FY 2001 Request: National Science Foundation
“We couldn’t ask for a better way to mark NSF’s 50th Anniversary” Rita Colwell said on Monday at NSF’s Headquarters. She was referring to the FY 2001 request which would increase the National Science Foundation’s budget by 17.3%. This request of $675 million is double the largest dollar increase ever proposed for the foundation.
This increase would benefit NSF and the researchers it supports in a number of important ways. Almost half of the increase would go toward support of the NSF’s “core activities” in the disciplines. Colwell said it would “give us the flexibility we’ve been seeking for years.” It would also, she said, improve grant size and duration. The details in NSF’s budget book illustrate this: despite a projected 10% increase in the number of requests for funding, NSF would be able to maintain its funding rate at 31%. The average annualized competitive award would increase from $98,400 to $108,900, while the duration of those awards would increase from 2.9 to 3.0 years.
This request, if approved by Congress, would work toward a goal long expressed by Colwell, that of better balancing federal R&D funding. Colwell remarked, “When we talked about the importance of engineering and the physical sciences to health care, people began to get the point. They know we’ve been saying that at NSF for years.”
Future FYIs will detail the NSF’s request for physics (+18.0%), materials research (+15.4%), geosciences (+19.5%), astronomical sciences (+13.7%), engineering (+19.6%), major research equipment (+48.2%), polar programs (+12.8%), and education and human resources (+5.0%).
NSF will, according to the budget document, also “emphasize priority investments in four interdependent initiative areas":
Information Technology Research, which would increase by 159.5%
Nanoscale Science and Engineering, which would increase by 122.7%
Biocomplexity in the Environment, which would increase by 172.6%
21st Century Workforce, which would increase by 113.2%
Two press releases commented on the request that deserve to be widely quoted by the science community this year. The first is from Norman R. Augustine, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Lockheed Martin Corporation Board of Directors: “The Administration’s proposal to increase funding for the National Science Foundation comes not a moment too soon . . . We should seize this opportunity to strengthen U.S. leadership in science and technology . . . Over the years, the National Science Foundation’s public investments in basic research - across all disciplines in science, engineering and mathematics - have laid the foundation for the most dynamic and innovative science and technology enterprise in the world.”
The second statement is by Alfred R. Berkeley, III, President of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.: “Increasing funding for the National Science Foundation is one of the most important components of the Administration’s campaign to ensure America’s continued economic growth . . . the National Science Foundation played a key role in setting the stage for today’s economic expansion that has created millions of jobs and improved the quality of life of many Americans.”
