New Rensselaer provost calls for emphasis on developing human capital

Troy, N.Y. — Federal agencies in the United States need to provide sustainable funding streams to maintain the nation’s competitiveness and nourish the next generation of scientists, according to Robert Palazzo, provost of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and incoming president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Palazzo laid out his vision for the biomedical sciences at a July 10 event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

“The time has come to focus on a long-term vision for science,” Palazzo said. “We need to set the course for the future of science: to articulate a vision of where we want biomedical research to be in the next 20 years.” 

Palazzo emphasized the importance of developing the nation’s human capital amid the “graying” of the current scientific workforce. “For our venture to succeed, we need to cultivate the most precious resource we hold: the human mind,” he said. “The human mind is the key element in scientific progress.” 

Palazzo cited some striking statistics about the challenges facing early-career researchers in the biomedical sciences. In 1980, 50 percent of first-time winners of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were under the age of 40, he noted. Today, this number is less than 20 percent, and the average age of a person getting their first independent grant from NIH is 42. 

“How do you convince a bright college graduate to pursue a path to independent research that may take two decades or more to achieve?” Palazzo asked. “If we don’t get these young people up and running, there could be permanent damage.”

The issue highlights what Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson has called the “Quiet Crisis” in America — the threat to our nation’s capacity to innovate posed by a looming shortage in the science and technology workforce. Addressing the problem, she says, will require a national commitment to develop more of the talent of all citizens, especially “the underrepresented majority” — the women, minorities, and persons with disabilities who comprise a disproportionately small part of the nation’s science, engineering, and technology workforce. 

“We are restricting ourselves to developing only a portion of our human capital,” Palazzo said. “The scientific community is failing through our inability to cultivate and support the development and training of minorities and women, who make up nearly 70 percent of the potential intellectual capital in this country.” 

Likewise, we cannot limit our vision to the United States alone, he said. Science now operates in a global context, which adds a new level of complexity to any discussion of funding and education policy.

“This new global marketplace is clearly having an impact on the scientific workforce,” Palazzo said. Graduate programs in the United States are dependent on a steady pipeline of foreign students; foreign scientists are the fastest growing segment of the biomedical postdoctoral pool; and other countries are investing substantially in research infrastructure and creating attractive positions for scientists. 

“The United States is investing taxpayer dollars in training the world’s best talent and then not creating opportunities to retain them,” he said. “We must create an attractive atmosphere and environment that assures career paths not only for our domestic trainees but is also favorable to maintaining the best foreign talent.”

It all feeds back to the issue of sustainability, Palazzo said. The United States has built many strong institutions to support funding in the sciences, but we need steady increases to support what we have established. “We have the will, but now we need the resources,” he said. “If we miss this window of opportunity, it may be unrecoverable.”

Palazzo assumed the FASEB presidency on July 1 — the same day he took over as provost of Rensselaer. For more information about Palazzo and his recent appointment, go to: http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2203. 

FASEB is a group of 21 societies representing more than 80,000 life scientists across the country. During Palazzo’s one-year term as president, he will act as the head and lead spokesperson for the organization, which is recognized as the principal voice of the biomedical research community on issues related to biomedical research funding and research integrity.

Contact: Jason Gorss
Phone: (518) 276-6098
E-mail: gorssj@rpi.edu