duration of 2.3 years. Indixidual grants arc being made for as long as five 

 years. Thus fuller support is being achicxed, and with grants of longer 

 duration the trend is toward increasing stability. 



(2) The National Science Foundation has been extraordinarily fortunate 

 in the calibre of the people who have manned its regular staff, as well as in 

 the advisors and consultants who have served untiringly. The National 

 Science Board, as prescribed by law, is composed of persons "eminent in the 

 fields of the basic sciences, medical science, engineering, agriculture, educa- 

 tion or public affairs; . . . selected solelv on the basis of established records of 

 distinguished service; and ... so selected as to provide representation of the 

 views of the scientific leaders in all areas of the Nation." The substantive divi- 

 sions ha\'e statutory dixisional committees of scientists eminent in their respec- 

 tive fields or specialties, and a similar committee for the Office of Social Sci- 

 ences was recentlv named. At the program level there is an advisory panel for 

 each program which advises and counsels the program director and provides 

 assistance in the formulation of the program in that particular discipline. The 

 regular Foundation staff is selected largely from college and university fac- 

 ulties — many serving on leave for the term of their appointment. 



The Foundation maintains \'iable relationships with the scientific and edu- 

 cational communities which make possible constant interchange of views 

 and information. 



(3) The Foundation is permitted to operate no laboratories of its own. 

 Early in its history the decision was made that the grant, in general, affords 

 the most effective means of support for basic research. As a result of the 

 Foundation's efforts, furthermore, the Eightv-Fifth Congress passed Public 

 Law 934, which extends the grant-making authority to appropriate Federal 

 agencies and permits them, also, in the case of basic research grants, to vest 

 title to research equipment with the institution receiving the grant, provided 

 such equipment is not needed for government purposes. 



The need for major facilities for basic research purposes — not wholly antici- 

 pated by the Bush Report — has given rise to a situation in which the Founda- 

 tion is supporting the construction and operation of such facilities by means of 

 contracts with qualified organizations. For example, in astronomy, where 

 urgent need exists for both photoelectric instruments and radiotelescopes, the 

 Foundation is supporting two major facilities: the National Radio Astronomy 

 Observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia, and the Kitt Peak National Ob- 

 servatory near Tucson, Arizona. The former is being operated bv Associated 

 Universities Incorporated, composed of nine eastern universities, which has 

 had notable experience in the management of large-scale research in the opera- 

 tion of the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The Kitt Peak Observatory is 

 being constructed and operated by the Association of Universities for Research 

 in Astronomy, a group of eight uni\'ersities with major astronomy depart- 

 ments, which was organized specifically for this purpose. 



The Foundation has also contributed substantial support to other large- 

 scale facilities for basic research, including high-speed computers, an ocean- 

 ographic research vessel, and nuclear reactors. 



An even more recent program, which is somewhat related to the facility 

 program, is the development of graduate research laboratories under which 



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