Articles by Jeffery Mervis

Under Erich Bloch, who was appointed director of the National Science Foundation in 1984, the agency has broadened its activities beyond its traditional support of individual laboratories and researchers. Bloch has strengthened NSF’S engineering component and put greater emphasis on on industry university cooperation, including the establishment of research centers around the country as the focus for advanced study in areas ranging from computers to exotic materials to basic biology. He a

WASHINGTON—Cost-sharing arrangements and user fees may take on new prominence in the scientific community with the appointment of a federal official who has applied that approach successfully to federal water projects. Robert K. Dawson, named last month as associate director for natural resources, energy and science within the Office of Management and Budget, believes the private sector should share the cost of federal programs as one step in curbing the budget deficit. He has spent the pa