Appendix A 



Resolution Adopted by the National Science 

 Board at Its 167th Meeting on October 18, 



1974 



Whereas, Section 3(d) of the National Science 

 Foundation Act of 1950 as amended states that: 

 "The Board and the Director shall recommend 

 and encourage the pursuit of national policies for 

 the promotion of basic research and education in 

 the sciences."; and 



Whereas, Section 3(a)(5) of the Act authorizes 

 and directs the National Science Foundation to 

 evaluate the status and needs of the various sci- 

 ences as evidenced by programs, projects, and 

 studies undertaken by agencies of the Federal 

 Government, by individuals, and by public and pri- 

 vate research groups, employing by grant or con- 

 tract such consulting services as it may deem nec- 

 essary for the purpose of such evaluations, and to 

 take into consideration the results of such evalua- 

 tions in correlating the research and educational 

 programs undertaken or supported by the Founda- 

 tion with programs, projects, and studies under- 

 taken by agencies of the Federal Government, by 

 individuals, and by public and private research 

 groups, and 



Whereas, the national welfare requires and it has 

 been a long standing matter of national policy that 

 mission agencies pursue strong programs of basic 

 research appropriate for their missions; and 



Whereas, in recent years some Federal agencies 

 have significantly reduced their efforts in basic 

 research relevant to their missions; and 



Whereas, shifts in other agencies' support of bas- 

 ic research affect the National Science Founda- 

 tion's capability to fulfill one of its roles to ensure 

 the adequacy of the Nation's research effort; 



Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That: 



The National Science Board encourages mis- 

 sion agencies of the Federal Government to 

 maintain stiking basic research programs in 

 areas that have the potential of contributing 

 to their mission objectives over the long 

 term; 



The National Science Foundation shall devel- 

 op information on the interrelationships of 

 NSF basic research programs with the basic 

 research activities of other Federal agencies 

 for use in evaluating the status and needs of 



the various sciences, in correlating the basic 

 research programs undertaken and supported 

 by the Foundation with related programs 

 undertaken by other agencies of the Federal 

 Government, and in recommending to appli- 

 cable agencies, to the Administration, and to 

 the National Science Board those areas that 

 require strengthening; 



To assist the National Science Foundation in 

 coordinating and correlating its basic research 

 programs with those of other agencies, the 

 National Science Board shall develop and 

 promulgate a general policy statement per- 

 taining to Foundation assumption of manage- 

 ment and/or support responsibilities for major 

 program activities or projects for which sup- 

 port has been terminated or significantly re- 

 duced by other Federal agencies due to con- 

 siderations of mission relevancy or budgetary 

 priorities; 



The Director of the National Science Founda- 

 tion is urged to hold a series of discussions 

 with the secretaries and/or other appropriate 

 senior officials of selected mission agencies of 

 the Federal Government for the purposes of 

 discussing the need for mission agencies to 

 maintain strong basic research programs ap- 

 propriate to their missions and the benefits 

 that are likely to accrue from such programs 

 over the long term. These discussions should 

 also focus on the nature and scope of current 

 and planned mission agency basic research 

 efforts and on the areas of research that are 

 likely to be of significance to mission agency 

 programs. These discussions should be car- 

 ried out with a view to strengthening the 

 overall Federal basic research posture and to 

 identifying areas of need in the various sci- 

 ence fields; 



The Director of the National Science Founda- 

 tion is urged to take an active role in promot- 

 ing basic research within the Executive 

 Branch, including assisting other Federal 

 agencies as appropriate in initiating basic re- 

 search programs where none now exists and 

 where the potential for long term benefits to 

 the agencies' missions from such programs is 

 greatest; and through discussions with the 

 mission agencies and the Office of Manage- 

 ment and Budget ascertain the status of Fed- 

 eral programs of basic research. 



370 



APPENDIX A 



