The research enterprise is essential to continued economic growth, global competitiveness, and societal well-being. Its contributions over the past five decades amply demonstrate the value of sizable investments in science, technology, and engineering. These contributions and benefits flow from a mixed portfolio of basic, applied, and development work, with long-, medium-, and short-term time horizons. Despite its historical record of achievement and value to contemporary society, the enterprise faces broad challenges. Many specific problems and potential solutions abound. To respond to these far-reaching and interconnected challenges and problems, the enterprise will need a clear focus on the ideals to be achieved, rather than on problems to be solved. Those ideals can be stated in simple terms as characteristics of the ideal research enterprise of the future:

Invests in work that impacts significant social and scientific challenges and responds to new discoveries--It is capable of identifying trends, convergences, and emerging needs. The ideal research enterprise is open to new ideas, but also pursues the development of past discoveries. It supports a broad portfolio of basic research that leads to new knowledge, applied research that brings that knowledge closer to useable form, and the development of tools, systems, methods, and materials that embody knowledge.

Fosters a wide network of relationships that generates relevant questions, recognizes emerging issues, and sustains significant, cutting-edge programs of work.--The ideal enterprise engages all of its stakeholders in the key processes of agenda setting, community building, and capacity development. Stakeholder groups include political leaders, researchers, research institutions in higher education and elsewhere, grants-making organizations of all kinds, science educators, and interest groups whose concerns generate research topics and represent consumers of research results.

Puts resources into the hands of qualified grantees through value-added decision processes that are fair, quick, and open--Ideal decision processes are sensible and add something of value at every step. They are open and understandable to all interested parties. They treat proposers and their ideas fairly and take no longer than necessary to serve their stated purpose.

Develops and nurtures the human and organizational capacity to conduct research--The enterprise makes both broad and targeted investments in the size and quality of the community of scholars. It acts directly to increase the total number of scientists and engineers, to enhance the quality of doctoral education, to introduce research principles and careers at every level of education, and to support development of under-represented groups. It encourages and guides the entry of new investigators and organizations.

Takes investment risks that encourage discovery, while managing administrative risks associated with accountability--The ideal research enterprise is a master of risk management. It understands that research is a process of experimentation and discovery that often cannot be directed toward pre-determined outcomes. It therefore takes the necessary risk of investing in a wide variety of ideas, methods, and investigators who show promise, knowing that not all of them will succeed in their goals. At the same time, the ideal enterprise balances its risktaking in support of discovery with its fiduciary responsibility for enormous amounts of funding. It builds systems and controls that limit the risks of administrative error or abuse by documenting decisions and accounting for the proper use of awards and administrative funds. It manages the peaceful co-existence of these two ways of conceptualizing risk by balancing their goals and methods, and by constantly monitoring and adjusting them so that they do not work against one another.

Uses rules-based business processes that are clear and seamless for all involved--The ideal research enterprise is a highly functional business endeavor that takes an enterprise-wide view of its business processes. It recognizes the implications of both intra- and interorganizational work flows and information exchanges. It uses business processes that serve functional needs and follow explicit, well-understood rules. Each process generates, draws upon, and maintains pertinent records and information. The processes and their associated information are well integrated across functions and organizational boundaries. They support useful, cost-effective relationships among the variety of organizations involved in grants-funded research.

Puts management and support work in the hands of well-prepared individuals and organizations--Many kinds of skills and knowledge are present in the operational domain of the ideal research enterprise. Administrators, operations and support staff, program managers, financial experts, Information Technology (IT) professionals, communication specialists, data analysts, and human resource staff all play important roles. In this ideal enterprise, each kind of professional specialty is adequately staffed, well trained, and assigned the responsibilities it is best suited to handle.

Strives for excellence and welcomes innovation in its own operations--The research enterprise is self-reflective, regularly evaluates itself, and embraces intellectual, organizational, and operational experiments and innovations to constantly improve performance. As a consequence, it is constantly growing and changing.

Understands, represents, and advocates for its community--Like all important aspects of our society, the research enterprise competes for limited public attention and financial resources. The ideal enterprise is self-aware; it understands the kinds of work being done, the people and organizations involved, their needs, and their capabilities. It is activist and articulate; the enterprise mobilizes its stakeholders to advocate for policies, priorities, and resources that will sustain its contributions and its potential for discoveries that benefit society.

Recognizes and communicates its impact on the world--The ideal enterprise fully recognizes the results, outcomes, and impacts of the work it embodies. It can communicate about them within the scientific community and to society at large. It tracks research results and demonstrates in plain language how, over time, they contribute to a better life for individuals and communities. It explains the essential value of investments in basic, applied, and developmental projects and shows how each contributes to new knowledge and it's practical application in business, industry, government, and community.