NSF Enjoys Complimentary House Hearing

In an April 10 hearing, House VA/HUD Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) commended the National Science Foundation and inquired whether its FY 1998 budget request of $3.367 billion, a 3 percent increase, was adequate. The request “barely keeps pace with inflation,” Lewis noted, asking what “such a small amount of growth means for science?”

NSF Director Neal Lane explained that the request enabled NSF to invest in approximately 19,000 research and education projects. The 3 percent increase, he said, would allow the Foundation to pursue “a number of emerging opportunities” in multidisciplinary areas: the study of life in extreme environments, greater integration of research and education, and improvements in knowledge and distributed intelligence. The request, he added, would enable the completion of LIGO construction, continued investment in South Pole Station improvements, and commencement of funding for a Polar Cap Observatory and a Millimeter Array.

National Science Board Chairman Richard Zare said NSF’s request has the Board’s “wholehearted approval.” However, he said the Board was concerned about the compression of the overall federal investment in research, particularly in agencies “whose existence is challenged.”

Concern about the availability of funding for both basic and applied research is bipartisan, Lewis agreed. In an indication that the science community’s message is being heard on Capitol Hill, Lewis referred to a March statement by 23 professional societies (see FYI #34 ), which advocated a 7 percent increase for federal R&D. “It appears that the science community is challenging [the fact that] the request represents strong support” for science, he commented. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), too, said he had seen “a lot of visitors advocating a 7 percent increase.”

Lane admitted that NSF has lost about 4 percent of its buying power over the past few years, and said that a 7 percent increase would help maintain or increase its buying power. The Board “wouldn’t turn down more funding,” Zare added. “We are missing opportunities by not investing more.”

Rep. David Hobson (R-OH) remarked that universities are “one of the worst-run places I’ve seen as far as cost containment,” but Lane pointed out that federal research activities in universities were partially subsidized by other parts of the university budget. “The federal government, for a long time, has not paid anything like the full cost for the research we’re supporting,” he said. Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) noted that NSF had, in the past, been accused of emphasizing research “at the expense of teaching.” He asked whether the Foundation had initiated any programs to correct this imbalance. Lane described several programs designed to increase the importance of education: faculty early career development, research experiences for undergraduates, and integrative graduate education and research training.

Lewis inquired about the recently-approved revisions to NSF’s merit review criteria (see FYI #52 .) Lane explained that researchers and NSF staff has been overly stressed by the old system, and the revisions were intended to make the process more efficient without sacrificing its high standards.

Lewis questioned the new money requested for astronomy facilities, in light of cost and schedule overruns to some facilities currently under construction. Lane reported that problems occurred on the Arrecibo and Green Bank telescopes when the company building them was taken over and court action implemented. He did not expect similar problems with NSF’s request to build the Millimeter Array and the Polar Cap Observatory.

Other Lewis inquiries involved NSF’s role in the Next Generation Internet and a decrease in funding for Science and Technology Centers. Noting that the Foundation’s contribution would be $10 million to the $100-million multi-agency Next Generation Internet program, Lane said NSF would be looked to for leadership and its role would be much larger than its contribution. He concurred with Lewis that it might be appropriate for NSF to get out of the business of providing network registration services. However, he said it was important for the Foundation to continue supporting fundamental research on Internet improvements so NSF-supported scientists and engineers would have access to the latest technologies. Regarding the S&T Centers, Lane said funding was reduced due to the normal phase-out of federal support for the Centers, but a new and different Center competition would be started in the future.

Rep. Louis Stokes (D-OH) inquired the reason for the deccelerated growth of the Education and Human Resources (EHR) programs (with an FY 1998 increase of 1.1 percent.) Lane and EHR Assistant Director Luther Williams responded that the programs are being evaluated to determine which are most effective. To a question by Rep. Carrie Meek (D-FL) about the participation of historically-black colleges and universities in NSF programs, Acting Deputy Director Joseph Bordogna answered that the Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence Initiative was designed to foster partnerships among universities and to encourage access to information technologies for “have-nots.”

Asked about the request for the South Pole Station upgrade, Lane said a recent review panel recommended an “optimized” new station that was estimated to cost $120 million and be completed in 2004. He said NSF would expect scientists to contribute to the cost of the new station by re-allocating $20 million of antarctic science support over 5 years. Director of Polar Programs Cornelius Sullivan said scientific integrity would be preserved, but scientists would be urged to analyze data and remotely access instruments from their home institutions if possible. Some additional cost savings, he added, would come from reductions to aircraft fuel storage, improvements in energy and environmental technologies, and reduction of redundancy in computer and communications functions.

Lewis indicated that he will be inclined to look favorably on NSF, as he wrapped up the hearing by saying that dealing with the Foundation was always a “particularly enjoyable session.”