The urgent need to invest more in scientific R&D

Scientific knowledge is verifiable, reproducible and impermanent. It is the single most important resource of any advanced society. The late Peter Drucker was able to explain convincingly the vital role that knowledge plays in a modern economy. Drucker is often credited as "the man who invented management (by objectives)." Because the scientific and economic worth of a particular kind of knowledge depreciates rapidly with time, a society needs to develop its own capability to generate new knowledge that enables it to sustain economic growth at a rate that can bring tangible prosperity to its people.

The aim of scientific research is to extend human knowledge of the physical, biological or social world beyond what is already known. In the last hundred years or so, the fruits of research have empowered mankind to defeat ignorance and overcome its innate fear of the unknown. Moreover, scientific research and development has also provided the fuel that drives technological innovation. The continued introduction of novel and better technologies that improve our quality of life amid the intensifying pressures of population growth (in the case of the Philippines) and dwindling natural resources (in the case of the entire world), critically depends on our ability to successfully apply the new knowledge that is gained via scientific research.

This paper argues that increasing the current level of financial support for scientific research makes good economic, social and even political sense for the Philippine government. At this point in time, the increase in funding will be utilized to develop zones that will gather together scientists and researchers from various areas of specializations and allow them to interact with one another. Zones are places for nurturing scientific excellence where focused research endeavors can be pursued efficiently and where the future generations of scientists, entrepreneurs and even political leaders of the country are trained competently and effectively.

Only a few zones will be initially developed and sustained to make sure that the increase in financial support for scientific research will produce the maximum desired effect while at the same time, causing only the least amount of perturbation to the overall allocation profile of the national budget. The investments in infrastructure development, equipment acquisition and manpower recruitment are highly targeted and the measures of progress are easier to formulate and apply.

The zones will be morphed from existing academic entities that have already satisfied the following conditions. First, they have consistently shown a high level of scientific productivity through publications of research outputs in leading scientific journals of the world. Second, they have existing graduate programs that are attracting and producing technically competent PhD graduates. Although only a few, such entities already exist in the country today.

Filipino researchers are highly productive in foreign laboratories. The reason is the environment and not exceptional talent in science and mathematics as compared with other nationalities. Filipino expatriates blossom and bloom because they are in an environment that fosters creativity and original thinking. More often than not, the same well-meaning scientists when they work in the Philippines cease to produce worthy research outputs. They become distracted by efforts to supplement their grossly inadequate basic salaries through administrative work, consultancy jobs and heavy teaching loads. Their enthusiasm will be slowly eroded by the apparent lack of urgency and efficiency in Philippine society.

In its human development index (HDI) report for 2005, the United Nations Development Program has ranked the Philippines 84th among the 177 countries that were considered. The HDI is a measure of well-being that takes into account not only the gross domestic product per person but also life expectancy and access to education of the general population. It is employed to assess more effectively the "quality of life" of citizens in different countries. In 2000, the Philippines occupied the 77th position in the HDI ranking. If only income per person is considered, the Philippines would rank even lower at 96th. China is a significant gainer, improving from 96th in 2000 to 86th in 2005. Norway and Sweden as well as Australia and Canada have consistently occupied the top positions in the HDI rankings – the harsh conditions of winter are not an impediment to a contented life.

The Philippines will be unable to improve the quality of life of its people to a level like that of Japan, the United States or Germany if it does not also have their number of PhDs in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. According to a 2004 report in the journal Nature, the number of PhDs per 1,000 people is 0.3 (one PhD per 3,316), 0.08 (one PhD per 11,621) and 0.15 (one PhD per 6,533) in Germany, Japan and US, respectively. The average number for countries comprising the European Union is 0.18 per 1,000 people. The Philippines with its (extrapolated) population of about 87.9 million needs to have about 7,500 and 26,500 PhDs if it were to possess the current scientific muscle of Japan and Germany, respectively. The real score for the Philippines is about three orders of magnitude below the mark. There are less than 1,000 PhDs in physics in the country today and the number of PhDs is unlikely to exceed 2,000 in the natural sciences and engineering.

The Philippines does not attract foreign direct investments the way its geographic neighbors do because of its relatively low competitiveness and unfavorable perception of risk and integrity. In its 2003 Global Competitiveness Report, the World Economic Forum has ranked the Philippines 64th, which is below that of Singapore (8th), Taiwan (16th), Hong Kong (19th), Malaysia (26th), Thailand (31st), Vietnam (50th), and Indonesia (60th). The report utilizes the competitiveness index which is a measure that collectively considers the quality of infrastructure, including adequate energy supply, competitive labor, clear and sensible policies and regulations for doing business, and respect for the rule of law. Finland is the most competitive country – it has occupied the number one position in both 2003 and 2005. China, on the other hand, has ranked 46th and 49th in 2003 and 2005, respectively. Thus, a large population of potential consumers alone does not guarantee a rosy climate for doing business. Despite their small populations, the Scandinavian countries are the most competitive in the world because their societies are democratic, well governed, and merit-based. In these countries, goods, services and information are rapidly and efficiently distributed or disseminated. Iceland and Finland are also considered the two least corrupt in the world, according to a 2005 survey of Transparency International.

Filipinos still need to understand more fully the importance of science in national life. The annual budget for scientific research and development has always remained minuscule from one administration to another. Governmental regulations and procedures that have been originally formulated and developed to slow down if not avert graft and corruption, also make the acquisition of research-grade equipment, supplies and materials and even scientific journals and books agonizingly complicated, slow and unnecessarily expensive. It takes so much energy and effort to start a research laboratory and much more to sustain long-term scientific interest among members of a research group. These obstacles are fatal because scientific research is a "winner-take-all" pursuit. There is no place for the second discoverer or inventor. Urgency and efficiency are the primary concerns of scientists and researchers.

The Philippine society, particularly its academic community, needs to improve continuously its expertise to distinguish and celebrate scientific excellence by adopting standards of excellence that are widely applied in advanced countries. A society without a strong scientific tradition tends to trivialize excellence and rationalize mediocrity in daily life. Many Filipino academics must realize and accept that a professor of a university should not be good only at disseminating textbook knowledge (teaching in the classroom). He or she must have a proven track record in scientific research, which requires a different kind of originality and creativity. Being institutions of higher learning, universities should offer graduate programs where a PhD is granted only to a student who has contributed something new and important to the body of knowledge. Graduate degrees are research degrees that are not obtained by passing written or oral examinations that only encourages rote learning.

The United Nations Development Program reported that in 2001, the Philippines spent only 0.15 percent of its GDP on scientific R&D and then allocated even less at 0.11 percent the following year. Over an 11-year period from 1987 to 1997, the Philippines spent an annual average of slightly less than 0.2 percent of GDP to scientific R&D. In comparison, Finland and Sweden each spent more than three percent of their GDPs for the said purpose in 2001. Neighboring Taiwan used 2.1 percent of its GDP for scientific R&D in that same year.

The available information shows that the Philippine government has decreased its annual allocation (as percentage of GDP) in recent years. The reduction was effected against the backdrop of a rapidly increasing national population and a deteriorating foreign exchange rate. The last official census in 2000, revealed a national population 76.5 million. Based on an average annual growth rate that has hovered around two percent since 1948, the projected 2005 population for the Philippines was 85.23 million, according to the National Statistics and Census Board. Between December 1994 and January 2005, the value of the Philippine peso deteriorated by 129 percent in US dollar terms.

A leading and logical candidate for zone development is the College of Science at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. The college was established in October 1983 and has the largest concentration of PhDs in the natural sciences and mathematics in the country today. It consists of eight institutes (four of which are national in character) and departments and a research institute. More importantly, the college is the primary producer of PhD graduates and research publications in scientific journals that are considered in the Science Citation Index.

The University of the Philippines System had designated 21.9 hectares of land in its Diliman campus for the Science Complex. The area is adjacent to the incubating UP Ayala Technology Park and the bustling C-5 highway. The complex has been envisioned to encourage multidisciplinary interactions among faculty and researchers by consolidating the locations of the various institutes and departments in close proximity to each other.

Today after more than 20 years, the Science Complex is still an unfinished business. Only the buildings for the National Institute of Geological Sciences, the Marine Science Institute and the College of Science Library and Administration could be considered as, arguably, complete. The new building for the National Institute of Physics is less than 50 percent complete and could not yet be fully utilized. The future building for the Institute of Chemistry remains in the drawing board and so are those of Molecular Biology, Biology, Mathematics and Environmental Science.

An estimated P500 million (~$10 million) in capital outlay is needed to complete the buildings for physics and chemistry and to develop the grounds of the Science Complex. The completion of the physics and chemistry buildings is a clear and powerful signal that our political leaders and economic managers truly understand the workings of a national economy in today’s highly competitive world. The mere sight of the National Institute of Physics building is certain to inspire the electorate (and their children) and fortify their confidence about our nation’s future. Another P750 million is required to build the buildings of the institutes of molecular biology, biology, mathematics, and environmental science.

The P500 million for capital outlay is not huge. It only represents 0.0476 percent of the proposed 2006 national budget that accounts for 17.6 percent of the Philippine GDP in 2004. It is only half of what the Miami Heat organization pays Shaquille O’Neal to play basketball in a single NBA season.

The intellectual capital that will be created out of the small but steady investment to support and maintain the Science Complex will be enormous and far-reaching. The complex will attract and retain the best young minds of our country. It will appreciably slow down the migration of our young scientists to other countries, which often happens after they obtain their BS diplomas. The lack of a sensible alternative has driven most of our young scientists to go abroad for their PhD degrees. The College of Science will provide them with an opportunity to pursue cutting-edge scientific research under the mentorship of senior scientists.

The prowess of our scientists and researchers will enhance the stature of the Philippines as a responsible, confident and productive member of the international community of nations. Their expertise would allow our country to respond quickly and effectively against the threats of pandemics and prohibitively high cost of fuel. A country with an established scientific tradition and a proven capacity for technological innovation, will be resilient to the vagaries of the world economy that tends to vacillate even more frequently due to the rapid advances in the management, access, and distribution of information. The lessons that are learned from the development of the Science Complex are vital in the establishment of additional zones corresponding to other fields of study.

The Filipino culture is a unique one that is distinctly different from those of our neighboring countries. It is an amalgam of the rich experiences that Filipinos were able to gain from interactions with other peoples from both East and West. Creativity and innovativeness are natural Filipino traits, especially in music and the arts. In addition, Filipinos have an outstanding facility with the English language, which is the lingua franca of science today. More than technical training and rote learning, great works of science are products of boundless imagination and exceptional creativity. Just read Albert Einstein. Robots can make high-quality cars with zero defect but they cannot imagine. Only people can. I believe that Filipino researchers cannot only do good science – they also have the potential to do it in such a discernible way.

The Philippines needs to invest more in scientific R&D by developing zones of scientific excellence. The returns will greatly outweigh the initial development cost. Let us start auspiciously by completing the Science Complex at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

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Caesar Saloma is a professor of physics at the National Institute of Physics in UP Diliman. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines. He is currently serving as the director of the National Institute of Physics. E-mail him at [email protected] or [email protected].