Work is starting on the budget that President Bush will send to Congress
in seven months. In a July 8 memo entitled, "FY 2007 Administration
Research and Development Budget Priorities," Office of Science
and Technology Policy Director John Marburger and Office of Management
and Budget Director Joshua Bolten provide six pages of guidance to the
heads of executive departments and agencies. The bulk of the memo describes
six "Interagency R&D Priorities"; also included are1 ½
pages of "General R&D Program Guidance" and a half-page
on "R&D Investment Criteria." Selections follow; the entire
memo may be read at http://www.ostp.gov/html/budget/2007/ostp_omb_guidancememo_FY07.pdf.
Note that this memo closely parallels, and in some cases repeats, OSTP/OMB
guidance released last year that was to be used for the submission of
this year's budget request (see http://www.aip.org/fyi/2004/114.html).
OVERALL:
"The memo provides general guidance for setting priorities among
R&D programs, interagency R&D efforts that should receive special
focus in agency budget requests, and reiteration of the R&D Investment
Criteria that agencies should use to improve investment decisions for
and management of their R&D programs. These updated R&D budget
priorities reflect an extensive, continuous process of consultation
with the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)
and collaboration within the interagency National Science and Technology
Council (NSTC)."
GENERAL R&D PROGRAM GUIDANCE:
"The combination of finite resources and a multitude of new research
opportunities requires careful attention to funding priorities and wise
choices by agency managers. As we have reiterated previously in these
annual memos, agencies must vigorously evaluate existing programs and,
wherever possible, consider them for modification, redirection, reduction
or termination, in keeping with national needs and priorities. They
must justify new programs with rigorous analysis demonstrating their
merit, quality, importance and consistency with national priorities.
Agencies may propose new, high-priority activities, but these requests
should identify potential offsets by elimination or reductions in less
effective or lower priority programs or programs where Federal involvement
is no longer needed or appropriate."
The newest memo includes two new paragraphs. The first begins, "Agencies
are expected to conduct programs in accordance with the highest standards
of ethical and scientific integrity, and to have clear guidelines on
issues such as conflict of interest, protection of privacy, and the
treatment of human subjects." The second paragraph explains, "Agencies
should maximize the coordination and planning of their R&D programs
through the NSTC. Two areas requiring special agency attention and focus
through the NSTC are Federal scientific collections and R&D assessment."
INTERAGENCY R&D PRIORITIES:
"The following interagency R&D priorities should receive special
focus in agency budget requests." The memo lists: Homeland Security
R&D, High-End Computing and Networking R&D, National Nanotechnology
Initiative, Priorities in the Physical Sciences, Understanding Complex
Biological Systems, and Energy and the Environment.
Homeland Security R&D: "Agencies should place increased
emphasis on R&D efforts that support: quick and cost-effective decontamination
capabilities following a biological, chemical, nuclear or radiological
incident; predictive modeling to assess the rate of geographic spread
of emerging and/or intentionally released infectious diseases; enhanced
biometric systems; secure land and maritime borders through more reliable
technologies for screening cargo and visitors; increased effectiveness
of existing security systems through automation; improved understanding
of the social and cultural dynamics of regional population groups; safety
of the Nation's food supply and agricultural systems; and social and
behavioral research to anticipate, counter and diffuse threats to our
homeland security and enhance response and recovery capabilities. As
we continue the rapid development of near-term technologies, we need
to enhance fundamental studies that may lead to transformational concepts
for solving truly difficult challenges including the remote detection
of nuclear material and/or devices and the remote detection and/or disabling
of explosive devices ranging from suicide vests to vehicle-borne bombs."
High-End Computing and Networking R&D: ". . . aggressively
focus on supercomputing capability, capacity and accessibility issues
by emphasizing coordination, leveraging the efforts of all agencies
and, where appropriate, use of coordinated multi-agency investments.
Advanced networking research (including test-beds) on hardware and software
for secure, reliable, distributed computing environments and tools that
provide the communication, analysis and sharing of very large amounts
of information will accelerate discovery and enable new technological
advances. Agency requests should reflect these program priorities by
reallocating funds from lower priority efforts."
National Nanotechnology Initiative (entire statement): "Continued
Federal investment in the agency programs that make up the National
Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) facilitates breakthroughs and maintains
U.S. competitiveness in this field. The NNI should support both basic
and applied R&D in nanotechnology and nanoscience, develop nanoscale
instrumentation and metrology, and disseminate new technical capabilities
to industry. Because research at the nanoscale offers natural bridges
to interdisciplinary collaboration, especially at the intersection of
the life and physical sciences, the Administration encourages novel
approaches to accelerating interdisciplinary and interagency collaborations.
Activities such as joint programs utilizing shared resources, as well
as support for interdisciplinary activities at centers and user facilities,
are encouraged. To ensure that nanotechnology research leads to the
responsible development of beneficial applications, high priority should
be given to research on societal implications, human health, and environmental
issues related to nanotechnology and develop, where applicable, cross-agency
approaches to the funding and execution of this research."
Priorities in the Physical Sciences (entire statement): "Investments
in the physical sciences likely to lead to or enable new discoveries
about nature or strengthen national economic competitiveness continue
to be important. Priority will be given to research, instrumentation
and facilities that aim to close significant gaps in the fundamental
physical understanding of phenomena that promise significant new technologies
with broad societal impact.
"High-temperature and organic superconductors, molecular electronics,
wide band-gap and photonic materials, thin magnetic films, and quantum
condensates are examples of novel atomic and molecular-level systems
that are only partially understood, and where coherent control holds
great potential.
"Physical science research often demands instruments and facilities
requiring a wide range of investments from bench-top devices such as
scanning microscopes to the national-scale synchrotron and neutron user
facilities. Of particular interest are investments that could enable
the development of next-generation light sources and instruments capable
of resolving electronic, chemical, and mechanical properties of structures
with sub-nanometer resolution. In their budget submissions, agencies
should demonstrate coordination with other agencies of their investments
in instrumentation, upgrades and user programs at national scientific
user facilities.
"Within discovery-oriented physical science investments, priority
will be given to those projects and programs that are demonstrably well
coordinated with related programs in other agencies and countries. Examples
of well coordinated, inter-agency investments in the discovery-oriented
sciences are described in the interagency working group report, ‘A
21st Century Frontier for Discovery: The Physics of the Universe.' (See
http://www.aip.org/fyi/2004/075.html.)
Understanding Complex Biological Systems: "Agencies should
target investments toward the development of a deeper understanding
of complex biological systems through collaborations among physical,
computational, behavioral, social and biological researchers and engineers."
Energy and the Environment: "Global earth observations support
research in a wide range of sciences important for society. The U.S.
Strategic Plan for an Integrated Earth Observations System (IEOS) provides
guidance for agencies contributing to these efforts. Agencies should
focus on near-term opportunities to pilot integrated observing systems,
such as those that contribute to natural hazards assessment and disaster
warnings. Agencies also should work through the NSTC U.S. Group on Earth
Observations Subcommittee to ensure continued coordination and implementation
of the U.S. Strategic Plan and continued strong U.S. leadership in the
international community.
"Investments in global climate change science and technology continue
to improve our understanding of climate variability and change, provide
the basis for sound long-term climate policy decision-making, and enable
the development of energy efficient technologies. Agencies should implement
the 2003 ‘Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program'
and focus on the topics described in the 2003 ‘U.S. Climate Change
Technology Program: Research and Current Activities.' [See http://www.aip.org/fyi/2003/101.html]
"Agencies are encouraged to implement activities outlined in the
Administration's 2004 U.S. Ocean Action Plan, developed in response
to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. These activities included the
development of an Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation
Strategy and the integration of U.S. ocean observing efforts into the
Global Earth Observation System of Systems.
"The ability to measure, monitor and forecast U.S. and global
supplies of fresh water is important because agencies are developing
a coordinated, multi-year plan through the NSTC to improve research
to understand the processes that control water availability and quality,
and to collect and make available the data needed to ensure an adequate
water supply for the future. Significant progress on this plan, including
stakeholder input, is expected during the next two years.
"In support of the President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, agency
efforts should address the critical technology barriers of on-board
hydrogen storage density, hydrogen production cost, and fuel cell cost,
as well as distributed production and delivery systems. R&D should
focus on novel materials for fuel cells and hydrogen storage (including
nanostructured materials), durable and inexpensive catalysts, and hydrogen
production from renewable energy, nuclear energy, biological and electrochemical
processes, and fossil fuels with carbon sequestration."
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