FY 1998 NSF Budget Request: Education and Human Resources, Major Research Equipment

This FYI briefly summarizes the FY 1998 Education and Human Resources Activity and Major Research Equipment budget requests of the National Science Foundation. Quotations are from NSF’s FY 1998 budget request to Congress. Note that dollar figures in this series of FYIs are not adjusted for inflation.

EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES:

“The FY 1998 Budget Request for Education and Human Resources is $625.50 million, an increase of $6.50 million, or 1.1%, from the FY 1997 Current Plan of $619.0 million.”

The 20 page budget request is divided into the following subactivities:

-Educational System Reform: Up $0.90 million, or 0.9%, to $102.75 million
-Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: Level at $38.41 million
-Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Ed.: Down $13.83 million, or -7.0% to $183.32 million
-Undergraduate Education: Up $11.28 million, or 12.9%, to $98.71 million
-Graduate Education: Up $3.00 million, or 4.2%, to $73.79 million
-Human Resource Development: Down $1.23 million, or -1.7%, to $72.57 million
-Research, Evaluation and Communication: Up $6.38 million, or 12.9%, to $55.95 million

The budget request states: “The FY 1998 portfolio capitalizes on programmatic strengths and emerging opportunities; examines the need for new efforts, restructuring, and/or reducing lower priority activities; and looks to applications of technological advances that will build on prior work to integrate and apply efforts related to the NSF’s effort in Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence (KDI).” “In FY 1998, new programmatic efforts and emerging opportunities will lead to strengthened efforts in the following areas:

“research and implementation of technology integrated with learning in the professional development of teachers, technological education, undergraduate education, and PreK-12 systemic reform;

“institution-wide reform of undergraduate SMET [science, mathematics, engineering, and technology] education and sustained curriculum reform efforts in mathematical sciences and chemistry;

“development and application of knowledge underlying learning and intelligent systems, an interdisciplinary research program to advance the understanding of learning processes;

“teacher education - both-pre-service and in-service - designed to ensure and adequate supply of individuals with the content and pedagogical expertise to deliver standards-based science and mathematics education; and,

“integration of education and research through support of the new NSF-wide Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) program and a postdoctoral science education program to develop professionals who will work with the K-12 and undergraduate sectors.”

MAJOR RESEARCH EQUIPMENT:

“The FY 1998 Budget Request for Major Research Equipment (MRE) is $85.0 million, an increase of $5.0 million, or 6.3% about the FY 1997 Current Plan of $80.0 million.”

Funding for the following four projects is requested:

Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory: Funding of $26 million is requested for LIGO, which “will permit the project to progress toward completion of construction and a transition to operations. Additional funding for research and development continues to be provided through the Physics Subactivity....” The request sates: “Construction of the facilities is scheduled for completion in FY 1998. Interferometer installation will be completed in FY 2000 with scientific observations beginning the following year. Once the construction of the project is completed, operations costs are estimated to be approximately $20 million per year” to be funded through the Research and Related Activities budget.

The Millimeter Array: NSF is requesting “initial funding up to $9 million to begin the Design and Development Phase, which will total $26 million over three years.” “The Millimeter Array (MMA) will be an aperture-synthesis radio telescope operating in the wavelength range from 3 to 0.4 mm, and consisting of 40 8-meter diameter radio telescopes located at the same site and electronically linked. The MMA will be the world’s most sensitive, highest resolution, millimeter-wavelength telescope.”

Polar Cap Observatory: “The Polar Cap Observatory (PCO), will be a multi-instrumented, ground-based observatory located very near the Earth’s northern magnetic pole at Resolute Bay, Northwest Territories, Canada. The FY 1998 Budget Request of $25 million will provide full funding for the construction of PCO. The Polar Cap Observatory will consist of a large, state-of-the-art radar facility with an accompanying array of smaller optical and radiowave remote sensing instruments.” Construction will take three years, which “will ensure that the PCO is fully operational in time for upcoming solar maximum in 2001, the height of the 11-year cycle of solar activity and to observe the associated space weather effects.” Annual operating costs are estimated to be $2.5 million, funded through the Research and Related Activities budget.

South Pole Station: “The FY 1998 Budget Request includes $25 million for additional improvements to the South Pole facilities. The funding provided in FY 1997, although separate from the FY 1998 request, fits in with the design and plans for modernizing the station.” This new money would be used “to proceed with the highest priority areas of protecting human life....” The United States Antarctic Program (USAP) External Panel is expected to report next month “on the infrastructure, management, and science options for USAP, including consideration of South Pole Station.”