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Summary of NSF Accounts
Research and Related Activities
The Research and Related Activities (R&RA) Account supports
activities that enable the U.S. to provide leadership and promote progress
across the expanding frontiers of scientific and engineering research
and education. These activities support areas of inquiry critical to long-term
U.S. economic strength, security, and quality of life. Research activities
spur new knowledge, ideas, tools and approaches that open doors to understanding
and solving problems and offer increased opportunities for economic growth.
Moreover, as students work alongside senior staff performing research
activities, there is a natural integration of research and education as
students acquire the skills necessary to perform world-class research
and become members of the next generation's workforce of scientists and
engineers. NSF investments in R&RA reflect the Foundation's three
strategic goals: People, Ideas and Tools.
The FY 2003 Request for R&RA totals $3.78 billion, a
$184.57 million, or 5.1 percent, increase over FY 2002. In FY 2003, support
is provided for research and education efforts related to broad, Foundation-wide
priority areas in Biocomplexity in the Environment; Information Technology
Research; Nanoscale Science and Engineering; Learning for the 21st
Century Workforce; Mathematical Sciences; and Social, Behavioral and Economic
Sciences. NSF will also emphasize increasing the average annualized award
size. Within R&RA:
- The Biological Sciences
(BIO) Activity provides support for research to advance understanding
of the underlying principles and mechanisms governing life. Research
ranges from the study of the structure and dynamics of biological molecules,
such as proteins and nucleic acids, through cells, organs and organisms,
to studies of populations and ecosystems. It encompasses both internal
and external processes of organisms, and includes temporal frameworks
ranging from measurements in real-time through individual life spans,
to the full scope of evolutionary time. The biological sciences are
undergoing a profound transformation. Recent advances in genomics, informatics,
computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, and
the earth and social sciences have spawned the 21st Century
Biology, which is multidimensional, multidisciplinary, data driven and
education-oriented. The FY 2003 Request for BIO totals $525.62 million,
a $17.21 million, or 3.4 percent, increase over FY 2002. BIO will continue
to support fundamental academic research on biodiversity, environmental
biology, and plant biology, including providing leadership for the Multinational
Coordinated Arabidopsis Genome Project.
- The Computer and Information
Science and Engineering (CISE) Activity supports research on
the theory and foundations of computing, system software and computer
system design, human-computer interaction, as well as prototyping, testing
and development of cutting-edge computing and communications systems
to address complex research problems. CISE also provides the advanced
computing and networking capabilities needed by academic researchers
for cutting-edge research in all science and engineering fields. The
FY 2003 request for CISE totals $526.94 million, a $12.06 million, or
2.3 percent, increase over FY 2002. This includes $190.67 million as
part of NSF's Information Technology Research priority area.
- The Engineering
(ENG) Activity seeks to enhance the quality of life and national prosperity
by investing in research and education activities that spur new technological
innovations and create new products and services and more productive
enterprises. ENG also makes critical investments in facilities, networks,
and people to assure diversity and quality in the nation's infrastructure
for engineering education and research. The FY 2003 Request for ENG
totals $487.98 million, a $15.66 million, or 3.3 percent, increase over
FY 2002. ENG will support research in areas including information technology,
nanotechnology, biotechnology, and microelectronics. Funds are included
to meet the mandated level for the Foundation-wide Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) program.
- The Geosciences
(GEO) Activity supports research in the atmospheric, earth, and ocean
sciences. Basic research in the geosciences advances our scientific
knowledge of the Earth and advances our ability to predict natural phenomena
of economic and human significance, such as climate change, earthquakes,
weather, fish-stock fluctuations, and disruptive events in the solar-terrestrial
environment. The FY 2003 Request of $691.07 million, an $81.6 million,
or 13.4 percent, increase over FY 2002, will support the operation and
enhancement of national user facilities as well as fundamental research
across the geosciences, including emphases on the U.S. Weather Research
Program and National Space Weather Program; the U.S. Global Change Research
Program; the Biocomplexity in the Environment priority area, and research
on the key physical, chemical and geologic cycles within the Earth System.
Approximately $74.0 million of the increase is attributable to programs
proposed to be transferred from other agencies: EPA, NOAA, and USGS.
- The Mathematical and
Physical Sciences (MPS) Activity supports research and education
in astronomical sciences, chemistry, materials research, mathematical
sciences and physics. Major equipment and instrumentation such as telescopes,
particle accelerators, synchrontron light sources and neutron facilities
are provided to support the needs of individual investigators. The FY
2003 Request of $941.57 million, a $21.12 million, or 2.3 percent increase
over FY 2002, will support fundamental research, state-of-the-art instrumentation,
facilities, groups and centers, and the education and training of the
future workforce, including bringing scientific discovery to the public.
Support will also be provided for the Mathematical Sciences priority
area. Progress in science and engineering is fundamentally linked with
advances across the mathematical sciences; investments in the Mathematical
Sciences priority area focuses on interdisciplinary efforts between
mathematics and all areas of science, engineering and science education.
- The Social, Behavioral
and Economic Sciences (SBE) Activity supports research to build
fundamental scientific knowledge about human behavior, interaction,
and social and economic systems, organizations and institutions. SBE
also facilitates NSF's international activities by promoting partnerships
between U.S. and foreign researchers, enhancing access to critical research
conducted outside the U.S. and increasing knowledge of mutually beneficial
research opportunities abroad. To improve understanding of the science
and engineering enterprise, SBE supports science resources studies which
are the nation's primary source of data on the science and engineering
enterprise. In FY 2003, SBE's Request of $195.61 million, a 15.9 percent
increase from FY 2002, includes funding for initiation of a new SBE
Priority Area. This investment aims to lift the social, behavioral and
economic sciences to a new dimension by supporting basic research that
is primed for major advances because of new research tools or new data.
Support will also be provided for research on the processes through
which technology and society advance through continual interactions.
As part of the Climate Change Research Initiative, support will be provided
for research on decision making under uncertainty.
- Polar Programs,
which includes the U.S. Polar Research Programs and U.S. Antarctic Logistical
Support Activities, supports multidisciplinary research in Arctic and
Antarctic regions. These geographic frontiers - premier natural laboratories
- are the areas predicted to be first affected by global change. They
are vital to understanding past, present, and future responses of Earth
systems to natural and man-made changes. Polar Programs support provides
unique research opportunities ranging from studies of the earth, ice
and oceans to research in atmospheric sciences and astronomy. In FY
2003, Polar Programs is proposed at $303.81 million, a $6.0 million,
or 2.0 percent over FY 2002. FY 2003 priorities include support for
interdisciplinary studies of Arctic environmental changes; preliminary
investigation of Antarctic subglacial lakes; and polar genomics. Support
is also provided to sustain the science facilities and operations that
make Arctic and Antarctic research possible, with FY 2003 emphases including
expanded access to Arctic oceans using the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy
and improvements in Antarctic communications capabilities and bandwidth.
- Integrative Activities
(IA) supports emerging cross-disciplinary research and education efforts
and major research instrumentation, and provides support for the Science
and Technology Policy Institute (STPI). The FY 2003 Request of $110.61
million for IA, a $4.10 million, or 3.8 percent, increase over FY 2002,
includes $54.0 million for Major Research Instrumentation, $26.61 million
in support of Science and Technology Centers, $20.0 million for Science
of Learning Centers, $5.0 million for Partnerships for Innovation, $4.0
million for STPI, and $1.0 million for Disaster Response Research Teams.
Education and Human Resources
The FY 2003 Request for Education and Human Resources (EHR)
is $908.08 million, a $33.08 million, or 3.8 percent, increase over FY
2002. In addition, $92.5 million is projected in FY 2003 from H-1B Nonimmigrant
Petitioner Receipts for scholarships and K-12 education activities. In
FY 2003, NSF's highest priorities in the Education and Human Resources
(EHR) Activity are increases in funding for the Math and Science Partnership
(MSP), graduate student support, and the Centers for Learning and Teaching
(CLT). MSP addresses critical concerns of the Administration and the Congress
that math and science learning and teaching must be improved for all preK-12
students in the U.S. Graduate stipends are no longer considered to be
attractive by many students because they are viewed as inadequate to compensate
for the cost of education and mounting student debt, and to offset opportunities
for higher salaries offered by employers to STEM baccalaureate degree
holders. CLT is designed to meet major national needs to strengthen the
human infrastructure for science, technology and math education, to increase
the number of well-qualified K-16 educators, and to provide research opportunities
in science and math education and education reform. The FY 2003 Request
for EHR is $908.08 million, a $33.08 million, or 3.8 percent, increase
over FY 2002. In addition, $92.5 million is projected in FY 2003 from
H-1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Receipts for scholarships and K-12 education
activities.
Major Research Equipment and
Facilities Construction
The FY 2003 Request for Major Research Equipment and Facilities
Construction (MREFC) is $126.28 million, a decrease of $12.52 million,
or 9.0 percent from FY 2002. The MREFC Account supports the acquisition,
construction and commissioning of major research facilities and equipment
that provide unique capabilities at the frontiers of science and engineering.
Projects supported by this account are intended to extend the boundaries
of technology and open new avenues for discovery for the science and engineering
community. Early planning, research and development costs, and operations,
management and maintenance costs of the facilities are provided through
R&RA.
In FY 2003, funding for seven projects is requested through
the MREFC account. Five projects initiated in FY 2002 and prior years
include: construction of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the
Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation
(NEES), the South Pole Station Modernization Project (SPSM), and Terascale
Computing Systems. Two new projects are proposed: EarthScope and the National
Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Phase I.
Salaries and Expenses
The FY 2003 Request for Salaries and Expenses (S&E)
is $210.16 million, a $33.76 million, or 19.1 percent, increase over FY
2002. The Salaries and Expenses appropriation provides funds for staff
salaries and benefits, and general operating expenses necessary to manage
and administer the NSF. The requested level supports 1,217 full-time equivalents
(FTE), an increase of 67 FTE, and will support a focused set of investments
that foster NSF's continuing commitment to customer service.
Office of Inspector General
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) was established to
promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in administering the Foundation's
programs; to detect and prevent fraud, waste, or abuse within NSF or by
individuals that request or receive NSF funding; and to identify and resolve
cases of misconduct in science. The FY 2003 Request for OIG is $8.06 million,
a $1.02 million, or 14.5 percent, increase over FY 2002. The requested
level supports 53 FTE.
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