WHERE ARE NSF'S CHEMISTRY DOLLARS HEADED?

This year, the National Science Foundation's chemistry division is asking Congress for a 10 percent increase, or $10 million above FY 1991's $100 million, to offset a trend of the past five years that merely kept the division's budget apace with cost-of-living increases.

About half of the increase would be distributed across the board to the organic, inorganic, physical, and analytic subdivisions. Another 3 percent would go to the Materials Synthesis and Processing program, a division-wide, $25 million initiative for basic research into materials science; 1 percent would go to infrastructure development, enhancements in educational programs, and initiatives for minorities and women. The remaining 1 percent would be discretionary.

The final decision by Congress on the total NSF budget should be coming in September. While Congress usually doesn't pick a particular research area to hatchet, it...