National Science Foundation/Europe Office: National Science Foundation/Europe Office U.S. Embassy, Room A-211 2, avenue Gabriel, 75382 Paris cedex 08 +33 (0)1 43.12.21.08; Fax: +33 (0)1 43.12.29.04 E-mail: dschindel@compuserve.com Website for NSF’s Europe Office: www.nsf.gov/home/int/europe/index.htm


THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Is a FEDERAL agency Is a FUNDING agency with a ~$4.8B budget Works primarily through grants to US UNIVERSITIES and COLLEGES Does not own or operate institutes Seeks to promote the health of US science/engineering by supporting BASIC research and education


NSF International Objectives: NSF International Objectives Promoting global access to sites, facilities, people, ideas Building U.S. capability for research on topics of global/regional scale Sharing research resources and major facilities Promoting international research experiences in early careers stages


Slide4: Inspector General National Science Board Director Deputy Director Staff Offices Computer & Info.Science & Engineering Engineering Geosciences Mathematical & Physical Sciences Social, Behav. & Economic Sciences Education & Human Resources Budget, Finance & Award Management Information Resource Management Biological Sciences


International Activity in NSF’s Portfolio of Support: International Activity in NSF’s Portfolio of Support ~ 10% of NSF budget ($350 million), but International projects distributed across all modes of support, all directorates Less than 1% of NSF budget is allocated a priori to strictly international activities Division of International Activities has yearly budget of $25 million Results from BOTTOM-UP proposals


Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate: Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate One of NSF’s 7 Disciplinary Directorates Contains 4 Divisions: Division of Social and Economic Sciences Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Division of Science Resources Statistics Office of International Science and Engineering Tokyo Office Europe Office, Paris


Office of International Science and Engineering (INT): Office of International Science and Engineering (INT) 5 Programs covering geographic regions 18 Program Managers assigned to countries Office of Trans-Regional Activities (OTRA) - some multilateral organizations - policy analysis, planning and evaluation Overseas offices in Paris and Tokyo Provides ~10% of NSF’s support for international activities


Slide9: Proposals must come from U.S. institutions NSF supports the activities of the U.S. partner Proposals are typically managed in close consultation with disciplinary programs Proposals are usually reviewed in parallel with an NSF partner in another country INT Cooperative Research Project Support


Slide10: INT Programs Seek to Initiate International Activities by Supporting “Glue” Activities -Workshops - Scientific visits Promote Longer-Term Support from NSF’s Disciplinary Divisions Stimulate Center-to-Center Partnerships Link NSF-supported projects with international networks


Slide11: NSF International Support for Undergraduate Students Allowable as part of normal research projects Part of NSF’s DUAL MISSION to Integrate Research and Education Primary focus is on research experiences, Secondarily on student exchanges for courses Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU Sites) - Multi-University Consortia - Faculty-led Group Research Projects


Slide12: NSF International Support for Graduate Students Allowable as part of normal research projects Group travel to international meetings Dissertation enhancement awards Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) - Interdisciplinary, multi-institution projects - Five-year $2.5M awards - Potential Partner for EC’s IHP Research Training Networks and Curie Fellowship Sites


Slide13: NSF International Support for Post-Doctoral Fellows Allowable as part of normal research projects INT Postdoctoral Fellows Program - One- or Two-year Fellowship in any host lab - Open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents - Flexibility for re-entry to U.S. job market Math/Physical Sci’s International Fellowships Other NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships such as: - BIO Program in Bioinformatics, Microbiology - NATO Postdoctoral Program


Slide14: NSF Proposals, Reviews, Awards NSF receives over 30,000 proposals each year Requests about 300,000 reviews by mail and in panels Maintains an international database of nearly 60,000 reviewers Makes about 10,000 new awards each year Overall proposal success rate of about 30% Approximately 10% have international component


Slide15: Review Criteria: What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity? Importance of the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding Qualifications of the individual proposer or team Creativity and Originality of the Concept How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity? Availability of sufficient resources


Slide16: Review Criteria: What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? Advances discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training and learning? Broadens the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, etc.)? Enhances the research/education infrastructure (facilities, networks and partnerships)? Broad dissemination? Benefits of the proposed activity to society?