The FY 2002 Budget Request for Integrative
Activities (IA) is $80.61 million, a decrease of $17.14 million from the
FY 2001 Current Plan of $97.75 million.
(Millions of Dollars)
|
FY 2000
Actual
|
FY 2001
Current Plan
|
FY 2002
Request
|
Change
|
Amount
|
Percent
|
Integrative Activities |
129.25 |
97.75 |
80.61 |
-17.14 |
-17.5% |
Total, Integrative Activities |
$129.25 |
$97.75 |
$80.61 |
-$17.14 |
-17.5% |
Integrative Activities (IA) supports emerging cross-disciplinary
research and education efforts, recognizing the importance of these types
of integrative efforts to the future of science and engineering. In FY
2002, IA provides funding for Science and Technology Centers and major
research instrumentation. In addition, IA provides support for the Science
and Technology Policy Institute.
In FY 2002, Integrative Activities supports the following
programs:
(Millions of Dollars)
|
FY 2001
Estimate |
FY 2002
Request |
Percent
Change |
Major Research Instrumentation |
74.83 |
50.00 |
-33.2% |
Science and Technology Centers |
18.92 |
26.61 |
40.6% |
Science and Technology Policy Institute
|
4.00 |
4.00 |
0.0% |
Total, Integrative Actitivities |
$97.75 |
$80.61 |
-17.5% |
Major Research Instrumentation
The Major Research Instrumentation program (MRI) is designed
to improve the capabilities of scientific and engineering equipment for
research and research training in our Nation's academic institutions.
This program seeks to foster the integration of research and education
by providing instrumentation for research-intensive learning environments.
In FY 2002, NSF will provide $50.0 million for this ongoing program to
support the acquisition and development of research instrumentation in
academic institutions.
Science and Technology Centers
NSF created the Science and Technology Centers (STC) program
in 1989. STCs are university-based research efforts that foster a new
collaborative culture among researchers and educators at all levels in
academia, industry, government laboratories, and other public and private
organizations. The centers provide opportunities to explore challenging
and complex research problems that often require interdisciplinary expertise
and high-risk approaches, access to state-of-the-art instrumentation and
facilities, and a commitment of high levels of support for sustained periods
of time.
STCs have an impressive record of research accomplishments,
research training, contributions to K-12 education, and timely transfer
of knowledge and technology from the laboratory to industry and other
sectors. Traditional barriers among disciplines and among university,
governmental and industrial laboratories have been reduced, creating a
new mode of leadership and management in research and education. STCs
have engaged the Nation's intellectual talent, drawing from its full human
diversity in the conduct of research and education activities; enabled
the training of undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral
fellows; involved scores of industrial researchers in basic research;
and spawned new companies, products and jobs.
STCs also create partnerships and programs that transfer
knowledge in service to society, especially with respect to new research
areas, promising new instrumentation, and potential new technologies.
For example, development of new laser sources by collaboration between
physicists, engineers, physicians and surgeons has led to a new tool for
refractive eye surgery that is now used in clinical procedures.
FY 2001 funding of $18.92 million provides continued support
for STCs awarded in FY 2000. Funding for this ongoing class of centers
will be provided through the cognizant Activity within the Research and
Related Activities account in FY 2002. These centers include: (1) STC
on Nanobiotechnology, located at Cornell University, supported by the
Directorate for Engineering; (2) STC for Adaptive Optics, located at the
University of California at Santa Cruz, supported by the Directorate for
the Mathematical and Physical Sciences; (2) STC for Behavioral Neuroscience,
located at Emory University, supported by the Directorate for Biological
Sciences and co-managed by the Directorate of Social, Behavioral and Economic
Sciences; (3) STC for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes,
located at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, supported by
the Directorate for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and (4) STC
on the Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas, located
at the University of Arizona, supported by the Directorate for Geosciences
In FY 2002, $26.61 million is requested to fund a new cohort
of STCs, in topics across the range of disciplines supported by NSF. An
estimated six to eight centers will be funded. Funds for this new class
of centers will be made available through the planned phase-out of funding
for mature centers, which were supported through the disciplinary programs.
Science and Technology Policy Institute
The Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) is a
Federally-Funded Research and Development Center established by Congress
in 1992 to support the complex task of devising and implementing science
and technology policy. Originally named the Critical Technologies Institute,
the Institute was renamed by Congress in FY 1999.
The Institute provides analytical support to the Office
of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), to identify near-term and long-term
objectives for research and development and to identify options for achieving
those objectives. The analytical work of STPI is focused on informing
policy decisions within three overlapping themes: conduct of fundamental
science and the development and use of technology; contributions of science
and technology to achieving major societal goals; and choice of policies
that influence the support, conduct, and use of science and technology.
NSF provides budgetary support, as well as financial and
management oversight, for STPI. The RAND Corporation, the present contractor,
operates the Institute as a separate entity. The FY 2002 Request includes
$4.0 million for STPI for analytic activities. The Institute also operates
the RaDiUS data system that tracks federal R&D activities and spending.
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