Economic Impact and Competitiveness

  • World Class Institutions: American college and university research institutions are envied around the world for delivering critical scientific breakthroughs and discoveries that set the course for established industries, incubate competitive startups, found new companies, create good-paying jobs, and drive economic growth in communities across the country.
  • National Security Champions: America’s defense sector and national security architecture rely on a strong and innovative homegrown research enterprise. Our nation’s colleges and universities work with federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to spearhead fundamental scientific research that ensures America maintains its technological advantages and strategic deterrence capabilities.
  • Economic Powerhouses: Federal investments in scientific research at American colleges and universities have contributed to the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs each year and generated billions of dollars in wages, taxes, and increases in the national GDP. Research institutions also support their local economies – serving as major employers, talent hubs, and a proven source of spinoff companies.
  • Strong STEM Workforce Pipelines: Innovative discoveries, technological advancements, lifesaving treatments, and more all rely on a high-quality research workforce pipeline. Federal investments in science help attract, sustain, and maintain a robust research workforce that advances the boundaries of science and inspires the next generation of researchers to follow in their footsteps – whether a researcher chooses to enter academia, the private sector, or start their own company.

Support Across the Spectrum

  • There’s longstanding bipartisan support for the federal government’s investments in fundamental scientific research. It remains a top priority for Americans.
  • More than 90 percent of American voters believe it’s important for the U.S. to lead the world in scientific research and technology. Nearly 8 in 10 voters support the federal government’s investments in scientific research, with strong bipartisan support.
  • American voters recognize that scientific research contributes to society and see how it leads to lifesaving medicines, a competitive workforce, and economic growth. In fact, two-thirds of voters say we should invest more in scientific research.

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Stimulate The Economy

Stimulate The Economy

 Spur Innovation

Spur Innovation

 Drive American Competitiveness

Drive American Competitiveness

Life-Saving Discoveries

Life-Saving Discoveries

 Create Jobs

Create Jobs

 American Leadership

American Leadership

The importance of federal investment in fundamental scientific research:

“Scientific investment – whether through STEM education in schools or federal funding for scientific research – is a crucial priority for our country. If America wants to lead the world in the discoveries, innovation, and advancements to improve lives, it will be our commitment to science that drives us forward." - Representative Bill Foster (D-IL-11), 2018

The importance of federal investment in fundamental scientific research:

"This is truly a bipartisan, bicameral effort on so many fronts to promote science…I’ll keep fighting right alongside with all of you making this the number one issue for Congress to face, and I look forward to joining other Champions. I want you to have so many Champions in this hall you don’t have enough space for all of them." - Representative Kevin Yoder (R-KS-03), 2018

The importance of federal investment in fundamental scientific research:

"Federal investments in basic science research are the cornerstone of our nation's innovation economy, and I've been proud to champion stronger investments in research in the U.S. Senate." - Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), 2018

The importance of federal investment in fundamental scientific research:

"[We] advance the discovery, development and delivery of new treatments for patients anxiously waiting for the next medical breakthrough." - Mary Woolley, President and CEO of Research!America, 2018

The importance of federal investment in fundamental scientific research:

“Everybody benefits when the tide comes in. Discoveries made by other countries are things that we all have access to…The question really is, what role does the United States want to play in this changing global setting? Do we want to participate, or do we want to lead? If the decision is that we want to lead, then we’re going to have to raise our investments.” - Maria Zuber, Vice President for Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018

The importance of federal investment in fundamental scientific research:

“Because of the landscape and the high amounts of risk, the private sector is not going to invest as much as they should, and certainly there are some exceptions, but ultimately that creates a need for the federal government to invest across the innovation cycle in multiple valleys of death. It’s not just being able to get the idea to work, it’s can you get the idea to scale.” - Brad Townsend, Associate Director at Bipartisan Policy Center, 2018

TakeAction

Spread the Word About Why Science Matters

Communicate with your friends, neighbors, local media, and elected officials and tell them why it is essential that the United States invests strongly and consistently in fundamental scientific research. Urge them to make funding for scientific research a national priority before it is too late.

To learn more ways you can take action, contact TSC@sciencecoalition.org.

Click below to see how you can take action.