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Materials Research Highlighted in NSF 2008 Budget Request Materials research will play an important role in keeping the United States competitive, according to the fiscal year 2008 budget request of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Citing the importance of keeping the country’s status as a world leader in discovery and innovation, NSF director Arden L. Bement, Jr., included the development of novel materials able to push computing tools beyond Moore’s law and exploration of how nanoparticles and materials interact with their environment among the most important goals of the next few years. In his budget presentation, Bement cited a number of factors that influenced funding requests for 2008. The resulting priorities all directly align with NSF’s strategic plan for fiscal years 2006–2011, “Investing in America’s Future.” They include, but are not limited to, the ability of discovery research poised for innovation to keep the country competitive, the need for more advanced cyber tools, and the promise of nanotechnology—especially in regard to manufacturing, medicine, and next-generation computing. The FY 2008 budget request by NSF includes a 6.8% increase above the budget request for 2007, for a total request of $6.43 billion. This money is spread across all of NSF, but there is an above-average percentage increase in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate (MPS), with a requested increase of 8.9%, or $1.15 billion, over the FY 2007 request. Within MPS, the Division of Materials Research would receive an increase of $25.14 million (see

Table I. FY 2008 Budget Request for NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate (Dollars in Millions) Division Astronomical Sciences Chemistry Materials Research Mathematical Sciences Physics Multidisciplinary Activities

FY 2007 Request $ 215.11 $ 191.10 $ 257.45 $ 205.74 $ 248.50 $ 32.40

Table I). This is the largest monetary increase among all MPS divisions and the second largest percentage increase. The most fertile ground for new discoveries, said Bement, often lies on the boundary between different fields of research. NSF is committed to keeping all of its divisions healthy and strong and encouraging collaboration, he said. One example of this is the new Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation project (CDI), an NSF investment reaching into the physical sciences, engineering, and across the Foundation in general. According to Bement, CDI “aims to explore radically new concepts, approaches, and tools at the intersection of computational and physics or biological worlds” in order to address problems poised by massive data flows and complex systems. The FY 2008 budget request includes a $52 million allotment for the program, $10 million of which would go to the Division of Materials Research for the

ESF Announces Upcoming Deadlines The European Science Foundation (ESF) announces application and proposal deadlines. ESF is co-organizing the World Conference on Research Integrity with the U.S. Office of Research Integrity. The conference will be held September