The Shift of American Federal Science and Technology Policy and the Rise and Development of Research Universities in Postwar Era: Thoughts on the Development of Research Universities in China

doi:10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2025.08.009

Abstract

Abstract:

The integration of research universities into the national research system has brought about the rise of American research universities and the leading status of American science and technology since World War II. The Bush Report established the basic pattern of the national scientific research system of the United States, yet the U.S. science and technology policy has experienced three shifts since the war. During the cold war, the core driving force behind the U.S. research system was national security. Universities became part of the military-industry-academic complex. Universities undertook basic research and mission-oriented research closely related to national defense, and were involved in big science. After 1980, the U.S. science and technology policy was adjusted to drive economic development through technological innovation, focusing on solving the problem of Federal Patent Licensing to the private sector, which greatly promoted the innovations of universities and their transfer to enterprises, and established close ties between universities and industry. Since 2017, the U.S. science and technology policy has shifted to national security and maintaining technological leadership as the core, and technology protection has been achieved through government intervention. The impact on university research and talent training is emerging.

Key words: science and technology policy, research university, big science

Donghai Zhang. The Shift of American Federal Science and Technology Policy and the Rise and Development of Research Universities in Postwar Era: Thoughts on the Development of Research Universities in China[J]. Journal of East China Normal University(Educationa, 2025, 43(8): 118-128.

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