The New R&D Frontier: How Industry is Reshaping Research

Abstract

Industry has expanded its role as a performer of basic research in the United States, reshaping the incentives, infrastructure, and talent flows that underpin the national innovation system and demanding a new cross-sector compact to sustain openness, capacity, and long-term discovery. This paper examines the rapid rise of industry in basic research performance, its implications for how science is organized and funded, and the policy responses needed to preserve a balanced and productive national research ecosystem.