In an August 2026 episode of the All Things STEM podcast hosted by Dr. Frank Gomez, Dr. Robert Brown offers detailed insights on the challenges and opportunities for the academic research sector in the US.
As a professor of engineering, president emeritus of Boston University, and active thought leader, Dr. Brown provides wide-ranging and informed analysis of factors including global competition, enrollment decreases, overhead costs, and institutional pursuits of status over fiscal responsibility.
The conversation further addresses solutions for the present crisis, among them regional collaboration among universities, and strategic rather than haphazard reductions and adjustments to program and degree offerings.
Listen to the full episode here.
The podcast episode follows an earlier working paper and follow-on article published in Issues in Science and Technology on the many challenges facing the higher education research enterprise, as described and linked from the BPI Project on the Future of the US University Research Enterprise.