Top scientific and research groups want to probe where the presidential candidates stand on the pressing scientific issues facing the country, including climate change and vaccines.

A collection of more than 50 groups sent a questionnaire to the campaigns of Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump and third-party candidates Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein on Wednesday. The goal is to get the 2016 campaign talking about major issues in science, engineering and health, the groups said.

Leaders of the effort say the questionnaire, which has not received any responses yet, is more than just about commitments to funding scientific agencies and programs.

"Sometimes politicians think science issues are limited to simply things like the budget for NASA or NIH, and they fail to realize that a president's attitude toward and decisions about science and research affect the public well-being," said Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The association publishes the Science group of journals.

The questions are on a variety of topics, including specific issues such as vaccinations.

One question says measles is "resurgent due to decreasing vaccination rates. How will your administration support vaccine science?"

It also asks where candidates stand on climate change, nuclear power, water, food, space, the Internet, immigration of scientists and opioids.

Some of the groups that developed the questionnaire included Research America, National Academy of Sciences and Sciencedebate.org, a nonprofit group that is seeking a separate presidential debate on scientific issues.