Chapter 5: Science & Engineering Indicators 93
Characteristics of Academic R&D Instrumentation
(click here for footnote 17)
As noted in Science & Engineering Indicators - 1991 (NSB 1991), the age distribution of academic research instrumentation changed significantly over the course of the first three surveys as a result of both
retirement of older equipment and an increase in the size of the equipment stock. In 1982-83, 62 percent of the in-use instrument systems were 5 years old or less, and 38 percent were 6 or more years old. By 1988-89, 69 percent of the systems were 5
years old or less.
In each of the four survey cycles, annual expenditures (in constant dollars) for the purchase of research instruments increased;(Click here for footntote 18.) expenditures for their repair and maintenance also
increased in all but the last cycle. (See text table 5-4.) After adjustment for inflation, expenditures for purchasing new or used equipment increased by about 52 percent between 1983-84 and 1986-87
but only by 5 percent between 1989-90 and 1992.(Click here for footnote 19.) Maintenance and repair expenditures increased by 31 percent between the first and second cycles and decreased by 8 percent between the
third and fourth cycles. As a result of these expenditure patterns, for every dollar spent on purchasing research equipment, 25 cents was spent on maintenance and repair in 1983-84, 22 cents in 1986-87, 25 cents in 1989-90, and 22 cents in 1992.
The purchase of new equipment during the 1980s and early 1990s appears to have produced beneficial results for many academic departments and research facilities. Thirty-four percent of the S& E department heads and research facility administrators
reported that the overall adequacy of their existing research equipment remained about the same, and 48 percent reported that it improved between the 1989-90 and 1992 periods. (Similar results had been reported between the 1986-87 and 1989-90
periods.) In addition, 15 percent of S&E department heads reported that the amount of usable equipment had increased by 50 percent or more, and another 53 percent reported that it had increased by between 11 and 49 percent, between 1989-90 and 1992.
However, even with the increases reported in both the adequacy of their research equipment and the amount of usable research equipment, 79 percent of respondents reported that instrument needs had increased because of expanding staff or programs or
other factors.
Footnote 17:
Beginning in 1983-84, NSF, with funding support from NIH, initiated the triennial National Survey of Academic Research Instruments and Instrumentation Needs. The survey's first three cycles (conducted in 1983-84, 1986-87, and 1989-90) collected data
for six S& E fields, with data on half the fields collected in the survey's first year, and data for the second half in the survey's second year. For the survey's newest cycle, the two data collection phases will be consolidated so that all fields
are covered at one time. Also, in previous cycles, each survey had: (1) department questionnaires requesting department expenditures for equipment plus related issues such as equipment needs and priorities; and (2) instrument data sheets for
information on the condition, cost, usage, etc., of specific items of equipment. Beginning in the fourth cycle, each of these components will be conducted every other year. Thus, the 1992 component of the survey collected only the department
questionnaire survey data.
Footnote 18:
Expenditures for research equipment purchases obtained through this survey are not readily comparable with those discussed in the previous section. These survey data include all expenditures--both from current operating funds and capital
accounts--while the earlier discussion is limited to research equipment from current funds expenditures, which could be a considerably smaller expenditure. Taken together, however, these two data sources appear to suggest that although overall
expenditures for instrumentation continue to increase, expenditures financed from current funds are declining in recent years.
Footnote 19:
Expenditure data for the 1983-84 to 1986-87 period and the 1989-90 to 1992 period are not comparable because the earlier years do not contain supersystems (units having a piece of equipment generally worth $1 million or more) while the later years do
contain these systems.
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