• 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.

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.

PROTECTING AMERICA

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.

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's Cybercorps program funds 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.

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.

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.

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.