WASHINGTON--The National Science Foundation can't see what's on the horizon in science. The federal government doesn't know what the supercollider will ultimately cost. And nobody has a clue how to balance competing demands for scarce science dollars. On February 20, Congress learned those things and more as it took a five-hour stab at setting science policy. The occasion was back-to-back hearings on the president's proposed science budget for 1992, involving first a portion, and then the whol

The president's financial plan looks good on paper, but Congress now faces the tough job of reconciling promises with harsh reality. WASHINGTON--Benjamin Franklin, the story goes, was asked what he and his fellow statesmen had produced during their deliberations in that steamy Philadelphia summer of 1776. "A republic," he answered, "if you can keep it." Every federal budget raises anew the question of whether a large increase sought for any one program will come at the expense of other pro

Volume 5, #5The Scientist March 4, 1991 NSF HOPES TO BOOST ITS SUPPORT FOR INDIVIDUAL GRANTS Author: Jeffrey Mervis Date: March 4, 1991 WASHINGTON--There's more for individual investigators in the 1992 proposed budget for the National Science Foundation. But whether that translates into bigger grants or more awards, should the money still be there in the fall when Congress completes action on the federal budget, is a question that NSF officials expect to be answered individual

Volume 5, #5The Scientist March 4, 1991 MORE FOR SSC: DOES IT MEAN LESS FOR OTHERS? Author: Jeffrey Mervis Date: March 4, 1991 Every federal budget raises anew the question of whether a large increase sought for any one program will come at the expense of other programs. For scientists, the issue is best symbolized this year by the supercollider, for which the administration wants $300 million more on the road to completing the $8.25 billion facility in 1999. Administration of

Experts urge schools to leave the door open for potential researchers who fall outside the conventional talent pool WASHINGTON--Science educators, searching for ways to avert a projected shortage of scientists, have begun to question the conventional wisdom on how tomorrow's scientists are identified and trained. The prevailing view that scientists are survivors, identified early as the best and brightest of a static pool of talent that shrinks as students progress through school, isn't borne

The agency's plans to fund up to 80 facilities at universities now seem doomed by harsh criticism and funding shortages WASHINGTON -- The National Science Foundation has decided to give its controversial science and technology centers program a rest -- a move that may please longtime critics of the program but disappoint those scientists who had hoped to land centers on their own campuses. A cornerstone of the effort by former NSF director Erich Bloch to safeguard U.S. scientific eminence and

Leon Lederman wants U S to double academic science budget, but critics say his appeal is simplistic and ignores fiscal realitiess WASHINGTON -- Nobel laureate Leon Lederman's call for a doubling of federal spending on academic research was greeted with considerable skepticism last month at a meeting of science policymakers. And that's not his only problem Even some of his colleagues acknowledge that what Lederman calls a present-day crisis is, in fad, a more subtle phenomenon that won't be vis

Total of new awards for individual investigators, long seen as a barometer of the agency's welfare, is object of controversy ASHINGTON--Numbers are the lifeblood of science, a way to quantify the search for truth. But a number can also make a political statement. In fact, the current bitter debate within the biomedical community over the National Institutes of Health's commitment to research proposed by individual investigators can be summed up in a single number: 6,000. As a rallying cry, th

An agency report suggests merit review revisions that would simplify proposals, extend grant duration, and give staff more autonomy WASHINGTON--A report of an in-house panel that examined peer review at the National Science Foundation proposes drastic remedies for what it says is an overburdened and inefficient system of selecting and awarding grants. Its recommendations--longer-term grants, more autonomy for program officers and less reliance on outside reviewers, fewer categories of grants,

Minorities at the agency work largely on their own to help their peers land high-level science jobs BETHESDA, Md.--Ron King wants to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. But King, an intramural research fellow in the laboratory of molecular biology at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, thinks that it's even more important to encourage other blacks to enter science fields. That's why he takes precious time out from his work in the lab

Bioscientist Royston turns his attention to creating a center in San Diego's crowded research community WASHINGTON--The debate is over, says presidential science adviser Allan Bromley. The federal science budget is a question of priorities. And for members of the United States scientific community, this means that from now on they must persuade the politically powerful that their cause is more worthy of precious federal dollars than the other domestic needs facing the country. Throughout the

Minority scientists say that the agency must do more to hire, promote, and reward them in the lab and in administrative jobs BETHESDA, Md. -- The voices of black scientists at the National Institutes of Health are filled with pride, anger, and frustration. Pride in working hard at jobs that they love. Anger that there are so many obstacles in their path and so few people willing to help them. And frustration that the situation has changed little over the past 30 years and isn't likely to get b