NSF PR 96-10 - March 19, 1996
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"NSF FY 1997 Budget Request Totals $3.3 Billion"
The President's budget request for the National Science
Foundation for Fiscal Year 1997 is $3.3 billion, representing
a 4.6% increase over the total FY96 estimate. (NSF
does not yet have a final budget for FY96.)
NSF Director Neal Lane said the increase is critical
if NSF is to maintain its role as a catalyst for national
progress. "NSF supports exploration, innovation and
imagination; and history shows that the return on
these investments will help propel America into a
future of growth, prosperity, and health," he said.
Requested funding for research activities is up 8.7%
over the previous year's estimated funding level.
The major disciplinary fields -- represented roughly
by NSF's six research directorates -- would receive
comparable increases. Funding for education and human
resources is up 3.3%.
Of the total NSF budget request, roughly 56% supports
science and engineering research; 20% supports education
reform in science, engineering and math; 20% supports
research facilities; and 4% supports administration
and management. NSF's FY97 request emphasizes three
principles:
· Developing a balanced portfolio that spans the frontiers
of knowledge. NSF is the only federal agency that
extends support to research and education in all science
and engineering fields and intends to continue this
balanced support across major fields while also retaining
flexibility to move quickly into new and emerging
areas.
· Linking discovery and learning. Fundamental science
and engineering research is enriched by the educational
environment in which much of it is conducted. Likewise,
experimentation, inquiry and discovery enhance and
reinforce the learning process.
· Working in partnership. NSF directly supports at
least 200,000 researchers, teachers and students and
2,000 colleges, universities and research institutions,
(including nearly 600 businesses); and indirectly
engages millions more. The FY97 request enhances NSF's
ability to mobilize and guide these vast resources.
The budget request eliminates NSF support for modernizing
facilities under the Academic Research Infrastructure
program. This change is consistent with recommendations
of the September 1995 National Performance Review
report that this function largely the upgrading and
renovating of university laboratories - be supported
by state, local and institutional sources.
"This allows NSF to focus on its unique facilities
role, which is to fund large, national research platforms
that support broad segments of the research community
-- for example, Supercomputer Centers, the Laser Interferometer
Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), and oceanographic
research vessels," said Lane. NSF typically devotes
from one fifth to one-fourth of its annual budget
to such complex facilities. In the FY97 request, they
account for $661 million (roughly equal to the 1996
level). The request also includes $25 million for
safety improvements to facilities at the South Pole.
Dr. Lane emphasized that over the past 45 years, NSF
has proven its ability to deliver the benefits. "There
are so many examples where investment in basic research
led to recognizable pay-offs later on; and the rate
of discovery is accelerating. This is an exciting
time, even a revolutionary time, in science and engineering
-- and NSF is at the center of it."
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