NSF

NSF National Science Foundation

http://www.nsf.gov/index.jsp

NSF AT A GLANCE

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" With an annual budget of about $6.06 billion, we are the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing. MORE

Specifically, the Foundation's organic legislation authorizes us to engage in the following activities:

A. Initiate and support, through grants and contracts, scientific and engineering research and programs to strengthen scientific and engineering research potential, and education programs at all levels, and appraise the impact of research upon industrial development and the general welfare.

B. Award graduate fellowships in the sciences and in engineering.

C. Foster the interchange of scientific information among scientists and engineers in the United States and foreign countries.

D. Foster and support the development and use of computers and other scientific methods and technologies, primarily for research and education in the sciences.

E. Evaluate the status and needs of the various sciences and engineering and take into consideration the results of this evaluation in correlating our research and educational programs with other federal and non-federal programs.

F. Provide a central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation and analysis of data on scientific and technical resources in the United States, and provide a source of information for policy formulation by other federal agencies.

G. Determine the total amount of federal money received by universities and appropriate organizations for the conduct of scientific and engineering research, including both basic and applied, and construction of facilities where such research is conducted, but excluding development, and report annually thereon to the President and the Congress.

H. Initiate and support specific scientific and engineering activities in connection with matters relating to international cooperation, national security and the effects of scientific and technological applications upon society.

I. Initiate and support scientific and engineering research, including applied research, at academic and other nonprofit institutions and, at the direction of the President, support applied research at other organizations.

J. Recommend and encourage the pursuit of national policies for the promotion of basic research and education in the sciences and engineering. Strengthen research and education innovation in the sciences and engineering, including independent research by individuals, throughout the United States.

K. Support activities designed to increase the participation of women and minorities and others underrepresented in science and technology.



Organization

http://www.nsf.gov/staff/orglist.jsp


Evolutionary Processes


NOTE: realignment to reflect Program changes

The former Population and Evolutionary Processes Cluster no longer supports research in population ecology, now covered in Population and Community Ecology and has been renamed to reflect its new focus on evolutionary processes. The Evolutionary Processes Cluster includes a new program in Evolutionary Ecology and a program in Evolutionary Genetics.

Population and Community Ecology


Note realignment to reflect Program changes

The former Ecological Biology Cluster now supports research in population ecology, and has been renamed to Population and Community Ecology to reflect this change.

SYNOPSIS

The Population and Community Ecology Cluster supports research that advances the conceptual or theoretical understanding of population ecology, species interactions and community dynamics in terrestrial, wetland and freshwater habitats. We encourage projects that integrate theoretical, modeling, and empirical approaches, or that promote synthesis across spatial and temporal scales. The cluster seeks to fund projects that are transformative -- that is, those that will change the conceptual bases of population and community ecology and have broad implications for future research. Proposals that develop research questions within the context of existing theory, consider alternate mechanisms, and design critical tests to distinguish among mechanisms are particularly encouraged, together with those that use contemporary approaches to develop new paradigms. Inter- and multi-disciplinary proposals that cross traditional programmatic boundaries are welcomed in the Population and Community Ecology Cluster; such proposals may be co-reviewed with other programs in DEB, in other Divisions in the Biology Directorate, or in other Directorates. Studies that focus on the ecology of marine organisms should be directed to the Biological Oceanography Program in the Division of Ocean Sciences. Research focused on human disease or health is not supported. The Population and Community Ecology Cluster funds projects within the Population and Community Ecology Program as well as LTREB, OPUS, and CAREER. Other relevant funding opportunities are listed below as well as on DEB Home (see link on left).

Population and Community Ecology Program: This program supports fundamental studies in the broadly defined areas of population and community ecology. Topics include the population dynamics of individual species, demography, and fundamental ecological interactions affecting populations, communities, and their environments. Themes include, but are not limited to: population regulation; food-web structure and trophic dynamics; competition, predation, mutualism and parasitism; mechanisms of coexistence and the maintenance of species diversity; community assembly; paleoecology; landscape ecology; conservation and restoration biology; behavioral ecology; and macroecology. The Program particularly encourages studies that can be applied to a wide range of habitats and taxa across multiple spatial and temporal scales.

RELATED PROGRAMS

Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program

Opportunities for Promoting Understanding through Synthesis

Long Term Research in Environmental Biology

Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems

Abstracts of Recent Awards Made Through This Program