Current Status of the Budget for the NSF

Other Issues Relevant to Instrumentation

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Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Authored by Senator Shelby (R-AL), the FOIA extends data release requirements to federal grantees. The Office of Management and Budget issued draft regulations in February 1999 that somewhat limit the scope of the law by narrowing FOIA requests from "all data", to "research findings used by the federal government in developing policy or rules." Because it is still too vague, and because it deals with important issues such as patient privacy, intellectual property and the release of preliminary research findings, the FOIA is opposed by nearly all research scientists. It has been the subject of hearings in which both NAS President Bruce Alberts and NIH Director Varmus testified against it.

In July 1999, an amendment, offered by Representatives Walsh (R-NY) and Price (D-NC), that would have postponed implementation of the FOIA for one year was defeated. Many feel the law is unworkable and should be repealed. Legislation to repeal it was introduced by Rep. George Brown (D-CA), but following his untimely death, its success is uncertain.

Instrumentation and Infrastructure

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) will introduce legislation this month which targets programs administered by NIH's National Center for Research Resources (NCRR. His co-sponsors include conservative and liberal Senators from both parties. This would set the funding level for the Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) program at $100 million (currently it is being funded at $35 million). FASEB also has argued for an increase in the SIG to $80 million and an increase in the BT P41 program (which funds our national microscopy centers) from $67 million to $167 million. , with spending caps still in place, and the political battles being waged over the one trillion dollar surplus expected over the next 15 years, research budgets are not expected to be settled until well into the Fall.

Industry Investment in R&D

According to the 1999 annual report of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, an independent economic development organization, Federal support of R&D as a percentage of the gross domestic product would continue to decline in FY2000 under the President's budget. Strong investment by industry in applied research and in development-related research will be the primary factor keeping the total level of U.S. investment in R&D at high levels. Yet due to the proprietary nature of industry research, much of this does not enrich the basic sciences.

For the last forty years America has built its scientific and industrial success on the basis of granting Federal funds to universities, with the advances enriching and, in some cases, being instrumental in the establishment of whole industries. Some observers have gone so far as to say that the pattern of the last 40 years is reversing, i.e., major new advances are being made by industry, but few are making the transition into the academic arena, renowned for its success in basic research. In view of the secrecy surrounding industrial research, how can one increase the synergism between academia and industry? Creating this synergism is important not only for rapid advancement of the scientific endeavor, but also for the training of students who will provide the needed intellectual power to take industrial research forward.