"The U.S. sorely needs a coordinated national research strategy", says Marcia McNutt, president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. In a first-ever “State of the Science” address, she warned the U.S. was ceding its global scientific leadership to other countries, China in particular. This slippage could make it harder for the U.S. to maintain the strength of its economy and protect its national security.
U.S. has a declining share of the most cited science papers. It still spends the most money out of any other country on research and development although China's investment growth rate is double that of the USA. China currently files more patents than the U.S. and hosts more than a quarter of the world’s clinical trials, as compared to only 3% in 2013. The US accounts for nearly 60% of all Nobel Prizes awarded since the end of World War II. This dominance is now being challenged.
As federal investment dipped in the 1980s, the scientific landscape grew more complex. Companies and philanthropies began funding and conducting greater portions of research and development. The private sector tends to pursue narrower, applied interests, and to keep its findings to itself. When companies take over entire fields as they did with genetically modified organisms and now artificial intelligence, public’s distrust is increased.
Math and science proficiency fell during the 1980s too, with fewer Americans entering the STEM workforce. Of utmost importance, McNutt emphasised, was improving K–12 STEM education. Foreign-born individuals play a key role in maintaining U.S. STEM prowess, accounting for 19% of the nation’s STEM workforce and 43% of its STEM Ph.D. population. However, decline in Chinese students enrolling in US universities in recent years, represents risk to the US's ability to attract top talent.
In 2022 Congress passed a law in line with many of McNutt’s recommendations: the CHIPS and Sciences Act. The statute which McNutt called a “good start”, promised not only to revive homegrown semiconductor production for computers but also to invest $170 billion in broad research funding over the next five years, as well as to expand STEM education on the K–12, college and graduate levels.
The outcome of the upcoming presidential election may shape the future of federal scientific program as well. During the past four years, the Biden administration has supported modest increases to several scientific agencies’ budgets, including those of the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2020, the last year of his term, former president Donald Trump proposed widespread slashes, although those were dismissed by Congress.
See articles from Scientific American and Tech Times.
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