Basic research is the foundation and essence of both, assuring a deep reservoir of knowledge and providing choices and flexibility for addressing future needs. Moreover, in the age of technology, the problem solving approach of basic research helps prepare minds for work in all walks of life. The new century will impose new demands and responsibilities on all who have a stake in the discovery and application of knowledge. This nation's superb research system must continue to respond to new intellectual opportunities and to devise new instruments and approaches for performing its work. The variety of institutional arrangements within which research takes place must continue to expand, complementing the activities of the individual investigator with complex multidisciplinary teams of researchers.
Basic research is one of many forces that contribute to the nation's economic development.
Its benefits will be achieved only in connection with other parts of the nation's scientific and technological enterprise, including applied research, education, technology transfer and development, innovation, and manufacturing. More effective and focused partnerships among all sectors will be needed to secure the greatest possible benefit from the nation's investment in the discovery of fundamental knowledge. Rather, it is an investment that, like education, takes time to mature but has tremendous practical payoffs in the long run. Assuring the knowledge base appropriate for economic growth, long term job creation, and social well being requires a conscious commitment to strong and consistent long-term support for basic research and education. Providing requisite support for this process is a matter of strategic national importance.