926 



The 1970 experiment resulted in & computer printout. No attempt 

 was made to indicate how much of the funds in the particular grant 

 were used for international activities. Total funds awarded which had 

 international impUcations amounted to $56,976,783.^*^ 



It may be fruitful for the Foundation to continue to experiment with 

 this reporting system and to obtain additional information on the 

 exact nature of international impUcations of a particular award. 



ABSENCE OF REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTS FROM GRANTEES 



Fragmentation also poses significant problems in the Foundation's 

 development of internal policies and programs to govern these 

 activities. Consistent with its tradition of insulating scientific support 

 from governmental interference, NSF does not require grantees, 

 with the exception of the travel grants program and some programs 

 administered by OIP, to report on special foreign conditions or con- 

 siderations impacting on scientific activities carried out under their 

 grant. Grantees with funds tenable abroad, as data in the sections 

 below indicate, typically are not required to meet language quaUfi- 

 cations for service in a foreign country; nor do they usually receive a 

 predeparture briefing on the conditions of research and other factors 

 which might relate to their work. Similarly, while abroad, they are 

 not required to maintain contact with representatives of either 

 science or foreign poUcy agencies. These factors raise questions 

 relating to: 



program continuity; 



effectiveness of planning programs for specific countries or 

 specific areas of science; 



understanding of the requirements for performance of NSF 

 grantees abroad ; and 



evaluation of whether foreign and international scientific 

 activities effectively meet their scientific and diplomatic 

 objectives. 



PROBLEMS RELATING TO NSF OVERSEAS SCIENCE OFFICES 



Another important consideration governing the evolution and 

 administration of NSF programs in support of Americans overseas is 

 the NSF science attach^ program. In 1961 the Foundation established 

 an overseas office in Tokyo, as part of the American Embassy, in 

 Japan to coordinate NSF aspects of the U.S. -Japan Cooperative 

 Science Program.^*^ In fiscal year 1962 the Foundation estabhshed 

 overseas offices in Paris and Rio de Janeiro. These were discontinued 

 in 1964.^*^ During 1965, the Foundation added a science officer in San 

 Jose, Costa Rica, wholly funded by the Agency for International 

 Development (A.I.D.), to administer and coordinate the AID-funded 

 program for the regional development of the universities of Central 

 America. Currently, NSF sponsors a staff member in Christchurch, 

 New Zealand, from October to March to serve as liaison with the 

 NSF-sponsored research teams engaged in Antarctic research. The 

 Foundation also has a science office in New Delhi to assist in the ad- 

 ministration of the U.S. -Indian program for science education and 

 retains the Tokyo office. 



"' Interviews, Dr. Ernest Sohns and Dr. Walter Thompson, Office of International Programs, NSF, 

 February 1971. 

 1" U.S., National Science Foimdation, Annual Report, FY 1961, 1962. 

 »« U.S., National Science Foundation, Annual Report, FY 1965, 1966, p. 14S. 



