Les Bonnes Choses

Unfortunately, I missed the introduction of the interviewee, but just before I stepped in the shower, I heard Wei Chen interview someone who I took to be the the federal finance minister, or someone similarly motivated and qualified to defend the Conservative government's cuts to research and development.

Basic research holds the advancement of knowledge as its primary objective. Applied research, in contrast, is the application of scientific knowledge and theory to the advancement of commercial interests. Now, when pressed on the point that Canada is at the bottom of the G7 in terms of percentage of GDP funding for research and development, with $150M cut in the last budget, the interviewee responded,

Look, Canadian researchers are doing fine. We have lots of smart people doing lots of great work. Their problem is in getting their research to the marketplace.*

And that is exactly why they just don't get it. This government is focused on the marketplace. Remember the post I made a few weeks back about how they are happy to give out NSERC money for industrial internships? This is why: our government seems to only value applied research. In August, I will be going to a lab at Northwestern to work with a guy who, in his words, "just wants to learn how the brain works."

So what's the problem? What does it matter what kind of research gets funding? Well here's how these two approaches differ:

Applied research lab:
"Hey, check this out. I redesigned the fuel cell."
"Why?"
"It'll let cars drive up to 4 hours at highway speeds on a single charge."
"Cool."

Pure research lab:
"Hey, check this out. I just teleported my lunch across the room."
"Why?"
"Because it's cool."
"Think we can do something with that?"

The topics of applied research are limited by the market: you have to already have an end product in mind (e.g., more efficient cars) so you can figure out how to get there. The topics of pure research are limited only by the questions you can ask (e.g., what rules govern atomic particles?). Applied research allows iterative linear progression. Pure research allows giant leaps. Yeah, I'm biased. Deal with it.

*Paraphrased, except for the last sentence, which is a direct quote.