Government policies and the cost of doing research.
The changes in the political economy of science are the natural outcome of two trends: science itself has become a more capital-intensive activity at the same time that federal support for research programs has slowed its growth. The results of the accumulating shortfall in the capital base for university research--increased seeking of support from private industry, efforts to circumvent peer review and competitive allocation, and a falling-out between institutions and investigators over how to divide up available resources--threaten to unravel what has been an extraordinary way of doing science.
D000047:Academies and Institutes; D006076:Government; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D010380:Peer Review; D011057:Politics; D012109:Research Support as Topic; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities