Basic research advances science and can also have broader impacts on modern society

It may seem surprising, but federal funding for research is not only for scientists. A component of numerous federal subsidies that support basic research requires that discoveries be shared with non-scientists. This component, called “broader impactsBy the National Science Foundation, can make a big difference for students and teachers from kindergarten to 12th year, museums, scientific citizens And other people interested in science, while helping the scientists themselves restore to taxpayers who finance their work.

Basic researchoften done because of the interest of a curious scientist, may not initially have a direct applicationlike developing the smartphone or curing a disease. But these discoveries create important knowledge in natural sciences, engineering, mathematics and related disciplines.

The United States is A world leader in scientific and technological innovation. At the federal level, the National Science Foundation, or NSF, is one of the main donors of this type of basic research. In 2022, the federal government financed 40% of all fundamental research carried out in the United StatesThe rest from other sources, including the business sector.

During the Second World War, president Franklin D. Roosevelt I wanted to position the United States for strategic and economic leadership worldwide. He ordered Vannevar Bush physicist Develop a vision of the future of American science and technology. His 1945 report, “Science: the endless border“, Has become the fundamental research plan funded by the government.

During the first decades of the NSF, the 1950s until the late 1990s, proposals were mainly evaluated according to the quality of science and scientists that do the work. But then, the foundation created a new system, still in place today.

Thus, each NSF research proposal is now evaluated by peers according to two criteria: intellectual merit, or the quality and novelty of the sciences and history of the research team, and “broader impacts– Related activities that disseminate discoveries to the general public.

Intellectual merit consists in advancing scientific knowledge and innovation, while wider impacts describe why people who are not scientists should care and how society could benefit from this research.

Another pragmatic aspect to broader impacts is that taxpayers pay for these activities, it is therefore important for them, and the congress, to understand their return on investment. These wider activities on the impacts communicate and engage the public in the search for various ways.

Although researchers generally understand the intellectual merit of their projects funded by the NSF, these broader impacts can be difficult to characterize.

Broader impact activities

Since childhood, I have an interest in paleontology – The study of fossils and what we can learn about prehistoric life. This area is mainly a basic research – adding to knowledge of ancient life. As a scientist By conducting fundamental research, I felt the responsibility to restore society through wider impact activities, and I have seen many of the advantages that these activities can have.

My primary area of ​​interest has been mammals extinguished from the Americas, in particular the Record of 55 million years of fossil horses On this continent. For years, NSF supported my discoveries on this interesting group of animals. Fossil horses are a classic example of evolution – in museum books and exhibitions.

Many people are generally interested in horses, so it is easy to draw their attention with this charismatic group. They are also often surprised to learn that prehistoric horses were from North America for millions of years. Then, during historical times, they were Presented for the first time by humans on the continent about 500 years ago.

Over the years, my research team has used wider impact activities funded by subsidies to teach people these fossil horses and our research. An example included working with kindergarten science teachers in the 12th year to develop course plans. Students fossil horse teeth measured And explored how their teeth adapted to the food of herbs. We have also developed exhibitions on fossil horses and studied how They communicate science to museum visitors.

The science teachers joined our work in the field to collect fossils along the Panama Canal during its recent expansion. I have given many discussions and collaborated with fossil clubs And their members through the United States, we have also promoted Projects like Fossils4teachers Where fossil collectors donated their fossils and worked alongside kindergarten teachers to the 12th year to develop lessons that have been implemented in teachers’ classrooms.

We have also been able to activate people’s interest in other animal groups – such as fossil sharks. Through our Scientist of each Florida school programWe have given study kits of college teachers with real fossil shark teeth. Their students learned to identify the shark teeth and then formed computers to identify the teeth using automatic learning, a type of artificial intelligence.

Wider impact results

Larger impacts like these can have a variety of short and long-term results. More than 50 million people Visit natural history museums in the United States each year. Activities that promote museums can reach a large number of people in their learning quest throughout life.

More broadly, participatory scientific interest groups can allow people to find out about science while informing basic research projects. In the field of natural history, some popular examples include the Merlin application and the Inaturalist applicationWho both have millions of active observers. Merlin encourages people to submit their observations of birds and inaturation accepts the observations of plants, animals and fossils, which researchers can carefully examine and use as data.

Many teachers from kindergarten to the 12th year with whom my team worked worked that they feel more confident to teach the new scientific content they have learned from our collaborations.

Interestingly, although a large part of research on professional development of science focuses on teachers, scientists also report a high level of satisfaction and better communication skills after Work with these teachersboth in the field and in the class.

Basic research benefits for society

The generations of American scientists have greatly benefited from federal investments in basic research. During the 75 years that followed the NSF Foundation, the organization financed hundreds of a thousand projects to advance science and technology.

They supported fundamental research discoveries as well as career training and development of Tens of thousands of scientists Work on these projects each year.

Many eminent scientists continued to be leaders and productive innovators in the United States and abroad. NSF A funded more than 268 Nobel Prize winners.

While NSF is investing in the discovery of fundamental knowledge about the natural world, funded projects do not traditionally have direct applications for societal benefits. To be sure, however, many NSF projects – for example, on lasers and nanotechnology – started as Basic research focused on curiosity And ended up with immense applications for technological innovation and economic prosperity.

For example, Magnetic properties cartography at the bottom of the earth ocean During the Second World War, scientists helped scientists understand how the crust moves and the mountains are formed. This led to Plates tectonic revolution in earth sciences. This fundamental research line then led to an important application: predict the likely location of high -risk earthquake areas global.

None of these downstream applications and advantages for the company would have been carried out without fundamental research discoveries supported by federal agencies such as NSF, and additional added value through broader impact activities.