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 individually by the foundation's five research directorates.
The president's overall request for $2.72 billion--an increase of $406 million, or 17.5 percent--for the agency contains the usual array of offerings for scientists. About half of the $270 million boost in research should be available to program managers to fund additional investigator-initiated research, estimates acting NSF director Fred Bernthal. In addition, he says, most of the specially targeted programs will end up supporting individual scientists.
The NSF budget is sprinkled with such new initiatives, some open to all fields and others aimed at a specific subdiscipline. A $50 million program ...
