Research should not be left just to the elite universities (Opinion, Nature 465, 32–33; 2010).

Take the public university where I teach, where research is important and cost-effective. The university produces the largest number of Hispanic doctorates in the United States. Because it is located in Miami, it has built a strong reputation for research on hurricanes, the Everglades and the coastal ecosystem in Florida, and on many different aspects of Latin-American and Caribbean affairs. Cutting our funding for research and development (R&D) could set us back by decades.

One solution might be for big companies to contribute to a national funding pool to offset the loss of federal funding. These companies benefit hugely from US government R&D money as a result of employing university graduates. By investing some of their profit into R&D in science, technology, arts, culture and other endeavours, they would be guaranteed a steady supply of highly skilled and cultured employees to increase their productivity and profit margins.

Non-profit associations such as the American Chemical Society have led the way in creating this type of reserve. It is time for our leading industries to become responsible shareholders in one of the world's largest intellectual democracies.