Scientific knowledge as a public good

I greatly appreciate Dana Dalrymple's comments regarding the value of scientific knowledge as a public good.¹ I want to point out another value of scientific research – that is, its role in education. Having students participate in research is not a new concept; indeed, this has long been the basis of graduate education and, at many institutions, research projects have served as capstone experiences for undergraduate science students. What is exciting is the way research is now being incorporated throughout the undergraduate curriculum, not only in the sciences, but in disciplines all across campuses.

New federal grant programs are encouraging this trend (for example, the new NSF Undergraduate Research Centers Program). Additionally, a number of national organizations including the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), Sigma Xi, Project Kaleidoscope and countless discipline-specific professional societies strongly support curricular reform that incorporates research as an important...