4.1 Basic versus applied research
Colleges of agriculture, because of their subjects, are
institutions of applied research. After all, agriculture is
the application of science to the process of food and raw
materials production. Within the process of agricultural development,
in addition, the agricultural college has the task of adopting
existing knowledge to the particular conditions and needs
of the country and to the regional differences. This transfer
of existing theoretical knowledge into practical application
is possible only within the country itself, while basic research
can, in principal, be conducted anywhere in the world. Basic
scientific knowledge is transferable, while the application
of science to real world problems tends not to be transferable
because of differences in the natural economic, political,
and cultural environment. Therefore, theoretical research
is of less importance in countries giving high importance
to speeding up the process of development. There is danger
that too much emphasis is put on basic research and not enough
work spent on immediate problems. Researchers all over the
world feel that doing basic research leads to a higher professional
standing than being engaged in applied research, and often
the most creative and imaginative minds have moved to the
area of ,,tool-building" rather than ,,problem-solving".
For sure, there is no clear dividing line between basic and
applied research, and basic research may come up with very
practical results tomorrow. The personality of the researcher
plays a role as well. Therefore, agricultural colleges should
have their pure science, but pure science must not monopolize
research. In general, applied research topics meet to a larger
extent, the immediately relevant requirements of society.
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