Survey finds US public backs higher tax to support research

R&D gets scant attention in partisan politics despite widespread support, says head of advocacy group

Two-thirds of the US public would support paying $1 more a week in taxes to fund scientific research, according to a survey commissioned by the advocacy group Research!America, which also found high levels of support for government funding of such research across political alignments.

Research!America president Mary Woolley told Research Professional News it is “ironic” that such strong bipartisan support for science gets crowded out from political discourse during polarised elections like the current presidential race. “In every election cycle there’s really very little attention to R&D, very little discussion about science,” Woolley said.