CONTENTS i Reducing the Time from Basic Research to Innovation in the Chemical Sciences A Workshop Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable Chemical Sciences Roundtable Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology Division on Earth and Life Studies THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study was supported by the Research Corporation under Grant No. GG0066, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation under Grant Nos. SG-00-094 and SG-02-025, the National Institutes of Standards and Technology under Grant No. NA1341-01-W-1098, the U.S. Department of Defense under Grant No. MDA-972-01-M-0038, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Grant No. R-82823201, the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CHE-000778, the National Institutes of Health under Contract No. N01-OD-4-2139, and the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-95ER14556. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number 0-309-08734-1 Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http:// www.nap.edu Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad commu- nity of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Acad- emies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org CHEMICAL SCIENCES ROUNDTABLE ALEXIS T. BELL (Chair), University of California, Berkeley MARY L. MANDICH (Vice Chair), Bell Laboratories PAUL ANASTAS, Office of Science and Technology Policy MICHAEL R. BERMAN, Air Force Office of Science Research MICHELLE V. BUCHANAN, Oak Ridge National Laboratory LEONARD J. BUCKLEY, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DONALD M. BURLAND, National Science Foundation THOMAS W. CHAPMAN, National Science Foundation F. FLEMING CRIM, University of Wisconsin MICHAEL P. DOYLE, University of Arizona ARTHUR B. ELLIS, National Science Foundation BRUCE A. FINLAYSON, University of Washington JOSEPH S. FRANCISCO, Purdue University NED D. HEINDEL, Lehigh University CAROL J. HENRY, American Chemistry Council MICHAEL J. HOLLAND, Office of Science and Technology Policy FLINT LEWIS, American Chemical Society TOBIN J. MARKS, Northwestern University PARRY M. NORLING, RAND NANCY L. PARENTEAU, Amaranth Bio, Inc. ELI M. PEARCE, Polytechnic University EDWIN P. PRZYBYLOWICZ, Eastman Kodak (retired) DAVID R. REA, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (retired) GERALDINE RICHMOND, University of Oregon MICHAEL E. ROGERS, National Institutes of Health PETER J. STANG, University of Utah ELLEN B. STECHEL, Ford Motor Company WALTER J. STEVENS, U.S. Department of Energy JEANETTE M. VAN EMON, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency FRANKIE WOOD-BLACK, ConocoPhillips Staff JENNIFER J. JACKIW, Program Officer DOUGLAS J. RABER, Senior Scholar SYBIL A. PAIGE, Administrative Associate DAVID C. RASMUSSEN, Project Assistant DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director, Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology v BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY ALICE P. GAST (Co-Chair), Massachusetts Institute of Technology WILLIAM KLEMPERER (Co-Chair), Harvard University ARTHUR I. BIENENSTOCK, Stanford University A.WELFORD CASTLEMAN, JR., The Pennsylvania State University ANDREA W. CHOW, Caliper Technologies Corporation THOMAS M. CONNELLY, JR., E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company JEAN DE GRAEVE, Institut de Pathologie, Liège, Belgium JOSEPH M. DESIMONE, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University CATHERINE C. FENSELAU, University of Maryland, College Park MARY L. GOOD, University of Arkansas, Little Rock RICHARD M. GROSS, The Dow Chemical Company NANCY B. JACKSON, Sandia National Laboratories SANGTAE KIM, Eli Lilly and Company THOMAS J. MEYER, Los Alamos National Laboratory PAUL J. REIDER, Amgen, Inc. ARNOLD F. STANCELL, Georgia Institute of Technology ROBERT M. SUSSMAN, Latham & Watkins JOHN C. TULLY, Yale University CHI-HUEY WONG, The Scripps Research Institute Staff JENNIFER J. JACKIW, Program Officer CHRISTOPHER K. MURPHY, Program Officer SYBIL A. PAIGE, Administrative Associate DOUGLAS J. RABER, Senior Scholar DAVID C. RASMUSSEN, Project Assistant ERIC L. SHIPP, Postdoctoral Associate DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director vi Preface The Chemical Sciences Roundtable (CSR) was established in 1997 by the National Research Coun- cil (NRC). It provides a science-oriented apolitical forum for leaders in the chemical sciences to discuss chemically related issues affecting government, industry, and universities. Organized by the NRC’s Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, the CSR aims to strengthen the chemical sciences by fostering communication among the people and organizations—spanning industry, government, universities, and professional associations—involved with the chemical enterprise. The CSR does this primarily by organizing workshops that address issues in chemical science and technology that require national attention. Innovation, the process by which fundamental research becomes a commercial product, is increasingly important in the chemical sciences and is changing the nature of research and development (R&D) efforts in the United States. The workshop “Reducing the Time from Basic Research to Innova- tion in the Chemical Sciences” was held in response to pressures to speed the R&D process and to rapidly evolving patterns of interaction among industry, academe, and national laboratories. The aim of the workshop was to identify and discuss approaches that might speed the innovation process by which basic research leads to innovation. The papers in this volume are the authors’ own versions of their presentations. The discussion comments were taken from a transcript of the workshop. In accordance with the policies of the CSR, the workshop did not attempt to establish any conclusions or recommendations about needs and future directions, focusing instead on issues identified by the speakers. Ned D. Heindel and Andrew Kaldor Workshop Organizers vii Acknowledgment of Reviewers This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to