Support for Younger Researchers and High-Risk Research Is Critical, Says Blue-Ribbon Panel

BELLINGHAM, WA--(Marketwire - June 6, 2008) - Programs and policies that support early-career investigators and high-risk, high-reward research are needed in order to preserve U.S. leadership in science and technology, contends a report released yesterday by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The report, "ARISE: Advancing Research In Science and Engineering," documents a lack of financial support for potentially transformative science and technology research, and risk-averse thinking and policies that stifle important new research directions. The blue-ribbon committee that produced the report was chaired by Thomas Cech, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

"The ARISE report highlights a very key issue regarding fostering new research," said SPIE President Kevin Harding. "As Thomas Cech himself has pointed out, he received his Nobel Prize for work he did in his early 30s. Albert Einstein published his special theory of relativity when he was just 26 years old. It is the new ideas, now concepts that have led to the revolutionary advances in science, often done by people in the early years of their careers.

"SPIE is trying to do its part for early career professionals through our grant programs, special conference activities for early career professionals, and a new award in the area. But there needs to be much more done by both industry and government to grow new research. As the report points out, we may need to rethink how research monies are allocated to be sure we are not overlooking those new ideas essential to a healthy and competitive technology base by only funding the low risk efforts that provide the useful, but incremental, near term advances."

As an example, the report notes that the average age for first-time recipients of primary research grants from the National Institutes of Health is 42.4 and rising, and that the success rate for first-time grant applicants has declined from 86 percent in 1980 to 28 percent in 2007.

Cech drew a direct connection between federal research funding reductions and the rising age of grant recipients. Younger scientists starting their own laboratories are competing for research money with more senior scientists with established labs and a history of productivity. The younger researchers are relegated to spending time seeking grants rather than participating in what could be a very creative career phase, Cech said in an interview with the Financial Times.

While current funding is a result of existing administration policies, "there is totally inadequate attention being paid to the problem in the current presidential election cycle," said Eugene Arthurs, CEO of SPIE. "It's just like Nero fiddling while Rome burns."

Read more about the report at http://www.amacad.org/news/newArise.aspx.

About SPIE

SPIE is an international optics and photonics society founded in 1955 advancing light-based technologies. Serving the interests of its more than 188,000 active constituents representing 138 different countries, SPIE acts as a catalyst for collaboration among technical disciplines for information exchange, continuing education, publishing opportunities, patent precedent, and career and professional growth. As the organizer and sponsor of approximately 25 major conferences and education programs annually in North America, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific, SPIE provides publishing, speaking, and learning opportunities on emerging technologies. For more information, visit http://SPIE.org.

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