Fast Facts about NSF

$3.9 billion budget for Fiscal Year 1999.
Funds research in all 50 states.
Supports about 2,000 universities and other institutions through research grants and other funding mechanisms.
Funds about one-third of all competitive proposals received.
Employs more than 1,300 employees at its Arlington, Virginia, headquarters. More than 200,000 people, including researchers, graduate students, and teachers are involved in NSF programs and activities nationwide.
Funds polar research in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.
Supports and oversees all U.S. research in Antarctica, supporting at least 600 scientists and their research teams each year, so that research on the southern-most continent continues.
At academic institutions nationwide, NSF provides the following percentages of federal funding:
61% of basic research in the social sciences
58% of basic research in mathematics
56% of computer science research
51% of basic research in the earth sciences
43% of non-medical life sciences research
42% of basic research in the physical sciences
33% of basic research in engineering
30% of science and mathematics education reform efforts.

Next Article: NSF Support for Manufacturing Back to Contents