The National Science Foundation

The the National Science Foundation (NSF) is an government agency independent of the the United States of America, to support financially the fundamental Scientific research . The NSF functions mainly by the establishment of subsidies of research ( research grants ), at universities, laboratories, or individuals (directing of laboratories, in charge of research, or students in control or doctorate).

History and mission

The NSF was created by the Act National Science Foundation of 1950. Its declared mission is of " to promote the advance in knowledge; to improve health, prosperity, and the public welfare; and to ensure defense nationale" ( To promote the progress off science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to national secure the defense ).

Certain historians of sciences regard the NSF as a bad compromise ( forged consensus ) between various perceptions, incompatible between them, of the role of the federal government states-unien and of extended from its action. Constantly criticized for the insufficiency of its funds, the NSF on the occasion to reaffirm its role of principal civil government agency for the financing of the basic research with Mansfield Amendment in 1973. Mansfield Amendment expressly limits the financing of the basic research by the military agencies, such as the DARPA ( Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ), the ONR ( Office off Naval Research ), and the AFOSR ( Air Force Office off Scientific Research ), except for the projects which have direct military applications. This amendment was very discussed because it reduced an important source of financing of the basic research, while the NSF proved to be unable to completely replace the funds thus removed.

Fields of research subsidized by the NSF

Biology
Sciences of the Data-processing Earth
and Information sciences
Mathematical Engineering
, Statistical
Sciences of education
Economic scenes and social, behavioral science
environmental Sciences
Physical sciences (Astrophysical Astronomy/, Chemistry, Physical)

Special programs

The NSF organizes various special programs, in particular to try to increase the participation in sciences of the minorities under-represented (handicapped women, people, Black-Americans, Hispaniques, Asiatiques, Amerindian), and to facilitate the interaction between research and education as of the college in order to attract a greater number of students towards sciences.

The NSF also finances special projects with the national scales such as the Numerical Scientific National library ( National Science DIGITAL Library ).

The NSF and NASA

In the field of the Astronomy, the assignment of one project to the responsibility for the NSF or that of NASA is not always clear. In current division, NASA finances the operations requiring a placing in orbit, such as the satellite-telescopes (Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer), while the NSF finances the projects on the ground (IceCube,…).

The NSF like model?

In France, the future National agency for Research (ANR) takes as a starting point the operation of the NSF. The relevance of such a model in the French context is strongly called in question by the researchers of the Sauvons collective Research.

See too

NASA
search key Figures

External bonds

Official site of the NSF

References

David Mr. Hart, The Forged Consensus: Science, Technology, and Economic Policy in the United States, 1921-1953 (Princeton: Princeton University Near, 1998).
General states of research - March 9th - November 9th, 2004 . Tallandier Editions, 2004.

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