Feds aim to double science research budget

Photo: Grad student Carrie Gillaspie (l) and associate professor Sue Clark (r) research the role microorganisms play in rendering uranium solids less mobile, under a grant from NSF. (Photo by Shelly Hanks, WSU Photo Services.)

Congress might increase spending on the National Science Foundation (NSF) by 15 percent annually in 2003, 2004 and 2005, “The Chronicle of Higher Education” reported last month.

Some lawmakers feel president Bush’s proposed 2003 increase — 5 percent, for a total of $5.036 billion — didn’t go far enough. College lobbyists and other sponsors want to double NSF’s budget over the next five years, in a funding boost plan similar to what the National Institutes of Health will complete in 2003.

If approved, the agency’s budget could reach $7.294 billion in 2005.

Jim Petersen, associate dean, Office of Research and Graduate Programs, College of Engineering and Architecture, believes some of that increase would come WSU’s way. “WSU is in a position to take advantage of increased funding, so increases in the NSF budget can dramatically help us achieve our goals and help us keep our ‘World Class, Face to Face’ claims real,” he asserts.

However, the Bush administration has indicated it wants budget proposals based on research opportunities rather than arbitrary methods such as doubled spending. Lobbyists acknowledge that doubling NSF spending will be difficult, but hope the campaign will get more money to the agency than the president has proposed.

But while increases are being discussed, so is NSF fund management.

Senate supporters of NSF said that a report from the agency’s inspector general indicated questionable fund management. The report states that the agency has paid for projects in its major research equipment program from other accounts, making cost tracking more difficult. Some in the appropriations subcommittee fear there is little oversight of NSF’s large facilities.

NSF’s director said the agency was setting new procedures to improve fund management, including new reviews of large projects, and that steps were being taken to ensure that funds from its research accounts are not used in the equipment program.

Besides a substantially bigger budget, NSF officials also want bigger, longer-running grants to ensure that researchers spend more time in the laboratory instead of seeking funds.

A vast majority of researchers, as revealed by a recent survey, believe the NSF should offer grants of $300,000 per year that last five years. The average NSF grant for 2002 lasts for three years and provides $113,000 annually.

“NSF is a vital part of WSU research. It funds all aspects of a variety of campus research programs, graduate education and training grants,” said Petersen. And NSF is the only agency building the next generation of scientists and engineers as a core part of its mission.”

For example, Petersen notes that the NSF partners with the Department of Education to tie university research to K – 12 education. “Such linkages will not only benefit WSU research and educational programs but also have the potential to impact the education of students across the state,” he said. “In our increasingly technological society, increasing proportions of our society need mathematics, science and engineering skills.

“Increases in the NSF budget have the potential to impact every aspect of our goals,” concluded Petersen. “It is extremely important that we support such increases.”

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