Laurie A. Harris penned this CRS report (9 April 2021): ''The National Science Foundation: An Overview'.
Very informative!
I have posted a relatively large umber of graphics - click on them to enlarge them.
Download CRS_Report_NSF_Overview_9April2021
Summary
The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports basic research and education in the non-medical sciences and engineering. Congress established the foundation as an independent federal agency through the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to “promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense; and for other purposes.” The NSF is a major source of federal support for U.S. university research, especially in such areas as the social sciences, mathematics, and computer science. It is also responsible for substantial shares of the federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education program portfolio and federal STEM student aid and support.
The NSF is an independent federal agency. Although governed by the congressional and administration budget and oversight processes, NSF’s independent status has provided it with greater institutional autonomy than some other federal agencies. Some analysts assert that this autonomy protects NSF’s scientific mission. It may also be perceived as existing in tension with other public values, such as accountability. The tension between independence and accountability is an enduring policy theme for the NSF. It is reflected in historical debates over the agency’s authorization period and the role of Congress in topics such as grant-making and research prioritization.
NSF leadership and staff include highly trained scientists and engineers from a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In FY2020, NSF had a total workforce of over 2,000 at its headquarters in Alexandria, VA, including over 175 rotators—temporary staff from the research community who work at NSF for two to four years. NSF is governed jointly by the NSF director and the 24-person National Science Board (NSB). The director oversees the day-to-day activities of NSF, including staff and management, program creation and administration, grant-making and merit review, planning, budget, and operations. The NSB establishes agency policies, identifies issues critical to NSF’s future, approves the agency’s strategic budget direction, approves annual budget submissions to the Office of Management and Budget, and approves new major programs and awards. The board also serves as an independent body of advisors to Congress and the President.
NSF has seven directorates that support science and engineering research and education; directorates are organized mainly by academic discipline. NSF directorates are further divided into divisions—typically with between four and six divisions or offices per directorate—that manage programs. In addition to these seven directorates, two offices administer NSF-wide programs: the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the Office of Integrative Activities (OIA). Among various cross-directorate and agency-wide investments, two areas of particular focus at NSF and interest to Congress have been artificial intelligence (AI) and the agency’s “Big Ideas,” which the agency describes as bold inquiries into the frontiers of science and engineering that endeavor to break down the silos of conventional scientific research to embrace cross-disciplinary and dynamic research.
After the Department of Health and Human Services, NSF is the largest source of federal funding for basic research, and the top source of federal funding for basic research in the fields of computer sciences and mathematics, environmental sciences, and social sciences. NSF does not conduct research in-house; rather, the agency provides research funding to outside entities (i.e., extramural research). In FY2020, NSF distributed 74% of its obligations for research and education funding via grants, 21% via cooperative agreements, and 5% via contracts.
Approximately 80% of NSF research and education funds are typically awarded to colleges, universities, and academic consortia. The remainder goes to private industry (about 13%), federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs, about 3%), and other recipients (about 4%). In addition to research grants, NSF provides funding for the construction, operations, and maintenance of research facilities and equipment. In FY2020, NSF issued approximately 12,200 new competitive awards to almost 1,900 colleges, universities, and other institutions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 U.S. territories. In FY2021, NSF received $8.49 billion in appropriations. Of this amount, 81.4% supported the research and related activities account (RRA, $6.9 billion), 11.4% supported the education and human resources account (EHR, $968 million), and 2.8% supported major research equipment and facilities construction (MREFC, $241 million), with the remainder supporting administrative and related activities. After adjusting for inflation, NSF funding has seen slight increases in FY2020 and FY2021, after remaining relatively flat between FY2010 and FY2019.
The vast majority of NSF funding is awarded through a competitive, merit-based review process. This process involves three phases and at least five kinds of scrutiny for proposals, including an initial assessment for completeness, peer review by external subject matter experts who evaluate proposals according to two broad criteria (intellectual merit and broader impacts), program officer review, division director review, and a final assessment of the business, financial, and policy implications. Annually, NSF receives over 50,000 proposals for research, education, and training projects. In FY2020, NSF’s funding of 12,200 awards represented an overall success rate of 28% for competitively reviewed proposals. About 29,000 individuals participated in the merit review process as panelists and proposal reviewers in FY2019.
Very good report.
I got my first NSF grant in 1977, after writing my first NSF proposal in 1976. It was all downhill after that. I haven't written an NSF proposal since the early 2000s.
I do recall getting caught up in the 'what to do with hydrology proposals' in the late 1970s. NSF was not kind to those of us with multi- or interdisciplinary hydrologic research. Neither the engineers nor geologists knew what to do with us and there was a perception among some that NSF just wanted the water people to 'go away'. All that changed in the early 1980s when NSF developed a hydrologic sciences program in the Division of Earth Sciences.
Enjoy and good luck; an NSF grant is 'good money'.
"Chemistry is physics without thought; mathematics is physics without purpose." - Unknown (probably a physicist)
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