■Equipment Many kinds of equipment and apparatus are used for laboratory experiments and for lecture demonstrations in the teaching of science and engineering. An average expenditure of $200 million a year for the next ten years will be required for such teaching equipment. This amount is necessary if we are to fill present shortages, to keep up with increased needs, and to teach science with its latest advances. Demands for basic research equipment in colleges and universities will rise sharply during the decade for two reasons. The number of students and staff will nearly double. Furthermore, equipment for specialized research becomes increasingly complex and intricate and therefore more costly. The required expenditure for "general" research equipment in the year 1970 is $180 million. This figure is not expected to cover the growing need for certain “specialized" and very costly equipment such as high-energy accelerators and space vehicles. TECHNICAL NOTE: (data and assumptions used in projecting the needs for equipment.) EQUIPMENT FOR TEACHING. A recent estimate made for the National Science Foundation indicates that the colleges and universities now have some $500 million inventory value of equipment for teaching science and engineering, and that an additional $300 million is needed to meet existing shortages. The total $800 million would provide an average equipment inventory of about $1,200 per student. At this ratio, which is consistent with a high standard of instruction, inventory needed in 1970 will be $1.5 billion. The ten-year investment, including depreciation and obsolescence, will be about $2 billion. If existing shortages are met during the first few years, the expenditure in 1970 will be about $200 million. EQUIPMENT FOR RESEARCH. The cost of research equipment is related to the expected number of people who will use it. This cost is taken to be about one-half of the cost of the building. This ratio yields a required expenditure of $180 million in 1970. This amount is believed to be realistic for "general" research equipment, but it will not cover all "specialized" equipment. Supporting costs Expenditures for research and teaching in science involve far more than buildings and equipment. Other supporting costs include salaries for professional staff and nonprofessional assistants, costs of books and other informational media, and all other operating expenses and indirect costs. Such supporting costs for the teaching of science and engineering in colleges and universities will rise from $1.9 billion in 1961 to $5 billion in 1970. This estimate is based on the increased number of personnel plus an expected increase of 50 percent in real salaries during the decade to maintain high quality in faculties and research staffs. Recent trends in academic salaries and the growing competition from other professions and opportunities indicate that the actual increase may have to be more than 50 percent. The cost of textbooks will probably rise from about $26 per student in 1961 to $35 per student in 1970, and the cost of library operations will rise from about $30 to $45 per student. Multiplied by figures for enrollment, these numbers yield about $36 million in 1961 and $90 million in 1970 for disseminating information in science and engineering education. Other operating and overhead costs may be expected to rise in proportion, from $648 million in 1961 to $1.7 billion in 1970. The same methods of analysis yield a total supporting cost of about $2.2 billion for basic research in colleges and universities in 1970. The 1961 figure is $760 million. ■ Everyone's responsibility We have shown how scientific progress affects the nation's future, we have proposed a Every person should understand what science really is about and what it can do. Our local and state governments furnish educational resources and aid science in other ways. The colleges and universities, other nonprofit institutions, industry, and the Federal Government all engage in scientific activities and all supply funds for science. The relative amounts these four sectors now contribute to basic research are shown in this report. What each sector contributes necessarily depends not only on its direct need for science but also on its responsibilities and priorities for many other tasks. Because science affects the nation as a whole and because some things must be done now to ensure the nation's well-being in the future, the Federal Government has a special responsibility for leadership. It includes identifying the needs, finding out what must be done first, encouraging widespread support, and providing funds that cannot be obtained elsewhere at the time they are needed. While all sectors increase their support of science during this decade, the proportion furnished by the Federal Government must rise. Science and engineering education and the associated research already are stretching the capabilities of the colleges and universities. The demands will be even greater as we move on toward the goal. rom the time of Franklin and Jefferson the people of the United States have had faith in both the intellectual and the material benefits that science can bring. We have continually expanded our scientific knowledge of the physical universe, of living things, and of social organization. Our past investment in science has brought us double reward: a highly developed technology which has helped to keep us free, and a continuing enlargement of our understanding which has helped to enrich our freedom. Today, far more than in the past, scientific progress determines the character of tomorrow's civilization. 74150 0-61--15 |