Report Assesses Defense Basic Research

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

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Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 16:21:51 -0500
To: <farber () CENTRAL CIS UPENN EDU>
Subject: FYI #9: Report Assesses Defense Basic Research

FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 9: January 20, 2005

New Report Assesses Defense Basic Research

"No significant quantities of 6.1 funds (basic research) have been
directed toward projects that are typical of research funded under
categories 6.2 or 6.3."   This statement will probably be the most
discussed finding of a just-released study by the "Committee on
Department of Defense Basic Research" of the National Research
Council of the National Academies.

When Congress passed the FY 2004 National Defense Authorization Act
it included report language mandating an NAS study  "to assess the
basic research portfolio of the [armed] services and the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  This assessment should
review the basic research portfolio in order to determine if the
programs are consistent with the definitions of basic research in
DoD regulation."

The 16-member NAS committee was chaired by Larry Welch, U.S. Air
Force (retired), now with the Institute for Defense Analyses.  Other
committee members have backgrounds in academia, industry, and
government.  The study began in March 2004, and involved two
meetings in which the committee heard from private and governmental
experts.  In addition, numerous  visits or interviews were conducted
at universities and site visits were made to defense facilities.
The committee reported its findings in a 33-page document, with
additional appendixes.  It may be ordered or read on line at
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11177.html

The motivation for the congressional mandate was concern expressed
by universities and defense laboratories over the last six years
that the conduct of DOD basic research was changing.  Specifically,
there was concern that some 6.1 basic research money is being used
to fund other research.  In addition, DOD grant and contract
reporting requirements are cumbersome and constraining.  Finally,
the services use basic research funds differently, making tracking
and monitoring difficult.

The committee questioned the appropriateness of only a "small
percentage" of work classified as 6.1 research, and that some of
this uncertainty may revolved around the definition of basic
research.   "There is no evidence of significant misapplication of
basic research funding," the committee stated. It urged that the
definition of basic research be refined to include that it "has the
potential for broad, rather than specific, application," and "may
lead to: . . . the discovery of new knowledge that may later lead to
more focused advances."  Rejecting the traditional linear process
view of 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 research, the committee advised that "DOD
should view basic research, applied research, and development as
continuing activities occurring in parallel, with numerous
supporting connections throughout the process."

While the committee may not have found 6.1 funding be used
inappropriately, it did find reduced attention to basic research:
"there has been a trend within DOD for reduced attention to
unfettered exploration in its basic research program.  Near-term DOD
needs are producing significant pressure to focus basic research in
support of those needs.  DOD needs to realign the balance of its
basic research effort more in favor of unfettered exploration."

###############
Richard M. Jones
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi () aip org    http://www.aip.org/gov
(301) 209-3094
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