SSTI Digest

A National Science Foundation (NSF) program to foster significant public/private partnerships and help better position local communities to accommodate new and enhanced research and development is continuing into a second year, NSF announced last month.  The $14 million in grants awarded last year under NSF's Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) have been supplemented with more than $7 million for 12 new grants in 2001 to cover projects in 11 states involving more than 150 partner organizations.  The twelve lead institutions receiving new PFI awards include: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland; the University of Alaska, Anchorage; the universities of Maine, Southern Mississippi, Southern California, Pennsylvania and South Dakota; Montana Tech; Michigan Technological University; and Montana State, Northwestern and Wichita State universities. 

The National Science Foundation has launched the new, online Industrial Research and Development Information System (IRIS) to provide easy access to information on industrial R&D performance across a broad range of years and criteria. The historical database (1953–1998) contains more than 2,500 statistical tables presenting R&D expenditures as a percentage of company sales, by industry, size of company, size of R&D program, type of cost (e.g., wages or materials), state, and source of funds. Data also is arranged to allow easy manipulation of trends analyses and state-by-state comparisons. A late-September Data Brief from the Foundation (NSF 01-338) describes the new system and provides examples of its value for the S&T community. For more information, see http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/databrf/nsf01338/sdb01338.htm

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), through the Mathematics Education Trust, funds special projects that enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics at all levels. An organization valuing the use of instructional technology tools, NCTM currently has at least 10 grant opportunities supporting in-service programs, the improvement of professional competence and other related causes. Toyota's Investment In Mathematics Excellence (Toyota TIME) grant, for instance, annually awards teachers up to $10,000 for projects that enhance mathematics education within a school. Sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc., through its partnership with NCTM, the Toyota TIME grant is open to K-12 teachers with three years' experience teaching mathematics. The focus of the grant comes on individual students and classrooms rather than on district-wide projects. In 2002, as many as 35 two-year grants totaling up to $350,000, will be awarded to schools at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Earlier this week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced awards estimated to total $65 million over five years to fund six major centers in nanoscale science and engineering. The awards are part of a series of NSF grants – totaling $150 million in fiscal year 2001 alone – for nano research in multiple disciplines.  The six centers will be located at Columbia and Cornell Universities and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, Harvard University in Massachusetts, Northwestern University in Illinois, and Rice University in Texas. 

The National Science Foundation has published Federal Funds for Research and Development: Detailed Historical Tables: Fiscal Years 1951-2001. The five-volume report includes seven tables (55-61) that present the data by state for the period 1970-1999. Federal R&D obligations are characterized by industrial, university, nonprofit, FFRDC and intramural performers. Only available online, the report can be downloaded at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf01334/pdfstart.htm 

The National Science Foundation has named Judith A. Ramaley as the Foundation's new Assistant Director for Education and Human Resources (EHR). A biologist, Dr. Ramaley served most recently as president of the University of Vermont. 

Math and science students exposed to high expectations, challenging curriculum and sound instructional methods may hold an advantage over their peers, suggests a report funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Academic Excellence for All Urban Students presents data from a study of 22 urban school districts comprising the NSF's Urban Systemic Initiatives (USI), showing great gains in student achievement by school districts that participated in the USI program for the longest period of time. The report is the result of eight years of research under the USI program, which began in 1993. It also is part of a larger ongoing study by Systemic Research, Inc., How Reform Works: An Evaluative Study of National Science Foundation's Urban Systemic Initiatives.

With an overall positive review, the Office of the Inspector General within the National Science Foundation (NSF) has made several recommendations for improving the performance of NSF's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR plays an important and strategic role in many states’ efforts to build a stronger research enterprise and tech-based economy. In FY 2000, the NSF EPSCoR program distributed $51.7 million to 19 states and Puerto Rico. The FY 2001 budget is $74.8 million. Created in 1978, the NSF EPSCoR program has served as a model for other agencies’ efforts to increase the research culture of states that have historically received a small share of federal research dollars.

Between 10 and 15 Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) will be funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in early 2002. In a recently released request for proposals, NSF indicates that it has $24 million available for the centers. The MRSEC program supports interdisciplinary, university-based group research and education in the areas of materials science and engineering, condensed matter physics, solid state and materials chemistry, and related areas. Each of the 24 existing MRSECs encompass one or more interdisciplinary research groups. The request for proposals is toward making between 10 and 15 awards to universities for the establishment of new MRSECs or continuation of existing centers. Existing MRSECs will be in open competition with new proposals. If an existing MRSEC is unsuccessful, phase out funding may be provided at a reduced level for up to two years.

Research and development activity in the nonprofit sector share of total U.S. R&D held steady at 3 percent from 1973 to 1997, according to a February 15 Data Brief prepared by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Data Brief reports on the first survey of nonprofit R&D activity since 1973. The new study captured R&D funding and performance by nonprofit organizations for fiscal years 1996 and 1997. In 1997 nonprofit organization intramural R&D expenditures totalled $7.3 billion. The average annual current dollar increase from 1973 to 1997 was five percent when adjusted for inflation. Extramural R&D activity for nonprofits was estimated to be approximately $1.5 billion for the same year.

Partnerships for Innovation (PFI), a National Science Foundation (NSF) program started just last year, has released its Program Solicitation for FY 2001. The program will support 10-15 new government-university-industry partnerships that explore new approaches to support and sustain innovation. An academic institution must be the lead for the partnership  The program was designed to: 

Rex Pelto has left the Advanced Technology Program to take the position of Director of Federal R&D & Business Development for Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology.