About the
National Science Foundation
NSF AT
A GLANCE
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency
created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the
national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" With
an annual budget of about $5.5 billion, we are the funding source for
approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by
America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics,
computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal
backing. MORE
View a 3-minute
video overview of NSF's mission and focus.
WHO WE
ARE
NSF leadership has two major components: a
director who oversees
NSF staff and management
responsible for program creation and administration, merit review, planning,
budget and day-to-day operations; and a 24-member
National Science Board (NSB) of eminent
individuals that meets six times a year to establish the overall policies of the
foundation. The director and all Board members serve six year terms. Each of
them, as well as the NSF deputy director, is appointed by the President of the
United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. At present, NSF has a total
workforce of about 1,700 at its Arlington, VA, headquarters, including
approximately 1200 career employees, 150 scientists from research institutions
on temporary duty, 200 contract workers and the staff of the NSB office and the
Office of the Inspector General.
MORE
WHAT WE
DO
As described in its
strategic
plan, NSF is the only federal agency whose mission includes support for all
fields of fundamental
science and engineering, except for medical sciences. We are tasked with
keeping the United States at the leading edge of discovery in areas from
astronomy to geology to zoology. So, in addition to funding research in the
traditional academic areas, the agency also supports "high-risk, high pay-off"
ideas, novel collaborations and numerous projects that may seem like science
fiction today, but which we'll take for granted tomorrow. And in every case, we
ensure that research is fully integrated with education so that today's
revolutionary work will also be training tomorrow's top scientists and
engineers. MORE
HOW WE
WORK
NSF's task of identifying and funding work at the frontiers of science and
engineering is not a "top-down" process. NSF operates from the "bottom up,"
keeping close track of research around the United States and the world,
maintaining constant contact with the research community to identify ever-moving
horizons of inquiry, monitoring which areas are most likely to result in
spectacular progress and choosing the most promising people to conduct the
research. MORE
http://www.nsf.gov/about/
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