Money for postgraduate research is limited. Some people think that financial support from governments should be only provided for scientific research rather than research for less useful subjects. Do you agree or disagree?

There is no doubt that postgraduate research can provide a lot of wealth to a country. However, it is a matter of debate whether all these researches should be funded by governments. I agree with the statement that government should fund only scientific research and the less useful research should be some private agencies.
There is a strong argument why only scientific researches should be done by the government. Government has so much else on its shoulders. It has to provide infrastructure such as transportation, hospitals and education institutes to the citizens. Then it has to support the defence services and even maintain law and order in the country.

It is, however, important to identify areas where only the government should carry out and control scientific research. Firstly, researches into nuclear technology and national defence are very crucial. They cannot be left into the hands of private companies. Secondly, some researches are only for the advancement of knowledge. In such research the private companies have no incentive. So the government should take the leading role.

There are many benefits if private companies participate in postgraduate researches. To begin with, researches are done more efficiently by private companies because they are profit driven. Every dollar is spent wisely to ensure maximum benefits and every resource is used effectively to avoid waste. Also, researches by private companies are closely associated with market needs. Private companies are market oriented so they always come up with inventions that have practical values that can increase productivity and improve life. For example, researches in cosmetics and cough medicines.

To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that governments should identify areas of scientific research which cannot be left in the hands of private companies and leave the other less important researches in the hands of private companies.