ating efficiency. By means of joint committees 

 or informal discussions, agencies dealing 

 with similar problems avoid duplication and 

 make more effective use of facilities and accu- 

 mulated knowledge; by formal contract, often 

 involving transfer of funds, specialized phases 

 of a more general research problem may be 

 investigated by one agency for another; and by 

 loan or exchange of personnel, those scientific 

 workers who are best fitted to conduct a given 

 investigation may do so under the auspices of 

 some bureau other than their own.-* 



NDRC and OSRD 



The National Defense Research Committee 

 (NDRC) was established by President Roosevelt 

 in 1940, and was followed in 1941 by the estab- 

 lishment of the Office of Scientific Research and 

 Development (OSRD). The latter was composed 

 of a reconstituted NDRC and a new Committee 

 on Medical Research. Coordination of wartime 

 research and development functions was exer- 

 cised by OSRD, its two constituent committees, 

 the Advisory Council of OSRD, and by the Joint 

 Committee on New Weapons and Equipment, 

 consisting of the Director of OSRD and two mili- 

 tary members, one from the Army and one from 

 the Navy. 



ICSRD and NSF 



Three important reports in the immediate post- 

 World War II period addressed the question of 

 coordination of Federal scientific activities. These 

 were the Kilgore report, "The Government's 

 Wartime Research and Development, 1940-44," 

 the Bush report, "Science — The Endless Fron- 

 tier," and the Steelman report, "Science and 

 Public Policy." The Kilgore report recommended 

 that the coordination function be undertaken by a 

 Federal research agency, whereas the Bush and 

 Steelman reports urged that coordination be the 

 responsibility of an interbureau or interdepart- 

 mental committee or council. 



The Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific 

 Research and Development (ICSRD) was estab- 

 lished in 1947 (by Executive Order 9912) with two 

 duties which relate primarily to the coordination 

 function: 



• Recommend steps to make the research and 

 development programs of the Federal gov- 

 ernment most effective in the promotion of 

 the national welfare (E.O. 9912, 3(a)); 



• Encourage collaboration among Federal 

 agencies engaged in related scientific re- 

 search and development (E.O. 9912. Me)). 

 The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 

 (Public Law 507) originally authorized and direct- 

 ed the Foundation: 



... to evaluate scientific research programs 

 undertaken by agencies of the Federal Govern- 

 ment, and to correlate the Foundation's scien- 

 tific research programs with those undertaken 

 by individuals and by public and private re- 

 search groups (Sec. 3. (a) (6)). 

 This evaluation and correlation function was 

 interpreted by some as being a coordination func- 

 tion that NSF was expected to exercise over the 

 other Government agencies having scientific pro- 

 grams. This clause has been substantially modified 

 over the years and now reads (1977): 



. . .to evaluate the status and needs of the var- 

 ious sciences as evidenced by programs, pro- 

 jects and studies undertaken by agencies of the 

 Federal Government, by individuals, and by 

 public and private research groups, employing 

 by grant or contract such consulting services as 

 it may deem necessary for the purpose of such 

 evaluations; and to take into consideration the 

 results of such evaluations in correlating the 

 research and educational programs undertaken 

 or supported by the Foundation with programs, 

 projects, and studies undertaken by agencies of 

 the Federal Government, by individuals and by 

 public and private research groups (Sec. 3. (a) 

 (5) as amended). 



The evaluation and correlation function of NSF 

 was extended when the Foundation was author- 

 ized to support applied research: 



In addition to the authority contained in subsec- 

 tions (a) and (b), the Foundation is authorized 

 to initiate and support scientific research, in- 

 cluding applied research, at academic and other 

 nonprofit institutions. When so directed by the 

 President, the Foundation is further authorized 

 to support through other appropriate organiza- 

 tions, applied scientific research relevant to na- 

 tional problems involving the public interest. In 

 exercising the authority contained in this 

 subsection, the Foundation may employ by 

 grant or contract such consulting services as it 

 deems necessary, and shall coordinate and cor- 

 relate its activities with respect to any such 

 problem with other agencies of the Federal 

 Government undertaking similar programs in 

 that field (Sec. 3.(c)). 



^Research — A National Resource: Relation of the Federal 

 Government to Reaearcb. u report of the Nalion;il Resources 

 Commiltee, December I9!?8. 



292 INTERAGENCY COORDINATION OF BASIC RESEARCH 



Federal Council for Science and Technology 



Late in 1957 President Eisenhower appointed 

 James R. Killian, Jr., to be a special assistant for 



