NSF FY 1995 Budget Request: Physics

The National Science Foundation has requested a 6 percent increase for the Physics Subactivity for fiscal year 1995. This increase of $8.00 million would bring total funding up to $141.73 million.

NSF physics support is also provided through the Materials Research Subactivity, the Major Research Equipment budget, and other areas of the NSF budget.

Centers and facilities supported by the Physics Subactivity budget include the Science and Technology Center for Ultrafast Optics, the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility, and the Michigan State University National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory.

In the budget document provided to Congress, NSF states that the budget request includes:

“An increment of $5.50 million for Physics Research Project Support to a total of $103.73 million. This includes significantly increased support for High Performance Computing and Communications, non-linear physics, Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Advanced Materials Processing Program, and new research in biophysics and particle astrophysics. Activities in undergraduate education and curriculum development will also receive enhancements.”

“An increment of $2.50 million for Facilities to a total of $38 million. The major portion of this increment will continue an upgrade of CESR [Cornell Electron Storage Ring] to luminosities a factor of at least 30 higher than exist anywhere in the world at similar facilities, making possible advanced research in particle physics and with synchrotron light.”

The budget document provides information on past and current Physics Subactivity funding. Fiscal year 1993 funding (last year) for the Physics Subdiscipline was $128.28 million. The recently approved FY 1994 Current Plan (for this year) increased the Physics Subactivity funding by $5.45 million, or 4.2 percent, to $133.73 million. Of this amount, $98.23 was allocated for Research Project Support, distributed as follows: Elementary Particle Physics - $25.43 million; Nuclear Sciences - $23.16 million; Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics - $19.47 million; Theoretical Physics - $19.39 million; Gravitational Physics - $10.78 million. Note that NSF has restructured the fiscal year 1995 budget request into only two program elements: Research Project Support and Facilities.