The lessons of the US strategic document for Iran's scientific policy makers / Rebuilding the American scientific system in the face of China's influence and the acceleration of artificial intelligence

The strategic document "Science; The New Golden Age" of the White House in 2026, which was published by the Central Library of Tehran University

A 122-page report by Michael Kratsius, the strategic document "Science; The White House's "New Golden Age" in 2026 is the US government's roadmap for the next 80 years to redesign the country's research system. Rather, it depends on the better design of scientific institutions, the freedom of action of researchers, the connection of knowledge with industry, and the systematic use of artificial intelligence. From this point of view, the report is also a must read for Iran's scientific policy makers. In particular, it raises the question whether the structure of universities, the system of promotion of professors, the method of distribution of research funds and the relationship between science and industry in Iran are ready for the upcoming developments?

According to Ambassador Arjan, quoted by the Central Library channel of Tehran University, the document focuses on strengthening artificial intelligence, national missions of automating laboratories and directly linking high-risk research with the private sector in order to maintain competitive advantage. You can read this report below:

Report and review of the document "Science; America's New Golden Age (2026) Original title: Science: A New Golden Age This 122-page document, published in July 2026, is one of the most important scientific policy documents of the second administration of Donald Trump. Its author is Michael Kratsios, (abbreviated text) (full text) director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who presented the report to the President of the United States on July 21, 2026.

The main topic of the document is how America can maintain its scientific and technological superiority in the 21st century by reforming the structure of universities, the research system, scientific investment and the use of artificial intelligence.

The importance of this writing is not only in its scientific proposals; Rather, it is trying to redefine the relationship between science, government, university, industry and American national power.

1- What is the origin story of this document?

To understand the importance of this report, we must go back to 1945. At the end of the Second World War, the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, asked his scientific adviser, Vanevar Bush, to prepare a plan for the future of American science. Bush's famous science report; He wrote the endless border. This report became the basis of the new government support system for basic research and played an important role in the formation of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

81 years later, in a letter dated March 26, 2025, Trump asked Kratsius to review the American scientific system again and propose its reconstruction. The present report is the answer to this request. The author believes that the system that was designed in 1945, despite its great successes, is no longer responsive to the new conditions. Simply put, just as America organized its scientific system for a new era after World War II, it now wants to rebuild it for the age of artificial intelligence and technological competition with China.

In his opening letter, the author presents four goals for reforming the American scientific system:

A- Prioritizing researchers over traditional institutions: supporting creative scientists and bold ideas, not just established universities and scientific centers.

B- Reforming the research financing system: changing the method of granting grants, reducing bureaucracy and supporting long-term and high-risk projects.

C- Linking science with industrial and economic power: scientific discovery must be transformed into technology, production, employment and the competitiveness of America.

D- Reconstruction of the science system for the era of artificial intelligence: universities, laboratories, scientific data and the method of publishing research must change according to the revolution of artificial intelligence.

3- What problems does Sand see in the American scientific system?

The report highlights several problems:

- Research bureaucracy: According to the studies mentioned in the document, researchers sometimes spend almost half of their research time on administrative matters.

- Reduction of scientific output: the increase in the number of articles and budgets has not necessarily led to a proportional increase in great discoveries.

- Conservatism in financing: judges and traditional institutions usually prefer less risky projects.

- Distance between university and industry: America has been a pioneer in exploration in some cases, but industrial production and its economic benefits have been transferred to other countries.

- China's competitiveness: The report emphasizes that China has reached a level comparable to the United States in terms of the amount of research and development expenses, based on some indicators adjusted by purchasing power. These cases are the diagnosis and evaluation of the report itself, and all of them should not be considered definite facts and subject to consensus without independent review.

4- What are the most important executive proposals?

The main proposal areas are the universities, as well as reducing administrative procedures and strengthening the independence of researchers, quickly providing long-term research funding and supporting high-risk research, strengthening scientific evaluation and measuring the real quality of research, not just the number of articles of research institutions, creating agile and interdisciplinary centers outside of traditional structures, more directly linking universities with industry, strengthening national laboratories and companies' human resources, strengthening technical education, practical skills and non-university career paths, focusing on technology Artificial intelligence, quantum, nuclear energy, semiconductors and robotics, scientific publication, rethinking in refereeing, scientific validation and publication of research results.

The interesting point is that Sindh does not consider the university as the only center of science production. According to the author, companies and industrial laboratories now have capabilities in terms of equipment, capital, and human resources in some fields that universities alone lack. The report says that American companies spend about 700 billion dollars annually on research and development; A figure that is more than three times the total expenses of the government and higher education in this area. The chart on page 6 of the report also shows the growth of the share of the private sector in basic research.

5- The most important forward-looking part of the document:

Artificial intelligence and the transformation of science is perhaps the most important part of the report, the fifth chapter. The author believes that artificial intelligence is not just a tool to help scientists; Rather, it can fundamentally change the way knowledge is produced. In this context, the document has several important suggestions:

First, Genesis Mission.

The program is described in the report as a major US national initiative to link supercomputers, artificial intelligence models, scientific data and laboratory equipment. Its stated goal is to double the productivity and effectiveness of American science and engineering within a decade.

Systems that can use artificial intelligence to generate hypotheses, conduct experiments, analyze the results, and design subsequent experiments.

Third, automatic validation of researches.

The paper warns that artificial intelligence may make it too easy to produce a paper, while verifying the correctness of the results remains difficult. Therefore, it is suggested to create an infrastructure to reproduce and verify scientific results with the help of artificial intelligence.

Fourth, the reconstruction of the scientific publication system.

The author believes that the current methods of reviewing articles, publishing results, and granting scientific credit are designed for an era when the speed of research was much slower. This part of the report actually depicts a future in which not only research tools, but the institution of science itself will change.

The priorities of the research budget of 2028, the point that increases the practical importance of this report, is its appendix. On page 85 of the main text is a note on the federal government's research and development priorities for fiscal year 2028.

This section brings the report's general recommendations closer to guidance for setting budget proposals for government agencies. Among the priorities, we can mention the strengthening of fundamental research in physical sciences and engineering, the development of strategic technologies, the use of artificial intelligence in scientific discoveries, the expansion of research infrastructures, and the improvement of the research financing system.

Therefore, we are not dealing with a purely theoretical text; The document also seeks to influence future executive and budget decisions. Of course, these recommendations do not mean the definitive approval of the budget or the implementation of all programs.

What is more important in this document? The five points of this document are worthy of consideration for science policymakers, especially in Iran.

First, passing the article-oriented. The report shows that even in America, there is serious concern about turning paper production into an independent goal of scientific discovery.