Academic Research Equipment and Equipment Needs in the Biological Sciences, 1984-1987

摘要

The National Survey of Academic Research Instruments and Instrumentation Needs is a Congressionally-mandated, triennial survey program to monitor trends in academic research equipment and equipment needs. The survey collects information about the cost, funding, condition, usage, etc. of nationally-representative samples of major research instruments (ones costing $10,000 to $1 million) in engineering and in the agricultural, biological, computer, environmental, and physical sciences. It also collects information about equipment needs and priorities from department heads in these fields. The report contains a detailed analysis of findings for the biological sciences. The data, which were collected in early 1987, are compared to similar data collected three years earlier, in 1984, to identify trends over this period. The 1987 findings are based on samples of 5,115 instrument systems selected from within 372 sampled biological science departments and facilities at samples of 55 colleges/universities and 24 medical schools. All findings are in the form of national estimates that apply to all (174) colleges and universities with annual R and D expenditures of $3 million or more and to all (92) medical schools with annual NIH research funding of $3 million or more. All trend statistics are adjusted for inflation, which averaged 2.7 percent per year in the interval between the 1984 and 1987 surveys.