Subcommittee Approves NSF Reauthorization to be Rolled into America COMPETES Act

On April 14, the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Research and Science Education held a markup and favorably reported a Committee Print of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2010.

The bill keeps the National Science Foundation (NSF) on a doubling path, as was recommended in Rising Above the Gathering Storm and set in the 2007 COMPETES.

It aims to: help scientists and engineers funded by NSF to serve as more effective leaders and participants in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education; broaden participation in STEM at all levels; and ensure U.S. competitiveness and national security through technology transfer and commercialization.

The reauthorization directs NSF to spend at least five percent of its research budget to fund high-risk, high-reward research proposals. This was based on reports and recommendations from: the 2005 National Academies' Rising Above the Gathering Storm, the 2007 National Science Board's Enhancing Support of Transformative Research at the National Science Foundation, the 2008 American Academy of Arts and Sciences' ARISE: Advancing Research in Science and Engineering, and witness testimony at a hearing on the subject last October.

The bill will also help NSF support U.S. manufacturers by awarding grants to institutions of higher education to support fundamental research leading to transformative advances in manufacturing technologies, processes, and systems that will support U.S. manufacturing through improved performance, productivity, and competitiveness.