The Industrialization of Academic Research

Yesterday, National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt delivered her last annual State of the Sciences Address. Overall the talk basically calls us to adapt to the new reality that industrial and foundation support for research has taken a far larger role in academic research. I fear we may be losing the broad academic independence and exploration that has made our universities the envy of the world.

Government funding for research has become more challenging to receive, more bureaucratic and more political. The US Office of Management and Budget has proposed new regulations that would require all grant funding to go through political review. 

McNutt presented this graph showing the seemingly exponential growth in research requirements from zero in 1990 (when I got my first grant) to well over three hundred today. Researchers now spend close to half their time on regulatory compliance. 

Increase in regulatory requirements

McNutt mentioned six specific issues.

1. Reimagine connections between universities and industry
2. Realign the academic reward system
3. Meet the needs of the STEM workforce
4. Reduce research regulations (as in the graph above)
5. Increase the rate of innovation with the help of automation in shared facilities
6. Tackle Big Challenges

For the first, she highlighted U Washington CS where a large percentage of their faculty had half-time appointments in industry. I understand why this is necessary from both sides, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. Academics should not have two masters. We become academics to choose our own research directions and to prepare the next generation, both more challenging when you spend half your time connected with a company. 

Even for the "big challenges" she specifically mentioned two foundation-driven projects.

McNutt has hopes that government research can be less bureaucratic and willing to take bigger risks. Outside of theoretical areas, CS conferences now have heavy industrial representation. I worry that we bend our research to fit the needs of corporations and foundations funded by wealthy donors. Welcome to the new world.