THE INTEGRATION OF FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL RESEARCH AS A Research on Foreign Regions and International Affairs 48 52 54 55 38 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 1. The integration of Federal and non-Federal research facilities has become a war problem of the highest importance, especially in view of the limited number of scientific specialists and the protection of the nation's research structure, now and in postwar reconstruction. 2. 3. 4. There has been an extensive development of decentralized research, especially in science, to implement the Government's war research program. The Federal Government has been developing rich and valuable patterns.of procedure and cooperation with all kinds of responsible research agencies which have proved useful during the war and which can be further extended. The types of research suitable for farming out are almost unlimited.·· Federal agencies have farmed out research primarily because of economy and the advisability of using existing facilities and personnel not otherwise available. As shown in the report, the procedure has broad implications and by-products for planning, training, national prestige, the protection of American Scholarship, etc. 5. Contracting and cooperative research programs are affected by the cxisting export personnel, the fields of study, the nature of the problems, by the structure of Federal and non-Federal agencies, and by the community of interest or lack of it of agencies willing to serve the nation as a whole. 6. The scheduling of research, always a difficult task, is more difficult under war conditions. Not all Federal bureaus or private agencies have wanted or achieved a balanced program for themselves. Contracting cannot be an easy remedy under such circumstances. 7. 8. The achievement of a desired balance in the Government's fundamontal and applied research program, as well as the nation's, raises difficult problems of coordination in the solution of which scientists and scholars must share. Cooperative research programs and contracting will be but one important device to achieve symmetry. Where the Federal Government seriously needs more facts and knowledge for the best conduct of its affairs, cooperative procedures may be indicated. 9. Nearly all organized research groups have been affected by the war effort without sufficient attention being paid to the net national research gain or loss in the process of building up the Federal services. However, there remain, in spite of continuing dislocation, available private facilities that might be tapped by contracting or by cooperative research. 10. Enough is known about the procedures for using non-Federal research agencies to undertake and extend practical operations. This might be done piece-meal, or in trouble-shooting fashion, problem by problem or field by field, as the circumstances dictated. 11. Generally, the procedures developed have successfully freed research activity from subordination to policy-making and policy enforcing. 12. Significant farming out depends on more coherence and direction in the formulated needs of the Government, possibly through conferences, inter-departmental, inter-bureau committees, and a flexible intermediary agency. 13. Blending the use of the long-range type of private research with Federal needs subject to a rigid time limit is a major problem. 14. Quick adjustments to changing noods have been possible in cooperative research enterprises. 15. The obstacle of the confidential nature of certain official data has been greatly exaggerated and can often be overcome by several devices. 16. The collection of research data, which can usually be well-defined, also warrants more extensive cooperative arrangements. 17. The advance review and approval of research projects, which make possible a timely cooperation in technical advice, have been useful. 18. Many of the reasons for and against contracting with non-Federal facilities would apply almost as strongly to Federal inter-agency, inter-departmental cooperation. 19. New programs and major changes in Federal policy often should indicate to private research agencies the desirability of special research activities. 20. The demands for certain types of research may encourage within the university and elsewhere, a greater use of inter-departmental, interdisciplinary approaches to research tasks. 21. The use of outside agencies has been facilitated by the existence of organized councils and associations of scientific specialists. 22. Post-war studies have been considered by several agencies a suitable opportunity to develop cooperative research in industry, universities, and elsewhere. 23. Cooperative research has been decided upon in some instances as one practicable way of attempting a fruitful synthesis of the conclusions of research specialists, administrators, and laymen throughout the country. 24. It is possible that more adequate provisions could be made for projecting research as between our Government and private research agencies and those of our Allies. 25. The problem of larger and more permanent Federal support in the direction of a high standard of research has a direct bearing on contracting viewed as a supplementary device, and because the issue will undoubtedly be revived after the war, and in different form, partly because of the war-time experience with farming out. INTRODUCTION Scope of Inquiry: The Science Committee recommended in 1938 "That research agencies of the Government extend the practice of encouraging decentralized research in institutions not directly related to the Government and by individuals not in its employ." A modern government needs vast amounts of data and knowledge, and can draw upon the nation's total research output which may, however, be motivated by considerations other than specific government needs. The war has prompted this inquiry into what might be called the "farming out" of research problems by the Federal Government, or, if there is a more or less formal agreement, perhaps including some compensation from Federal funds, what might be called "contracting" or "sub-contracting" of research. The process may range from a casual hint as to Government needs by a responsible official to a carefully formulated, major project supported by departmental funds. This inquiry gives some attention to various types of cooperative enterprises inasmuch as they develop a background suitable for contracting. The now extensive cooperation in research and in sharing research results among Government agencies is mentioned only incidentally. There will be noted the variety of procedures which have been used, or might be devised, to supplement the Government research program, without the complete dislocation of the nation's research structure. |