National Science Foundation Report Lauds Importance of Basic

Following on the heels of the release of the President’s budget, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released its report on “Transforming the World through Science.” The annual report, first released last year, highlights and discusses some of the impacts of NSF-funded basic research. The goal of the report is to highlight the importance of science and engineering funding at the federal level, by discussing the importance of basic research, the unique work of NSF, and exploring the positive impacts much of its work has had on American society.

“As the only federal agency that invests in fundamental, basic research across all non-medical fields of science and engineering, NSF has played a leading role in helping the U.S. secure and maintain its competitive edge globally,” NSF Director France Cordova stated in the report. The pressure to maintain this global leadership is stronger than ever with the rapid rise of China as another strong leader in global research and development (R&D). This was clearly shown in another NSF report, the 2018 Science and Engineering Indicators report that was released last month. Looking to the future, U.S. investment in basic research will play a key role in maintaining this global status, as well as the U.S.’s role as a leading technological and manufacturing innovator as shown in this report.

To view the full “Transforming the World through Science” report, click here: https://www.nsf.gov/about/congress/reports/transforming2018.pdf