National Science Foundation

The Administration’s FY 2008 National Science Foundation (NSF) budget request of $6.43 billion represents an increase of nearly $409 million (6.8 percent) above the FY07 request. The large increase is distributed across many research and related activities:

• Mathematical and Physical Sciences  - $103 million increase
• Engineering - $55 million
• Geosciences - $47 million
• Computer and Information Science and Engineering - $47 million
• Education and Human Resources Directorate (increases to several programs) - $34 million
• Integrative Activities - $32 million
• Office of Polar Programs - $27 million
• Biological Sciences - $25 million
• Office of Cyberinfrastructure - $18 million
• Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences - $8 million
• Office of International Science and Engineering - $4 million
• Major research equipment and facilities construction - $4 million
• Agency Operations and Award Management - $4 million

FY08 budget requests for selected initiatives crossing several NSF directorates include:

• Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) - $993.7 million would be spread throughout every NSF directorate to support initiatives such as high-end computing infrastructure development, optimization research, cyber security, human-computer interaction, and large-scale networking.
• National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) - $389.9 million. NSF is the lead for this multi-agency initiative. Total FY08 NNI funding across the 11 agencies involved is $1.45 billion.
• Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) - $208.3 million towards basic research, comprehensive observations, integrative modeling, and development of products for decision makers on the subject of climate change. The entire project engages 13 U.S. agencies across the federal government.
• International Polar Year - $58.7 million for to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year 1957-58, in which “unparalleled exploration of the Earth and space led to discoveries in many fields of science that have changed the way we view polar regions and their global significance.” The funding request is the second of a two-year program to support U.S. polar research and education activities.
• Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation - $52 million for a new initiative to explore concepts at the intersection of computational and physical or biological fields. The initiative is expected to grow by $50 million per year for five years and is expected to have an impact on the ability to stimulate research requiring petascale computational power.

NSF Center Programs

Funding for NSF’s centers programs, supported by many state tech-based economic development initiatives as well as NSF, are the principal means by which the NSF fosters interdisciplinary research. The FY08 budget request for these centers is $268.07 million.

• Science and Technology Centers - $66.2 million (1.9 percent decrease from the FY07 request) to support partnerships involving academia, industry, government laboratories, and other public and private organizations to explore research problems that require interdisciplinary expertise, to create technology transfer opportunities and to provide education and training for students and researchers.
• Materials Research Science & Engineering Centers - $59.2 million (6.3 percent increase) for grants to support multi-year interdisciplinary materials research in academic institutions across the country.
• Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) - $52.9 million within the Engineering Directorate (15.8 percent decrease) for partnerships involving academe, industry and NSF for development of next-generation advances in complex engineered systems important for the nation’s future. Four centers of the 19 existing centers will graduate from the program this year, no longer receiving NSF support.
• Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers - $42.4 million across several directorates (13.4 percent increase) for multidisciplinary research to advance the development of ultra-small technology in electronics, materials, medicine, environmental science and other fields. There are 16 of these centers, and four of them, concentrating on nanomanufacturing, will establish the National Nanomanufacturing Network in FY07.
• Science of Learning Centers - $27 million across several directorates (level funding) to continue support for multidisciplinary, multi-institutional centers to advanced understanding of learning and its societal implications.
• Centers for Analysis and Synthesis - $11.5 million (77.4 percent increase) to continue development of new tools and standards for management of biological information and to support data analysis capabilities across the biological sciences. The Plant Science Cyberinfrastructure Collaborative will be established in FY08 to drive synergy among biologists, computer and information scientists, mathematicians, engineers and others.
• Chemical Bonding Centers - $9 million (200 percent increase) is designed to support long-term "big questions" in basic chemical research. Phase I awards support preliminary proposals, and Phase II awards fund full-scale center implementation. In FY08, Phase I awardees from FY05 will compete for Phase II funding.

Engineering Directorate

The FY08 budget request for the Directorate for Engineering is $683.3 million (8.7 percent increase), which represents 42 percent of the total federal support for university-based, fundamental engineering research. Highlights, in addition to the ERCs described above, include:

• SBIR/STTR programs - $116.4 million (6.9 percent increase) to support innovation research conducted by small technology firms.
• Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) - $25 million (level funding) to help NSF focus on emerging areas in a timely manner. EFRI recommends, prioritizes, and funds interdisciplinary initiatives at the emerging frontier of engineering research and education.
• Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRCs) - $7.28 million (7 percent increase) to further develop long-term partnerships among industry, academe and government and to allow the 47 existing centers to compete for supplements for fundamental research that will enhance their capabilities.
• Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) - $4.7 million (6.8 percent increase) to enable partnerships between industry and academe where there is a common intellectual and educational agenda.

Integrated Activities

The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) was shifted from the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate to Integrated Activities. The EPSCoR budget is proposed to be $107 million for FY08 (7 percent increase) to promote the development of eligible states’ science and technology resources through partnerships involving a state’s universities, industry, government and the federal R&D enterprise.



The Partnerships for Innovation program budget would receive $9.19 million, level funding with the FY07 request, which was a cut of $20,000 from the FY06 appropriation.



Education and Human Resources Directorate

The FY08 budget request for the EHR Directorate is $750.6 million. Highlights include:

• Graduate Research Fellowships - $97.5 million (10.1 percent increase from FY07) to support the most promising graduate science, mathematics and engineering students in the U.S. for a broad range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary careers. This allocation will increase the number of fellowships by 200.
• Informal Science Education - $66 million (level funding) to promote public interest understanding and engagement in science and technology through voluntary self-directed and lifelong learning opportunities for children and adults.
• Advanced Technological Education - $51.6 million (11 percent increase) to improve technician education in science- and engineering-related fields that drive the nation’s economy, particularly at two-year colleges and secondary schools.
• Graduate Teaching Fellows in K -12 Education - $47 million (level funding) to enable graduate students in NSF-supported Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines to acquire skills that will prepare them for professional and scientific careers. A total of 915 fellows will be supported by this program in FY08.
• Math and Science Partnership - $46 million (level funding) to improve student outcomes in math and science for all students in grades K-12 through partnerships with higher education. Of that amount, $30 million would go towards funding new awards at educational institutions.
• Course, Curriculum & Laboratory Improvement - $37.5 million (an increase of 10.3 percent) to support the development of new learning materials, faculty expertise, and assessment and evaluation.
• Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) - $29.5 million (18.1 percent increase) to fund centers with the goal of strengthening research and education in minority-serving institutions and increase matriculation in STEM disciplines.
• STEM Talent Expansion Program - $27.9 million (an increase of 12.1 percent) to increase the number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents receiving associate or baccalaureate degrees in established or emerging STEM fields.
• Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training - $25 million (no change) to prepare U.S. doctoral students for advancing knowledge in emerging areas of research and to pursue successful careers in academia, industry or the public sector.
• Robert Joyce Scholarship Program - $10 million (level funding) to encourage talented STEM undergraduate students and postgraduate professionals to become K-12 mathematics and science teachers.

Biological Sciences Directorate

The FY08 budget request for the Biological Science Directorate is $633 million, compared to $607.85 in FY07 (a 4.1 percent increase). The Directorate’s Emerging Frontiers division would have $99.2 million in allocations (level funding) with approval of the Administration's request. The division contains funds to be contributed towards the creation of two new research centers, $5 million for the Plant Science Cyberinfrastructure Collaborative and $3 million for Center for Research on the Environmental and Health Safety of Nanotechnology.