Sens. Lankford, Mullin, we urge you to support Biden's STEM budget, so critical for Oklahoma

President Biden's recently released fiscal year 2025 budget request calls for much-needed investments in future U.S. innovation and growth. Although federal research and development represents less than 3 percent of the total proposed budget, science and related technological advances are responsible for up to 85 percent of our nation’s long-term economic growth. Therefore, we urge Sens. James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin to support the strong funding for STEM in the president’s budget request, which powers our innovation-driven economy and enhances national security.

As Oklahoma-based particle physics professors, we rely on federal support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct cutting-edge research exploring the mysteries of the quantum world of subatomic matter. The "first quantum revolution" gave us the transistors that enabled the development of computers. We are now in the midst of a "second quantum revolution," which offers the possibility to radically transform health care, defense and the global economy.

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To remain the global leader in quantum and other STEM disciplines, robust and sustained funding through the federal science agencies, is required. Between 2018 and 2022, seven Oklahoma universities across our state expended more than $240 million dollars in research and development activities funded by NSF, DOE and the Department of Defense. This funding has a direct impact on these universities' ability to train the next generation of technological innovators.

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The science agencies also support small businesses that commercialize and profit from the applications of fundamental research. MITO Materials, whose research has implications for the oil and gas industries, was founded by two then-students at Oklahoma State University and received more than $1.5 million in support from the NSF’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

Again, we call on Sens. Lankford and Mullin to support the president’s budget request for STEM funding to ensure that Oklahoma and the U.S. remain at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation.

— Joe Haley, Stillwater, and John Stupak III, Norman

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Biden’s budgeted STEM funding deserves support from Lankford, Mullin