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CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES RECORD
INCREASE FOR THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
January 21, 2000
Today, the President will announce that his budget will include $4.6
billion for research and education investments at the National Science
Foundation (NSF). This represents a $675 million (17 percent) increase
over current funding levels. If Congress approves this investment, it
would double the largest dollar increase ever for the Foundation, and
NSF funding will have increased by 66 percent since President Clinton
took office.
Few people recognize the connection between practical improvements in
their lives and the fundamental research that NSF has supported for five
decades. NSF looks for and funds high-risk research with long-term
pay-offs across the entire spectrum of science and engineering -- a role
too broad in scope and horizon for mission-oriented government agencies
and for private industry. Today we enjoy the benefits of MRI, Doppler
radar, and the Internet, because of fundamental research conducted
decades ago.
Investing in NSF is investing for future generations. NSF is a small
agency with a catalytic ability to speed the pace and scope of discovery
in science and engineering. It invests in the people, ideas, and tools
needed to keep the nation at the leading edge. The Foundation
represents under 4 percent of Federal R&D spending, but supports roughly
half of the non-medical basic research conducted at colleges and
universities.
NSF's FY2001 request sets priorities and strengthens the core
investments that boost economic productivity and secure U.S. S&T
leadership.
Strengthening Core Investments - The request devotes $320 million
to increases in core disciplinary research that extend the frontiers of
science and engineering across the board. These activities sustain the
flow of new discoveries that fuel the development of new technologies.
For example, we are now relying increasingly on fundamental mathematics
to understand key aspects of living systems - such as how microbes
develop drug resistance and how viruses (such as HIV) can become dormant
and undetectable for long periods.
Information Technology Research (ITR) - Investments in ITR will
deliver tools and capabilities that will benefit every research
discipline, business and industry, and every level of education. New
technologies based on quantum computing or DNA computing could make
today's information revolution pale by comparison with the next
information revolution - perhaps merely years away. New techniques for
designing and constructing software will speed reliable and robust
information appliances to consumers and information systems to industry.
And, understanding of the social and cultural impacts of technological
change could change the scope and manner in which new technologies are
deployed, improving our lives and the lives of our children.
Nanoscale Science and Engineering - Nanoscale science and
engineering will have far-reaching impact on technology for the 21st
Century. The control of matter at the atomic level underpins innovation
in critical areas from -- manufacturing to materials to the environment.
Nanotechnology is allowing us to build machines so small that they are
rapidly approaching the scale of human cells. For example, developing a
machine smaller than the head of a pin could be placed in a person's
bloodstream to monitor the health of the heart and blood vessels,
thereby avoiding strokes and heart attacks. This will be possible only
through nanoscale science and engineering.
Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE) - Understanding biocomplexity
- the dynamic interactions among the Earth's living and physical systems
- will help us understand our environment. Furthermore, such
investigations will accelerate cutting-edge capabilities - such as
genomics, molecular sequencing, informatics, robotics, remote sensing,
and advanced mathematics and modeling. The discoveries emerging from
this work will contribute to improved environmental stewardship and will
promote innovation in such areas as biotechnology and public health.
21st Century Workforce - We now live in an economy based on
knowledge and ideas. The greatest job growth is in areas that demand a
solid grounding in science and technology - yet our present educational
infrastructure is not equipped for this challenge. In this request, NSF
will inaugurate Centers for Teaching and Learning. These investments
will fully engage the broad spectrum of America's diverse population to
create a science and engineering workforce second to none.