In the Interest of Science: Getting the Funding Message Through to Washington

1. Merrilea J. Mayo In the Interest of Science: Getting the Funding Message Through to Washington

2. Federal R&D As a Percentage of GDP Is in Long Term Decline

3. The Impact on Society • Innovation Impact • 73% of the citations in U.S. industry patents are from research conducted at publicly supported institutions • Economic Growth Impact • Approximately a dozen economic studies (including those of Nobel Laureate Robert Solow) show “technological progress” accounts for 50% of economic growth, for all time periods studied (various intervals from 1869-1979). • Workforce Impact • Strong correlation between federally R&D funding and creation of technically trained workers

4. Federal R&D as a Share of GDP Life Sciences Up... ...Engineering, Physical Sciences, and Math Down SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators 2000

5. B.S. Students Follow the R&D Funding Life Sciences Up... ...Engineering, Physical Sciences, and Math Down SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators 2000

6. EE Research $ and Degree Trends SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1998-2008 Occupational Projections SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators 2000 B.S. Degrees Follow Funding Trends, Not Future Employment Trends EE Student production appears to be close to a “time average” of EE R&D funding data

7. B.S. Degrees Follow Funding Trends SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1998-2008 Occupational Projections SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators 2000 Biological Research $ and Degree Trends Job outlook for life sciences is similar to that of electrical engineering (+32% vs. +26%), but B.S. degrees obtained are vastly different (+55% vs. -38%), suggesting that B.S. degrees correlate more strongly with federal funding in the two fields (+46% vs. -30%) than with job prospects in those fields.

8. Plummeting Research $ Extinguishes B.S. Students in Nuclear Engineering 3-4 years later Job prospects for nuclear engineers have not been healthy in decades, but the sharp drop in B.S. student production occurred when funding to this field was cut to almost nothing in the early 1990’s.

9. Students See No Future in Engineering Slide courtesy of Kathie Olsen, NASA

10. Global Competitiveness: WorkforceU.S. Lags Other Nations in Share of 24-year-olds With Natural Science, Engineering Degrees

11. FY 2002 R&D Request

12. Reversing These Trends will Require Changing our Approach to Advocacy • “Physical science is going to have to make its own case, just as life science is now effectively making its case to the public and Congress.” • — Bill Bonvillian, Legislative Director for Sen. Joseph Lieberman • “I have found scientists and investors to be among the least effective lobbyists and have watched more focused special interests receive more money than they deserve while the future was starved of resources.” • — Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives

13. Goals for Advocacy in Physical Sciences, Math, and Engineering • MASS: Large numbers, breadth of sectors. Industry participation critical. • FOCUS: Dedicated resources, staff. Deliberate development of pro-research messages and materials specific to physical sciences, math, and engineering. Continuing presence. Constant communication among the many stakeholders. • PUBLIC OUTREACH: Need to take research issue outside the technical community and outside the beltway. Broad access, popular medium.

14. ASTRA: Alliance for Science & Technology Research in AmericaAn Advocacy Organization for the Physical Sciences, Math and Engineering Disciplines Est. May, 2001

15. ASTRA: Geographical Distribution

16. Current ASTRA sponsors Alfred P. Sloan Foundation American Association for the Advancement of Science American Association of Engineering Societies American Chemical Society American Institute of Chemical Engineers American Institute of Physics American Physical Society American Mathematical Society Anonymous Donation Association of American Universities Battelle California State University System David & Lucille Packard Foundation Florida State University Golden Family Foundation IBM Corporation Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.-USA Kent State University Lucent Technologies Materials Research Society The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) National Association of Manufacturers Northern Illinois University Optical Society of America Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Sandia National Laboratories Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers International (SEMI) Semiconductor Industry Association University Corporation for Atmospheric Research University of Arkansas, Fayetteville University of Arkansas, Little Rock University of Central Florida University of Kansas University of New Orleans University of North Texas University of South Carolina Worcester Polytechnic Institute NEC Research Institute Research Applied Southwest Texas State University Friends of ASTRA:

17. Sign-On Letters to Congress Advanced Micro Devices Advanced Systems Research, Inc. AeA Agere Systems American Chemical Society American Institute of Physics American Vacuum Society American Welding Society AMT- The Association For Manufacturing Technology Association of American Universities ASTRA, Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America Battelle Council for Chemical Research Delta Research Company Electrochemical Society General Electric Co. Hewlett-Packard Co. IBM Idaho State University Information Technology Association of America Information Technology Industry Council Intel Internet2 IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries Materials Research Society Micron Technology National Association of Manufacturers National Semiconductor National Society of Professional Engineers National Venture Capital Association NetForm International, Inc. Oregon State University Rensselaer Polytechnic University Semiconductor Industry Association Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) Semiconductor Research Corporation Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) South Dakota State University Southwest Texas State University Texas Instruments The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) University of Arkansas University of Texas • October 16, 2001 • The Hon. (Name of Conferee) • Address • Address • Dear (insert Name of Conferee, etc.) • We, the undersigned business, academic and scientific organizations, are writing to • highlight the importance of federal investments in fundamental research and development • and to stress the need for adequate National Science Foundation (NSF) funding for R&D. • We are concerned about R&D funding because leadership in science and technology • contributes to economic success. Federal investment in research is central to our future. • Yet at a time when the need for federally funded fundamental research has increased, • the actual investments in critical areas such as physics, math, materials, chemistry and • engineering research have declined. This is creating shortfalls in both the critical knowledge • and the skilled personnel necessary to continue the development of new products and services. • As you know, the federal government is the primary source of funds for university-based • fundamental research in these areas. Industry recognizes that it has a major R&D • responsibility. For example, the National Patterns of R&D Resources 2000 report estimates • that industry invested over $181 billion in R&D in 2000, approximately 70% of all R&D • investment that year. However, because of marketplace pressures, much of this research • is short-term and focused on projects. Programs at the NSF address many longer-term • research needs. • Additionally, a key aspect of NSF funding is that it fulfills the federal government's • unique role in preparing students. The short-term outcome of investment in university • research is that students ultimately become skilled members of America's workforce. • Highly skilled employees are desperately needed throughout the American economy. • These funds enable more professors and more students and enable laboratories to • become well equipped. The long-term outcome is that all these combine to create an • increasing pool of knowledge from which new technologies can be derived. • We strongly support the House of Representatives approved amount of 8.3% • for the NSF R&D increase. As you continue negotiations on the fiscal year • 2002 VA-HUD appropriations bill, we urge you to adopt this number in the • conference agreement. • Thank you for your consideration of our views. • Sincerely,

18. Hill Meetings( partial list, out of approximately 60 in the last 10 months) • U.S. Senate • Hollings (SC) • Leahy (VT) • Harkin (IA) • Kohl (WI) • Feinstein (CA) • Durbin (IL) • Johnson (SD) • Landrieu (LA) • Thurmond (SC) • Domenici (NM) • Bond (MO) • Shelby (AL) • Bennett (UT) • DeWine (OH) • U.S. House of Representatives • Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies • Committee Staff (Majority and Minority) • Frank Cushing (Majority) • Michael Walsh (Minority) • Hobson (OH) • Knollenberg (MI) • Northrup (KY) • Kaptur (OH) • Meek (FL) • Price (NC) • Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development • Committee Staff (Majority and Minority) The following universities participated in the meetings: University of California, Cornell University, University of Michigan, and Georgia Tech.

19. State R&D Fact Sheets

20. Supplementing Activities of Others IBM paid for this ad in Roll Call, the in-house newspaper of Congress. ASTRA used its network of “friends” to add a number of names to the signatory list (<24 hr. turnaround)

21. “Friends of Astra” Listserve • List serves about 1,100 individuals • Frequency is about 5-10 emails/month • Covers topics of community interest: • how to nominate someone for the National Medal of Technology • where to send letters of support (or non-support) to Senate Committees on behalf of nominees awaiting confirmation • current status of federal R&D funding for the next fiscal year • Significant bills introduced (e.g., Tech Talent Bill) • New reports worth noting

22. DUES • • $5K for non-profits and small corporations • $10K for large corporations

23. The Remaining Challenge for ASTRA is Industry Participation • Separate but unequal participation in ASTRA: • Universities and Professional Societies have provided most of the $ • Industries have provided great lobbying participation, but (almost) no $ • Industry is key to growing ASTRA’s influence • Is the one great untapped resource to date • Supplies 3rd party “credible voice” to S&T arguments • Commands Congressional attention; represents “jobs in the district” • Industry leaders often unaware of linkage between federal R&D funding, sustainable operation of university S&T departments, and resulting inadequate production of S&T workers. • Remaining challenge is to educate industry, involve them in ASTRA or equivalent organizations.

24. The Remaining Challenge for Professional Societies is Changing the Culture • Rough ratio of letters to Congress in support of physical sciences vs. life sciences is 1 or 2:250 • Politics is still “dirty” to many professional societies representing the physical sciences. Culturally, we aren’t fond of lobbying. • “We’re scientists, not politicians” • Leery of spending money on lobbyist, orchestrating trips to the Hill • Individuals visiting Washington on other business rarely bother to see their Congressmen on the same trip. • Everyone thinks someone else is lobbying on behalf of the physical sciences, but no one is. • Not the National Academies • Not the National/Government Laboratories • Not the major industries • Not the federal agencies • Not the universities (until the past few years) • End result: no money for physical sciences R&D, graying and diminution of the technical workforce, sustained damage to the U.S. economy. • I’ll move my R&D operations to where the trained people are. The pilot plant follows, because you need the R&D people nearby to help make it work. The manufacturing plant follows the pilot plant. Distribution, sales, and management follow the manufacturing. Once this process is started, it is not reversible. U.S. industry will do fine if there is no R&D in the U.S. We’ll just go overseas. The U.S. economy, however, will never recover. --Paraphrased from Bill Joyce, CEO of Hercules and previously CEO of Union Carbide

25. Conclusions • No lobbying, no R&D from the government • No R&D funding from the government, no trained people from the universities. • No trained people, no industry in the U.S. • No industry in the U.S., no economy.