Quote:
Originally Posted by bstreep  (NSF - I went to graduate school for a PhD courtesy of an NSF grant) |
In the current Grant Policy Manual (NSF 05-131 July 2005), use of NSF funds for student fellowships and Ph.D. dissertation research are specifically disallowed. Reference section 633.2 (a) #2 and #3.
Regardless, I find the claim that it's all about the money to be a bit spurious. Most of my colleagues in academia earn far less money doing pure research than if they were to join the corporate world and involve themselves in product development. It's not uncommon to see people with 7 or 8 years of grad school earning less than $50,000 per annum, solely because of their passionate pursuit of knowledge.
I've seen no evidence that anyone withing the scientific community, or for that matter within academia, predicts that this process will create more energy than is expended. However, that limitation doesn't preclude the possibility of this process having useful applications, even potentially for the boating community. More important, in the short run, is to understand the dynamic of how this process works. That, ultimately, is how we learn--at least those of us with open minds.