Where should governments invest their research funding?

Anyone observing the world in which they live can see how the outputs of research improve our life, work and environment. Some people believe that if governments invest specifically in research designed to produce immediately useful outcomes, it could ensure an even higher return on government investment. However, as the paper discusses, there are many problems with this approach, not least being that research directed at particular outcomes can fail while curiosity-led research can lead to many and varied applications which are as far reaching in their implications as they are unexpected