NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
AT A GLANCE:
2006 Discretionary Budget Authority: $5.6 billion
(Increase from 2005: 2 percent)
Major Programs:
• Research and related activities
• Education and human resources
• Major research equipment and facilities construction
MEETING PRESIDENTIAL GOALS
Promoting Economic Opportunity and Ownership
• Fostering innovations that will yield significant long-term economic benefits, especially in areas
such as nanotechnology and information technology research and development.
Protecting America
• Supporting research and training in cyber security to respond to threats to information technology
systems and infrastructure.
Agency-specific Goals
• Underwriting science and engineering research.
• Strengthening a diverse, competitive U.S. workforce of scientists and engineers.
• Providing broadly accessible, state-of-the-art science and engineering facilities, tools, and other
infrastructure.
Making Government More Effective
• Using automated systems to promote effectiveness and efficiency in the agency’s grant-making
process.
• Promoting the quality, relevance, and performance of research and development programs by
maintaining practices that are consistent with the Administration’s research and development
investment criteria.
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PROMOTING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND OWNERSHIP
The 2006 Budget provides a 2.4-percent increase for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s)
investments in science and engineering. Similar investments in the past have yielded important
scientific discoveries, which boost economic growth and enhance Americans’ quality of life. NSF supports
a broad portfolio of fundamental research, ranging from the behavioral and social sciences to
mathematics and the physical sciences. This research keeps our Nation at the scientific forefront,
providing opportunities for growth in both small and large technologically based companies.
The Administration is reinforcing NSF investment in areas that will link discovery to innovation.
NSF leads two Administration priority research areas that are particularly likely to
further strengthen the economy: the National Nanotechnology Initiative and the Networking and
Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program. NSF-funded nanotechnology
research, funded at $344 million in 2006, a 1.6-percent increase over 2005, has advanced our
understanding of materials at the molecular level and has provided insights into how innovative
mechanisms and tools can be built atom by atom. This emerging field holds promise for a broad
range of developing technologies, including higher-performance materials, more efficient manufacturing
processes, higher-capacity computer storage, and microscopic biomedical instruments
and mechanisms. NSF’s investments in NITRD, funded at $803 million in 2006, a one-percent
increase over 2005, support all major areas of basic information technology (IT) research. NSF also
incorporates IT advances into its scientific and engineering applications, supports using computing
and networking infrastructure for research, and contributes to IT-related education for scientists,
engineers, and the IT workforce.
THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006 303
PROTECTING AMERICA
Security from Imperfection
Determining whether a given message has originated from a
specific computer is an important but difficult security challenge.
NSF-funded research at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) addresses this challenge by exploiting a device’s
manufacturing irregularities. Imperfections and minute
characteristics of a computer’s components can provide a
unique “fingerprint” that can be used to let others confirm they
are communicating with that computer. MIT researchers have
developed protocols that use these fingerprints to establish
two-way secure connections between remote computers, an
innovation relevant to a wide range of secure applications,
such as improving email security and protecting software
copyrights.
NSF funding for research related
to cyber security is critical to
staying ahead of threats to IT
infrastructure. Growing concerns
about the vulnerability of computers,
networks, and information
systems have prompted increased
NSF investments in cyber security
research, education, and training.
The 2006 Budget provides $94
million for these activities. Basic
research in this area is motivated
by broad interest in information
security and reliability, but it has
applications including encryption,
intrusion detection, and network
security.
NSF’s Cybercorps programfunds grants for graduate and undergraduate education in cyber security
that will strengthen the future IT security workforce. Cybercorps’ scholarships require commitments
for a period of Government service, ensuring that Federal agencies have access to these skilled
workers. For Cybercorps, the 2006 Budget provides $10 million, which will support 660 students.
Other areas of NSF research have potential relevance to homeland security, including research on
diverse topics such as: microbes and the ecology of infectious diseases; sensor networks; threat anticipation
and behavioral response; mathematical algorithms for extracting information from massive
data sets; and organization and disruption of social networks.
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AGENCY-SPECIFIC GOALS
Underwriting Science and Engineering Research
The 2006 Budget provides $4.3 billion in research and related activities to sustain the Nation’s
leadership in science and engineering, an increase of $113 million. Increased funding for “core” research
will also increase the share of well-rated grant proposals NSF can fund. The agency considers
three factors in evaluating the productivity of its research portfolio: award size, award duration, and
the share of proposals funded. In 2006, NSF will place greater emphasis on increasing its share of
proposals it can fund while striving to maintain recent gains in award size and duration.
NSF provides sustained funding to accelerate progress in areas that hold exceptional promise
for advancing knowledge and addressing national interests. In 2006, investments are focused in
four interdependent NSF priority areas: Biocomplexity in the Environment; Nanoscale Science and
Engineering; Mathematical Sciences; and Human and Social Dynamics.
Strengthening the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce
The Nanobiotechnology Center, an NSF-funded Science and
Technology Center led by Cornell University, created a traveling
museum exhibition to explain nanotechnology to the public in an
interactive and entertaining way. About 800,000 visitors toured the
exhibition in its first six months.
The 2006 Budget will continue NSF’s efforts
to prepare U.S. students for the science and
engineering workforce, with a focus on broadening
participation in these fields. NSF funding
for basic research at U.S. academic institutions
supports the education of future U.S. scientists
and engineers. NSF also makes strategic investments
in K–12, undergraduate, graduate, and
postdoctoral education. The President’s Budget
will fund graduate fellowships and traineeships
for approximately 4,600 graduate students across
the country.
NSF’s programs support participation in
science and engineering by individuals and by
institutions that serve significant numbers of
underrepresented students and communities. An
increasing emphasis on educational programming and outreach by NSF-supported investigators is
expanding the resources available to the Nation’s K–12 and postsecondary institutions to develop
and strengthen programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The President’s Budget seeks to attract the most promising U.S. students into science and engineering
programs by providing more competitive graduate stipends. NSF provides annual stipends of
$30,000 for fellowship and trainee programs, which is significantly higher than the average stipend
of $18,000 just five years ago.
Producing Tools for Science and Engineering
NSF invests in research tools critical to scientists and engineers, including instruments, equipment,
facilities, databases, and large surveys. NSF makes awards primarily to universities and nonprofit
organizations to construct, manage, and operate large scientific and engineering facilities. The
President’s Budget enhances science infrastructure in a wide range of fields, including astronomy,
earthquake research, and environmental research.
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The Budget provides $509 million for NSF’s targeted investments in cyberinfrastructure—the advanced
computing, networking, and information tools and resources intended to broadly benefit science
and engineering. Examples of these technologies include: supercomputers, advanced networks,
techniques to visualize complex phenomena, massive data repositories, modeling and simulation,
and advanced digital sensor technologies. Because these investments support science and engineering
broadly, rather than a single facility or project, they increase productivity across the Nation’s
entire science and engineering community.
The Budget continues support for facilities initiated in 2005, including the National Ecological
Observatory Network (NEON), the Scientific Ocean Drilling Vessel, and the Rare Symmetry Violating
Processes (RSVP) installation. NEON is a proposed national network of observatories that will
transform ecological research and environmental forecasting. The Scientific Ocean Drilling Vessel
will provide a new resource to examine geological and biological processes beneath the ocean floor.
RSVP will address important questions in particle physics that have the potential to transform our
basic understanding of the universe, such as the nature of dark matter.
Each year, heavy icebreakers plow through thick ice to provide access
to NSF’s Antarctic stations, which support research on the continent.
NSF also employs research icebreakers such as the Nathaniel B. Palmer
(shown here) to support research in Antarctic waters.
Other continuing facility-construction
efforts include the Atacama Large Millimeter
Array (ALMA), EarthScope, and the IceCube
Neutrino Observatory. ALMA is a telescope
composed of as many as 64 antennas, each
12 meters across. ALMA’s imaging qualities
and its ability to change the configuration of
its antennas will make it astronomy’s most
versatile imaging instrument. EarthScope is
planned as a distributed, multi-purpose array
of seismic and other geophysical instruments
that will allow researchers to make major
advances in our knowledge and understanding
of the structure and dynamics of the North
American continent. IceCube is a neutrino
observatory buried in the Antarctic ice sheet
that will provide hitherto unseen insights on
the most active and energetic astrophysical
objects, such as supermassive black holes.
In order to most effectively and efficiently support the Nation’s polar research activities in Antarctica,
funding for three polar icebreakers is being transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard to NSF. In
the future, this will permit NSF to define the options for refurbishment or replacement of two of
the ships (30-year old heavy icebreakers), which have been critical to maintaining access to NSF’s
Antarctic research stations, as well as operational options for the third (Arctic) icebreaker.
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MAKING GOVERNMENT MORE EFFECTIVE
NSF ensures quality in its funding programs by using a competitive awards process based on the
merit of individual grant proposals, coupled with periodic external review of its programs that approve
those grants. The President’s Management Agenda recognizes the importance of external review
and competition for funding; all eight NSF programs assessed using the Program Assessment
Rating Tool in the last two years have been rated Effective. These practices also help ensure quality,
relevance, and performance, which are key components of the Research and Development (R&D)
Investment Criteria.
NSF Proposals Increased 54 Percent in 5 Years
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
0
400
800
1,200
1,600
2,000
0
10
20
30
40
50
Full-time equivalents (FTEs) Proposals in thousands
Source: NSF.
Proposals Received
FTEs
The 2006 Budget enhances the tools NSF
uses to solicit, process, and review, as well as
monitor its awards. The number of research
proposals the agency receives has grown
significantly in recent years, while the agency’s
staffing level has remained relatively flat.
The agency has accommodated the increase in
funding and responsibilities through effective
use of information technology. NSF’s FastLane
grants-processing system enables NSF to
electronically process virtually all of the more
than 45,000 proposals the agency receives
each year. Over 200,000 scientists, engineers,
educators, and research administrators use
this system to submit and review proposals
and report project results. But while the information technology investments of recent years have
provided impressive gains in efficiency, dramatic increases in both the number and complexity of
proposals submitted to NSF pose increasing administrative challenges. To address these challenges,
NSF continues to enhance existing systems, while also rethinking fundamental agency processes
to pursue an integrated approach to human capital, competitive sourcing, and E-Government. The
2006 Budget requests funds to improve information technology to further modernize and coordinate
the systems and processes NSF uses for merit review and grant management.
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Update on the President’s Management Agenda
The table that follows provides an update on NSF’s implementation of the President’s Management
Agenda as of December 31, 2004.
Human Capital
Competitive
Sourcing
Financial
Performance E-Government
Budget and
Performance
Integration
Status
Progress
Arrow indicates change in status since evaluation as of September 30, 2004.
NSF continues to improve its management of human capital, recently documenting that it had significantly
reduced gaps in skills that are critical to NSF’s mission. The agency receives virtually all of its research
proposals electronically, has a comprehensive plan for continued improvement of its information technology
security program, and continues as an active partner in several interagency E-Gov initiatives, including
grants.gov and E-authentication. NSF prepared its 2004 audited financial statements in 45 days and earned
an unqualified opinion in its 2004 audits. NSF can report the full cost of achieving its performance goals. NSF
delayed developing a competitive sourcing strategy until it completed its human capital plan, but expects
to move forward with competitive sourcing in 2006.
Initiative Status Progress
Eliminating Improper Payments
NSF has an improper payment rate of less than one percent to its awardees (typically colleges and universities),
but NSF will have to demonstrate that its methods are adequate to ensure that colleges and universities that
receive funding exercise fiscal responsibility consistent with Government-wide standards. (Because this is
the first quarter that agency efforts in this initiative were rated, progress scores were not given.) NSF is one
of 12 major R&D agencies that strive to plan, manage, and assess their R&D programs consistent with the
R&D Investment Criteria, which are discussed in detail in the chapter on Research and Development in the
Budget’s Analytical Perspectives volume.
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National Science Foundation
(In millions of dollars)
Estimate 2004
Actual 2005 2006
Spending
Discretionary Budget Authority:
Research and Related Activities..................................................................... 4,263 4,221 4,334
Education and Human Resources ................................................................. 939 841 737
Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction ........................ 155 174 250
Salaries and Expenses....................................................................................... 219 223 269
National Science Board...................................................................................... 4 4 4
Inspector General................................................................................................. 10 10 12
Total, Discretionary budget authority ................................................................. 5,590 5,473 5,605
Total, Discretionary outlays ................................................................................... 5,028 5,492 5,540
Mandatory Outlays:
H–1B Fee Programs............................................................................................ 1 100 100
All other .................................................................................................................... 89 49 26
Total, Mandatory outlays ........................................................................................ 90 149 126
Total, Outlays.............................................................................................................. 5,118 5,641 5,666
