89.
89. This point has been made forcefully in comments on Zasloff, “University, by Definition,” about CMU's acceptance of the SEI. Ward Deutschman and George P. Millburn, Letters to the Editor, Chronicle of Higher Education, 25 May 1988, pp. B2-B3.
90.
90. Forman, “Behind Quantum Electronics,” concludes that military patronage has very strongly shaped the character of the research done by academic physicists; indeed, Forman claims that physicists have lost control of their discipline. While we find much of his analysis well taken, we do not agree that physics has been this deeply affected.
91.
91. For example, Krinsky, “Swords into Sheepskins”; Selvin and Schwartz, “Publish and Perish”; Greg LeRoy, “War U,”Science for the People, 20(1):11 (Jan.-Feb. 1988).
92.
92. Holdren and Green, “Military Spending,” do not concentrate on universities and certainly not on the quantitative sciences.
