Support of Basic Research cont'd.
Would you mind giving us some examples of programs being discontinued by other agencies which NSF is picking up?
The following is a representative listing of research programs being discontinued by other agencies for which NSF is providing support. The examples in this listing represent projects for which grants have been awarded by NSF during the first 10-months of FY 1971.
$300,000 for the support of the operations of the 130-foot telescope at the Owens Valley (California) Radio Astronomy Observatory, formerly funded by DOD (Navy).
$154,000 for a Marine Applied Mechanics Program, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, formerly funded by DOD (Navy).
$166,000 for Interplanetary and Magnetospheric Studies, formerly funded by DOD (USAF), conducted by scientists at the University of Chicago.
$580,000 for support of the operation of the Haystack Observatory Facility, in Massachusetts, formerly funded by DOD (USAF), which is managed by a consortia of northeastern universities.
$40,000 for research studies at the Carnegie-Mellon University, on Molecular Orbital Theory of Organic Chemistry, formerly funded by HEW (NIH).
$53,000 for low temperature physics research, at the University of Michigan, formerly funded by AEC.
$66,500 for research on Metal Nitrene Chemistry and Metal Complexes of Molecular Nitrogen, formerly funded by AEC, at Northwestern University.
$79,800 for research in the conversion of various forms of energy by unconventional techniques at the University of Pennsylvania, which was previously funded by AEC.
$196,800 for theoretical chemistry, formerly funded by NASA, at the University of Wisconsin.
Support of Basic Research cont'd.
What would be the implications of not picking up support for these programs? How important are they? Would other agencies take up the slack?
The fundamental research programs being dropped by DOD, AEC, NASA, and other mission agencies, in many instances, represent investigations at the cutting edge of the science. The skilled research teams working on these projects have been developed over a number of years and represe-t some of the finest expertise in the country for conducting highly advanced research studies in the basic sciences. These research teams are important National assets which are vital to the continued health of U.S. science. More- over, research projects including those formerly funded by other agencies, are selected for support by NSF only after a vigorous competitive review has clearly established their scientific merit and has shown that they are of importance to the advancement of knowledge in the particular area of science with which they are concerned. Because of the very fundamental nature of these programs, it is highly unlikely that their support would be picked up by any Federal agency other than NSF, despite their scientific importance. Indeed, the experience of the past 18 months indicates that the mission agencies of the Federal govern- ment are making a concentrated and determined effort to channel increasing amounts of non-mission related research to NSF.
Much of the NSF budget for Science Project support is for so-called "dropout" projects. Do you feel the proposed budget for these projects is adequate? Are any worthwhile projects not being pushed up because of budgetary constraints?
As was indicated in our response to Question 1 above, the Foundation believes that the amount of $40 million provided in the FY 1972 budget to help meet the dropout problem is the minimum that should be provided for research in this category if NSF is to meet its objective of sustaining U.S. scientific strength across the broad spectrum of the sciences. Even the amount of $40 million requested by NSF will meet only a fraction of the highly meritorious research projects that are being dropped by other agencies and that experience indicates would quality for NSF support under the most rigorous competitive review criteria.
Support of Basic Research cont'd. Question 4 cont'd.
The NSF budget, as presented to Congress, is constrained when measured by the total research and science education support requirements of the agency and, consequently, support levels for research and other activities represent a balanced effort within the proposed budgetary level. For example, as pointed out in the response to question #1 above, NSF will be able to support only $50 million of the estimated $75 million in high priority projects that will have been dropped through FY 1972 even if the full amount of the NSF budget for this purpose is allowed.
Dr. McElroy, how has the RANN program, or its predecessors, brought scientists from various disciplines together to work out problems crossing interdisciplinary lines? has resulted from this approach?
Answer: The bulk of the Foundation's problem focused research efforts which are now a part of Research Applied to National Needs (RANN) are largely interdisciplinary in character. The conduct of this type of research often requires the combined talents of physical, biological, and social scientists, as well as technologists and lawyers. Following are some examples of how Foundation sponsored problem-oriented research promotes the development and use of interdisciplinary research teams, as well as some of the results of this approach:
Weather Modification: Weather Modification research includes hail suppression, storm modification, fog dispersion, and snow and rain augmentation projects. Since weather can have a large impact on the socio-economic conditions of the nation, weather modification research requires the skills of economists; political scientists and others from the law and the social sciences, as well as atmospheric scientists, physicists and chemists. The Foundation's FY 1972 budget includes funding for the National Hail Research Experiment which will bring together a large interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers to determine the feasibility and overall effects of modifying hailstorm to reduce hail damage. This project will involve the cooperative efforts of some six Federal agencies, and seven universities.
Research results to date in the snow augmentation project have demonstrated the feasibility of creating over $100 million dollars worth of additional water and electricity for the southwestern U.S. and the capability has also been demonstrated to disperse cold fog.
Earthquake Engineering: This research requires the skills of earth scientists studying seismic risk and engineers developing economically feasible earthquake resistant engineering design concepts for buildings, bridges, dams and other physical structures. The skills of social scientists are required to evaluate the social hazards and appropriate economic investment in structural reinforcement for specific seismic risk areas. Research results include improved ability to measure seismic risk and improved building and other structural designs. Important ground motion data was obtained during the February 9, 1971 severe earthquake in the Los Angeles basin using instruments installed as a part of the NSF Earthquake Engineering Program, and the consequences of earthquakes of the type not above are now under intensive study.
Answer to Question 1 on RANN continued
Enzyme Technology: This research requires the skills of cherists and biologists combined with people knowledgeable about industrial processes, economists and engineers. The Enzyme Technology program included in the FY 1972 budget will provide the support necessary to bring cohesive interdisciplinary teams together to explore the industrial potential of enzymes and to learn how to develop synthetic enzymes designed to perform specific industrial processes including the recycling of waste productivity.
Development of Interdisciplinary and Problem-Focused Research Capabilities: Interdisciplinary groups have been formed in many universities and in national laboratories which are focusing their research upon significant national problems. NC7 support has been of critical importance in the development of these interdisciplinary research teams. New institutional arrange. ments, such as university consortia and joint university-industry collaboration are encouraged.
In recent weeks NSF has awarded grants to seven institutions totalling almost $12.0 million to further develop their inter- disciplinary problem-focused research capabilities. These grants have included support for: Environmental Quality Laboratory - California Institute of Technology; Interdisciplinary Processing Research Institute - Carnegie-Mellon; Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California; School of Criminal Justice - State University of New York at Albany; Center for Research in Energy Conversion and Power University of Pennsylvania; Institute for Environmental Studies University of Wisconsin (Madison); Institute for Social Research University of Michigan.
The NSF staff actively participates with the scientists from various disciplines, assisting them in preparing new and imaginative research strategies designed around chosen societal problems, rather than based upon the methods and techniques of a single existing scientific discipline.
The program of Interdisciplinary Research Relevant to Problems of Our Society (IRPOS) which was merged into RANN supported a number of projects which have already produced significant results. IRPOS helped initiate and support the MIT Study of Critical Environmental Problems (SCEP) which developed a report on Man's Impact on the Global Environment which has been widely cited and used by conservation groups and other Federal agencies. Another important report resulting from interdisciplinary researc supported by IRPOS at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is entitled Mercury In the Environment: The Human Element. Other inter- disciplinary research efforts have produced significant informatio useful in understanding problems of the Chesapeake Bay, in fire fighting, in New York City's sanitation problems, in the Tennessee Valley, and elsewhere.
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