MIT, Coalition of Associations Host Release of The Future Postponed: Why Declining Investment in Basic Research Threatens a U.S. Innovation Deficit

APLU co-sponsored the release of MIT’s report The Future Postponed: Why Declining Investment in Basic Research Threatens a U.S. Innovation Deficit with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Association of American Universities (AAU), Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and The Science Coalition.

MIT faculty developed the report that reveals the impact of the Innovation Deficit. The Future Postponed describes the potential for research breakthroughs in a number of disciplines and how that potential could be diminished by inadequate federal investment in research.

The report is available for download at http://dc.mit.edu/innovation-deficit.

The release took place April 27 at the AAAS auditorium, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC. A panel of distinguished scientists discussed the findings and recommendations:

• Rush Holt, CEO of AAAS and Executive Publisher of Science
• Katrine Bosley, CEO of Editas Medicine
• Marc Kastner, Report Committee Chair, MIT
• Chris Kaiser, Former Provost and Amgen Inc. Professor of Biology, MIT
• Karl Berggren, Professor and Director of the Nanostructures Laboratory in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT
• Anne White, Cecil and Ida Green Associate Professor in Nuclear Engineering, MIT
• Ron Weiss, Professor and Director of the Synthetic Biology Center, MIT
• Maria Zuber, Vice President for Research, MIT

MIT has put a great deal of work into this report, and it is one of the most serious efforts we have seen to detail just what our nation could lose out on by cutting research funding. It defines as well as any report to date the potential impact of the Innovation Deficit. MIT also has plans for expanding this work in the months ahead.