In his State of the Union address, President Bush proposed to “double the federal commitment to the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next 10 years.

“This funding will support the work of America’s most creative minds as they explore promising areas such as nanotechnology, supercomputing, and alternative energy sources.”

Bush also announced the Advanced Energy Initiative — a 22-percent increase in clean-energy research. And he proposed to make permanent the research and development tax credit to encourage bolder private-sector initiatives in technology and to train 70,000 high school teachers to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science and bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms.