The National Science Foundation’s Strategic Plan

A good overview of how NSF will meet the challenges of coming years is provided in a document entitled “NSF in a Changing World, The National Science Foundation’s Strategic Plan.” This 38-page report was prepared by the NSF Task Force on Strategic Planning and Policy, and was approved by the National Science Board. Excerpts from the plan’s Executive Summary follow:

“Today, NSF’s role as a leader and steward of the Nation’s science and engineering enterprise faces new tests -- promoting new approaches to research, education, and workforce training that reach all Americans; responding to the increased importance of science and engineering in many aspects of daily life; modernizing the Nation’s research infrastructure, and adapting to a constrained budget environment.”

“The purpose of this plan is to delineate NSF’s unique contributions to science and engineering research and education and to the Federal research portfolio. The plan provides a context for shaping NSF’s future by noting how recent domestic and global changes have affected our national research and education priorities. Within this context, the plan sets forth NSF’s mission, its vision, and the following long-range goals:

“Enable the U.S. to uphold a position of world leadership in all aspects of science, mathematics and engineering. This goal grows from the conviction that a position of world leadership in science, mathematics, and engineering provides the Nation with the broadest range of options in determining the course of our economic future and our national security.

“Promote the discovery, integration, dissemination, and employment of new knowledge in service to society. This goal emphasizes the connection between world leadership in science and engineering on the one hand, and contributions in the national interest on the other. It provides the impetus for setting fundamental research priorities in areas that reflect national concerns.” (A four page section describes three priority areas: improved environmental quality; harnessing information technology; and job creation and economic growth. Under these three areas are NSF’s seven strategic areas.)

“Achieve excellence in U.S. science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education at all levels. This goal is worthy in its own right, and also recognizes that the first two goals can be met only by providing educational excellence. It requires attention to needs at every level of schooling and access to science, mathematics, engineering, and technology educational opportunities for every member of society.”

The strategic plan identifies four “core strategies that NSF will employ. These strategies reaffirm the Foundation’s traditions, especially its reliance on merit review of investigator-initiated proposals, yet at the same time point to new directions for the Foundation”. They are “develop intellectual capital,” “strengthen the physical infrastructure,” “integrate research and education,” and “promote partnerships.”

The Executive Summary concludes: “This strategic plan is an invitation to the research and education communities to respond to a rapidly changing world. It emphasizes a set of principles, goals, and core strategies for science, mathematics, and engineering that are aimed at developing a greater sense of interdependence between the research and education communities and the public. Only by succeeding in this partnership can we realistically expand the promise of science and more fully engage the public in its future course.”

The document is available through the NSF Home Page on the World Wide Web at this address: http://www.nsf.gov To obtain a printed copy, call the foundation at 703-306-1130, or e-mail to pubs@nsf.gov The publication number is NSF95-24 (NEW).