Four US federal legislators want the nation's National Academies to identify how its research universities can remain internationally competitive. In a 22 June letter, Senators Barbara Mikulski (Democrat, Maryland) and Lamar Alexander (Republican, Tennessee) and Representatives Bart Gordon (Democrat, Tennessee) and Ralph Hall (Republican, Texas) ask the academies to assess universities' organizational, intellectual and financial capacity and their collaborations with other national research groups. Academies spokesperson Sara Frueh said the organization's leaders will now discuss how to conduct such a study.
Published in Nature 460, 135 (1 July 2009) | 10.1038/nj7251-135c
In Brief
Competitive edge
Federal legislators worry that US research universities are losing their edge.
