NSF uses both formal and informal mechanisms to ensure that links are created across organizations and key program functions. The examples below describe areas where NSF provides formal coordination, through a group of senior managers, due to their importance within NSF's priorities or to interest on the part of other agencies. Integration of Research and Education One might argue that all NSF programs have an education and training component since they develop the participants' knowledge and skills. Likewise, many education and training programs are linked to research activities. Integrating research and education is one of NSF's core strategies for implementation of its strategic plan.
Coordination is provided across a broad range of relevant programs.
The coordinating group is currently developing a new activity that will focus on the identification and recognition of universities with significant research capabilities that have shown bold leadership, exceptional innovation, and tangible accomplishment in linking research and education. An evolving set of interdisciplinary frontiers in areas of broad national interest also receives sustained attention and coordination. In identifying areas included in this set, NSF considers factors such as scientific readiness, the availability of infrastructure, NSF's role in promoting the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge in service to society, and the potential for collaboration. NSF has played an important role in nurturing research and education in areas that subsequently became the focus of interagency coordination and national efforts. Seven well-defined areas currently make up this set of opportunities for investment.