Individual talents need the ecosystem of strong research universities to flourish, says Kurt DeketelaereThe White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, under director Michael Kratsios, has released an ambitious report: Science: A New Golden Age. At the same time, the boundaries between basic research, applied research, innovation and entrepreneurship are rapidly disappearing. Rather than placing research universities at the centre of scientific discovery, the report increasingly centres on individual scientists. The future of science requires both outstanding researchers and outstanding research universities—not one at the expense of the other. Kurt Deketelaere is secretary-general of the League of European Research Universities.