• Support for unique facilities, such as the University consortium-administered multidisciplinary centers, 

 e.g., the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR); 



• Enhanced scientific information exchange, e.g., through advanced communications technology, repre- 

 sented in NSFNET, which connects more than 4400 university, industry and government research net- 

 works, and, through Internet, links more than 350,000 host computers worldwide; 



• Collection and dissemination of data on R&D expenditures, science and engineering personnel, and re- 

 search facilities and instrumentation, in cooperation with institutions and with other federal statistical 

 agencies; 



• General physical plant research infrastructure support through indirect costs associated with individual 

 grants, and direct awards for facilities and major research instrumentation; 



• Direct fellowship and traineeship support for outstanding graduate science and engineering students 

 and research experiences for undergraduates. 



• Expansion of the base of knowledge, for example by: 



• Supporting new scientific and technical discoveries by academic scientists and engineers, which con- 

 tribute to emerging technologies such as fiber optics, superconductivity, polymers, medical imaging, 

 biotechnology, and neuroengineering; 



• Providing unique research facilities to enable frontier research, such as the Arecibo telescope, the 

 Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), the National Magnet Laboratory, and 

 U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP). 



• Preparation of highly skilled technical work force necessary to support an advanced technology-based 

 economy, for example in: 



• Scientific research project support, enabling university faculty researchers to prepare a highly skilled 

 technical work force exposed to cutting-edge research in a wide range of academic science and en- 

 gineering fields; 



• Innovations in science and engineering curricula and the organization of research to increase relevance 

 to work force needs and emerging fields. 



• Improvements to the quality of life by transfer of knowledge to other sectors and the general public, for ex- 

 ample in: 



• NSF projects and facilities to encourage cross-sectoral communication and cooperation in research, for 

 example in NSF-sponsored Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers, Engineering Research 

 Centers, Science and Technology Centers, and Supercomputing Centers; 



• Major contributions to Federal initiatives in High Performance Computing and Communication, 

 Global Change, Mathematics and Science Education, Advanced Materials and Processing, and 

 Biotechnology. 



NSF Expectations/Requirements from its Relationship with the Universities: 



• Generation of new knowledge and its dissemination to appropriate communities; 



• Contributions to human resource development on all levels in the educational process; 



• Appropriate balance between research and education; 



• Adherence to the highest standards of conduct, accountability; 



• Cost sharing for unsolicited research proposals and for upgrading research facilities and instrumentation. 



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