94 



• the NSF/Private Sector Research Opportunities Initiative 



These programs provide a wide range of opportunities for industry-NSF coopera- 

 tion. In cooperative efforts NSF remains focused on its mission of supporting fun- 

 damental discovery and on the integration of research and education. 



NSF and industry also engage in other collaborative efforts such as shared fund- 

 ing for instrumentation, geological drilling, and research on transformations to qual- 

 ity organizations. An important mechanism for enabling partnerships and collabora- 

 tions has been the NSF cooperative agreement authority. NSF cooperative agree- 

 ments have enabled relatively small amounts of Federal government support to at- 

 tract and retain large industrial commitments and collaborations with universities, 

 non-profits, and state governments. This is the mechanism that was used to develop 

 several successful NSF programs including the Supercomputer Centers, NSFNET- 

 lnternet, and the Science and Technology Centers. 



We expect cooperative efforts to increase as industry becomes more reliant upon 

 universities for long term research and education. NSF s activities are focused in the 

 academic sector. We believe that the agencv can work most effectively with industry 

 by developing university/industry partnerships, possibly with catalytic funding from 

 NSF. 



NATIONAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW 



QUESTION: Last year NSF went through a self-examination process as 

 part of the National Performance Review (NPR). Could you give the Sub- 

 committee some sense of how the NPR exercise affected the priorities we 

 see in your FY 97 budget? 



ANSWER: The National Performance Review (NPR2) required all agencies to look 

 at their programs and functions from the point of view of* appropriateness for the 

 federal government. In this context, NSF asked questions about whether other orga- 

 nizations might be better suited to carrying out similar activities. NSF looked broad- 

 ly at issues of efficiency and effectiveness. 



The key program functions described in the NSF FY 1997 Budget Request — Re- 

 search Project Support; Research Facilities; Education and Training; and Adminis- 

 tration and Management — grew out of the NPR2 focus on functions and earlier NSF 

 use of "modes of support" as a way to describe how NSF spends appropriated funds. 



Since NSF spends approximately 4 percent of its total budget on administration 

 and management, it became apparent that NSF could not achieve the budget sav- 

 ings that were incorporated into the NPR2 effort only by increasing efficiency of its 

 operations. NSF would need to cut into its program effort. The following budget im- 

 pacts were determined: 



• Targeted reductions were proposed for lower priority efforts in modernization and 



renovation of research facilities (i.e., "bricks and mortar") at academic institu- 

 tions. The elimination of the facilities portion of the Academic Research Infra- 

 structure (ARI) account is the most visible NPR2 outcome discussed in the FY 

 1997 Budget Request. 



• The decision to maintain expenditures for construction and operation of large re- 



search user-facilities at 20-25 percent of the total NSF program budget also 

 grew out of the NPR2 process. 



• Reductions in buying power due to constraints on future budgets will affect NSF's 



research and education programs broadly. For example, in the Education and 

 Human Resources account, NSF placed priority on activities related to edu- 

 cational systemic reform. A reduction in the request for informal science edu- 

 cation activities is one consequence. 



TASK FORCE ON GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL EDUCATION 



QUESTION: In response to the Committee's written questions following 

 a hearing last July on graduate education, you indicated that the National 

 Science Board had established a task force on graduate and postdoctoral 

 education to look at the mix of support NSF provides to postdoctorate and 

 graduate students, through fellowships, traineeships and assistantships. 

 What have been the findings of the task force? Have any recommendations 

 been made to change the proportion of funding for these different modes 

 of support? 



ANSWER: The NSB Task Force presented its recommendations on February 22, 

 1996. These recommendations state: 



The Task Force recommends that limited studies be conducted on alternative 

 modes of graduate support, with defined goals and assessment criteria. Among these 

 might be programs for: 



