Scientists feel that progress in artificial intelligence and the availability of thousands of experimental results make this the right time to build and test theories on how people think and learn, using the computer to model minds. (MSE)

A consortium of universities has charged that research money has been concentrated in a small number of states that have already established close ties between higher education and small businesses. Some small-business advocates believe the consortium is trying to win money that has been earmarked for small businesses. (MLW)

A list of specific campus projects that Congress has directed federal agencies to support this year includes controversial projects (so-called pork barrel projects) for which the agencies did not request funding or sponsor competitions. (MSE)

A National Science Foundation project will develop the technology for exchange of scientific documents containing text, images, drawings, charts, graphs, animation, and even voice among dissimilar computers, altering the nature of research collaboration. (MSE)

A patent awarded to Harvard University for the genetic alteration of mice in cancer research is the first ever issued on an animal, at the same time that legislation putting a moratorium on animal patents is pending in Congress. (MSE)

Based primarily on an examination of grants made in 1981 and 1982 by the National Institutes of Health, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has issued a report that recommends, among other things, a fixed allowance for indirect costs at large universities. GAO findings and issues related to indirect costs are discussed. (JN)

This discusses an educational strategy designed to create a means for students to connect skills introduced in a course sequence during their second professional year with an evaluative Doctor of Pharmacy project conducted later in the curriculum. (Author)

The Lakota ethnoastronomy project researches Sioux astronomical practices, celestial lore, mythology, religion, and view of the universe and traces them through the nation's history, and has resulted in both an improved understanding of Sioux tradition and legislation to return federally held land to the tribe. (MSE)

For one optical scientist, Harrison Barrett, the decision not to accept funding for research related to the Strategic Defense Initiative has meant giving up a major part of his work in optical computing. (MSE)

Congress has quietly approved millions of dollars for campus research projects not subjected to traditional merit reviews. The wisdom of allowing legislators to direct federal money to specific campuses is questioned less and less, and the practice is more prevalent than ever. (MSE)

With many intelligence documents open to scholars and interest in the role of intelligence agencies in national affairs increasing, many institutions are analyzing and teaching about intelligence as a tool of foreign policy and national security. (MSE)

Increasingly, institutions are seeking money directly from Congress for new research facilities and other science projects, stirring criticism of "pork-barrel science" and special advantages given to land-grant colleges. (MSE)

A forthcoming report of the international Organization for Economic Development urges educators to provide better supervision of doctoral candidates and encourage them to take their research more seriously. (MSE)

Observers say the research effort to develop drugs to combat acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is increasingly well-funded but badly coordinated, with many universities not willing or not able to pull their weight. (MSE)

One researcher mixes techniques of anthropological field work and statistical analysis in his studies of the cultural dimensions of business negotiation in different countries. (MSE)