What about IBM’s Watson Research Center? There are numerous other examples of privately funded pure science research largely for science’s sake, although a lot of commercial benefit does often result.
Tain't no count lest the GUMMINT funds it!
I never heard of the Watson research center before, but I know about it now, thanks to Google.
It is an applied research, not a basic research, facility. IBM funds it because it has a reasonable expectation that the results of this applied research will translate into improved products and profits later on down the road.
Many companies fund applied research. Very few fund any kind of basic research, and those that do, earmark it for very specific types of research.
Research funding—basic and applied—also comes from private endowments, which also typically earmark funds for very specific areas of research.
As a scientist, however, I am not limited by the desires of those providing the funding. For a government grant, I only need to write up a grant application and show that I have a solid plan of study which is scientifically sound. If I want funding from a private or corporate source, I have to explain in my grant application how my research advances their goals. Either way, I am free to choose the type of research I want to do.
Basic research is conducted for the purpose of determining fundamental physical mechanisms, thereby expanding the knowledge base.
Applied research uses the fundamental knowledge learned in basic research to develop useful drugs, processes, or products.