Proposed cuts in federal support for research and development R&D could have a particularly negative impact on Connecticut by threatening programs at area universities, such as Yale, that have been a major source of economic growth, according to a study by the American Association for the Advancement of Science AAAS.
The report shows that New England universities are among the largest recipients of federal R&D investments, receiving on average 67 percent of their R&D support through federal agencies. In fact, Yale is the 15th-ranked research university nationally, and is among the 20 top recipients of federal R&D funding.
Given the role of university research in fueling the area's high- tech industry, the region's economy could be seriously impacted by proposed cuts in federal R&D, according to the AAAS report.
While the Clinton administration's budget calls for a $1.6 billion, or 2.2 percent, increase in R&D funding, the federal investment in R&D will actually fall in real terms from fiscal year 1997 when adjusted for inflation, according to The Science Coalition, an alliance of more than 400 organizations, institutions and individuals dedicated to sustaining the federal government's historic commitment to U.S. leadership in basic science. Furthermore, President Clinton's plans would further reduce federal support for R&D by nearly 14 percent in real terms over the next five years, say critics.
"We are very concerned about the proposed cuts in federal R&D support," notes Dorothy Robinson, Yale's general counsel. "One of the most important investments our nation can make for the long term is in university-based research. Studies have shown that fully half our nation's economic growth during the last 50 years has come from the kinds of innovations achieved at universities."
Yale was recently recognized for having one of the "Great Advances of 1996," a list of achievements announced by The Science Coalition that demonstrates the returns on the federal investment in research. University scientists were cited for their development of a process that converts ozone-depleting CFCs into harmless table salt using a substance found in rhubarb -- a discovery that may have important implications for industry and the environment. Other recent Yale advances include development of a new AIDS medication and a Lyme disease vaccine.