I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5357 

To authorize the National Science Foundation and the research, development, 

demonstration, and commercial application programs of the Department 

of Energy to provide grants to early career researchers to conduct highrisk, high-return research in areas relevant to industry. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 11, 2006 

Mr. MCCAUL of Texas (for himself, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. 

CALVERT, Mr. EHLERS, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, 

and Mr. SCHWARZ of Michigan) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Science 

A BILL 

To authorize the National Science Foundation and the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application programs of the Department of Energy to provide grants to early career researchers to conduct highrisk, high-return research in areas relevant to industry. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Research for Competi5 tiveness Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION INDUSTRIALLY2 RELEVANT RESEARCH AWARDS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

4 Science Foundation shall carry out a program to award 

5 competitive grants to scientists and engineers at the early 

6 stage of their careers at institutions of higher education 

7 and research institutions to conduct high-risk, high-return 

8 research in areas relevant to industry. 

9 (b) SIZE AND DURATION OF AWARD.—The duration 

10 of awards under this section shall be 5 years, and the 

11 amount per year shall be $50,000. Additionally, if an 

12 award recipient receives funding from United States in13 dustry for work in the area described in the recipient’s 

14 application for the award, then up to an additional 

15 $50,000 may be provided each year as a one-to-one match 

16 to such industry funding. 

17 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—Award recipients shall be individ18 uals who are employed in a tenure-track position as an 

19 assistant professor or equivalent title, or who hold an 

20 equivalent position, at— 

21 (1) an institution of higher education in the 

22 United States; or 

23 (2) an organization in the United States that is 

24 a nonprofit, nondegree-granting research organiza25 tion such as a museum, observatory, or research lab26 oratory. 


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1 (d) APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS.— 

2 (1) INITIAL APPLICATION.—Applicants for 

3 awards under this section shall submit to the Direc4 tor— 

5 (A) a curriculum vitae or resume, includ6 ing a list of publications and a description of 

7 any activities demonstrating leadership or edu8 cational activities; 

9 (B) a description of research areas of in10 terest; 

11 (C) letters of recommendation; and 

12 (D) any other materials the Director re13 quires. 

14 (2) FURTHER CONSIDERATION AND SELEC15 TION.—The Director shall convene review panels to 

16 make recommendations, based on application mate17 rials received under paragraph (1), of which can18 didates are qualified to be finalists for the award. 

19 Based on these recommendations, the Director shall 

20 select finalists, who shall then be interviewed by 

21 panels of experts who shall make recommendations 

22 to the Director on the recipients of the awards. The 

23 Director shall make awards based on these rec24 ommendations. 


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1 (e) COMPOSITION OF REVIEW PANELS.—The panels 

2 reviewing applications and interviewing finalists as de3 scribed in subsection (d) shall include representatives from 

4 a range of industries. 

5 (f) CRITERIA FOR AWARDS.—In establishing criteria 

6 for evaluation of applications for grants under this section, 

7 the Director shall include— 

8 (1) the potential of the applicant for leadership 

9 at the frontiers of knowledge; 

10 (2) the potential innovative or transformative 

11 nature of research in the areas of interest described 

12 in the application; 

13 (3) the creativity demonstrated in the appli14 cant’s past research activities; and 

15 (4) the potential relevance to industry of re16 search in the areas of interest described in the appli17 cation. 

18 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the 

20 National Science Foundation to carry out this section— 

21 (1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

22 (2) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

23 (3) $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

24 (4) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

25 (5) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY INDUSTRIALLY-REL2 EVANT RESEARCH AWARDS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Science 

4 of the Department of Energy shall carry out a program 

5 to award competitive grants to scientists and engineers at 

6 the early stage of their careers at institutions of higher 

7 education and research institutions to conduct high-risk, 

8 high-return research in areas relevant to energy produc9 tion, storage, and use. 

10 (b) PARTICIPATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

11 ORGANIZATIONS.—The research, development, demonstra12 tion, and commercial application programs of the Office 

13 of Science, the Office of Nuclear Energy Research and De14 velopment, the Office of Fossil Energy, and the Office of 

15 Energy Efficiency and Renewables may participate in the 

16 program established under subsection (a). 

17 (c) SIZE AND DURATION OF AWARD.—The duration 

18 of awards under this section shall be up to 5 years, and 

19 the amount per year shall be $50,000. Additionally, if an 

20 award recipient receives funding from United States in21 dustry for work in the area described in the recipient’s 

22 application for the award, then up to an additional 

23 $50,000 may be provided each year as a one-to-one match 

24 to such industry funding. 

25 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—Award recipients shall be individ26 uals who are employed in a tenure-track position as an 


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1 assistant professor or equivalent title, or who hold an 

2 equivalent position, at— 

3 (1) an institution of higher education in the 

4 United States; or 

5 (2) an organization in the United States that is 

6 a nonprofit, nondegree-granting research organiza7 tion such as a museum, observatory, or research lab8 oratory. 

9 (e) APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS.— 

10 (1) INITIAL APPLICATION.—Applicants for 

11 awards under this section shall submit to the Under 

12 Secretary— 

13 (A) a curriculum vitae or resume, includ14 ing a list of publications and a description of 

15 any activities demonstrating leadership or edu16 cational activities; 

17 (B) a description of research areas of in18 terest; 

19 (C) letters of recommendation; and 

20 (D) any other materials the Under Sec21 retary requires. 

22 (2) FURTHER CONSIDERATION AND SELEC23 TION.—The Under Secretary shall convene review 

24 panels to make recommendations, based on applica25 tion materials received under paragraph (1), of 


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1 which candidates are qualified to be finalists for the 

2 award. Based on these recommendations, the Under 

3 Secretary shall select finalists, who shall then be 

4 interviewed by panels of experts who shall make rec5 ommendations to the Under Secretary on the recipi6 ents of the awards. The Under Secretary shall make 

7 awards based on these recommendations. 

8 (f) COMPOSITION OF REVIEW PANELS.—The panels 

9 reviewing applications and interviewing finalists as de10 scribed in subsection (e) shall include representatives from 

11 a range of industries. 

12 (g) CRITERIA FOR AWARDS.—In establishing criteria 

13 for evaluation of applications for the grants awarded 

14 under section (a), the Under Secretary shall include— 

15 (1) the potential for leadership at the frontiers 

16 of knowledge by the applicant; 

17 (2) the potential innovative or transformative 

18 nature of research in the areas of interest described 

19 in the application; 

20 (3) the creativity demonstrated in the appli21 cant’s past research activities; and 

22 (4) the potential relevance to industry of re23 search in the areas of interest described in the appli24 cation. 


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1 (h) COLLABORATION WITH NATIONAL LABORA2 TORIES.—In awarding grants under this section, the 

3 Under Secretary may give priority to applications in which 

4 the proposed work includes collaboration with the Depart5 ment of Energy National Laboratories. 

6 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of En8 ergy to carry out this section— 

9 (1) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

10 (2) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

11 (3) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

12 (4) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

13 (5) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

14 SEC. 4. DEFINITION. 

15 In this Act, the term ‘‘institution of higher edu16 cation’’ has the meaning given such term in section 101(a) 

17 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

Æ 


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