This Echo is READ ONLY !   NO Un-Authorized Messages Please!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 20: February 11, 2003

FY 2004 NSF Request: Physics, Materials Research

The Bush Administration is seeking a 9.0%, or $453 million, increase 
in funding for the National Science Foundation, as compared to its 
request of one year ago.  The new request of $5,481.2 million is 14.8% 
greater than the foundation's FY 2002 budget.

The FY 2003 appropriations bill for the National Science Foundation 
has not been enacted, so it is difficult to determine what baseline to 
use in making effective comparisons.   In the review that follows, the 
new NSF budget request will be compared to both the Administration's 
FY 2003 request and the FY 2002 budget.

A fact sheet distributed at the NSF budget briefing last week 
identified nanoscience and engineering as a priority area that holds 
"promise for significant breakthroughs in science, education, and 
technology."    It also stated that "For the first time, NSF will 
surpass $1 billion in 2004 for funding programs in the mathematical 
and physical sciences, which would be $100 million above the 2003 
budget request.  This increase renews support for physics, chemistry, 
and materials sciences - disciplines that are important to continued 
advances in the health sciences and other areas."

The following are two of the physics-related subactivities from the FY 
2004 NSF budget justification to Congress.  Readers wishing greater 
detail than that provided below may consult the budget document at
http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/bud/fy2004/toc.htm  Future FYIs will review 
other physics-related and the Education and Human Resources budget 
requests.

PHYSICS SUBACTIVITY: Up 12.5% or $24.2 million over FY 2003 and up 
11.0% or $21.6  million over FY 2002 to a total FY 2004 request of 
$217.5 million.  The budget document explains:

"An increase of $10.68 million in research projects to a total of 
$140.30 million. PHY will continue to support forefront areas of 
physics, with some emphasis on particle and nuclear astrophysics, 
computational and information-intensive physics, quantum information 
science, biological physics and on advanced R&D towards next 
generation particle accelerators and gravitational wave detectors.  
Education and outreach activities will receive continued emphasis: 
enhancing K-12 science teacher training, expanding diversity within 
the research community, integrating research and education, and 
broadening the role physics plays in new and emerging areas of 
research, including the training of young physicists. Part of this 
increase will provide support for the new STC in biophotonics ($3.96 
million)."

The budget document continues, "An increase of $13.51 million for
facilities and research resources to a total of $77.20 million 
includes:  support for full operations of the Michigan State National 
Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory's radioactive ion beam facility 
for a total of $15.20 million; support full operations of LIGO to a 
total of $29.0 million as the lab focuses on coincidence observations 
between the lab's two detector sites as well as with foreign 
gravitational wave detectors; and an increase of $1.51 million for 
CESR operations to a total of $21.0 million, to enable exploration of 
critical weak and strong elementary particle interaction phenomena and 
to sustain the important accelerator physics research activity at 
Cornell. Early operations of the LHC ATLAS and CMS detectors will be 
supported for a total of $10.0 million. Development of grid computing 
capabilities will continue at a total of $2.0 million."

MATERIALS RESEARCH:   Up 12.2% or $26.8 million over FY 2003 and up 
12.2% or $26.8  million over FY 2002 to a total FY 2004 request of 
$246.12 million.  The budget document describes the following 
"enhancements and new activities:"

"DMR will increase support for the NSF priority area in nanoscale 
science and engineering by $5.30 million to $76.23 million in FY 2004. 
The increment will include partial support for up to five new 
nanoscale science and engineering centers, support for new awards 
through core programs, and support for the National Nanotechnology 
Infrastructure Network (NNIN).  Overall DMR support for other NSF 
priority areas (ITR, BE and Mathematics) will increase by $1.36 
million to a total of $12.09 million.

"Support for research into the fundamental physics and chemistry of
materials and investigation of materials phenomena in DMR core 
programs will be enhanced by up to $10.0 million, primarily through 
awards to individual investigators and focused research groups. This 
will include enhanced support for Quantum Science and Technology 
(QST), using the coherent control of quantum phenomena toward 
applications that may include quantum computing, mesoscopic physics, 
the manipulation of nuclear or electronic spin states, quantum 
electronics in nanoscale organic and inorganic materials, and the 
probing and manipulation of materials processes and properties.

"Up to $2.0 million will be provided to establish four to five 
additional Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials in FY 
2004 (formerly Collaboratives for Materials Research and Education in 
the FY 2003 Request), enabling minority-serving institutions to 
strengthen their research and education activities in materials 
through links to existing materials groups, centers and facilities. 
Support for international collaboration in materials research and 
education through centers and disciplinary research programs will be 
enhanced by up to $3.0 million, and $1.80 million will be provided to 
establish two to three new International Materials Institutes through 
open competition.

"An additional $4.50 million will be provided in FY 2004 to enhance
operations supporting fundamental research at DMR user facilities, and 
to plan the development of new mid-scale research resources, including
synchrotron and neutron beam lines whose cost and scope is beyond that 
of the NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. This amount 
includes up to $2.0 million to support initial planning for beam line 
instrumentation at the DOE Spallation Neutron Source (SNS).

"DMR support for the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory will be
unchanged at $24.0 million in FY 2004, although an additional $500,000 
will be provided to the NHMFL through the Chemistry Subactivity to 
support the integration of the National High Field Mass Spectrometry 
Facility into the NHMFL."

###############
Richard M. Jones
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi{at}aip.org
(301) 209-3094
##END##########

 - End of File -
================

---