In deciding which proposals to support, NSF relies heavily on the advice and help of advisory committees, outside reviewers, and other experts to ensure that NSF reaches fair and knowledgeable judgments. These scientists, engineers, and educators come from colleges and universities, nonprofit research and educational organizations, industry, and other governmental agencies. With the growing economic and scientific strength of European and Pacific Rim nations, research competition is intensifying. Research decisions made within any one nation rapidly influence research agendas worldwide. As a consequence, scientists, engineers, administrators, and policy-makers in government, universities, and industry require better understanding of the research systems of other nations.
Many challenges now confront the research community worldwide.
While the research agenda for scientists and engineers is expanding and ever more exciting, changes are occurring within the larger social, political, and economic environment in which research is conducted. Advances in fundamental knowledge are becoming more relevant to national economic competitiveness. Urgent global problems, such as ozone depletion and acid rain, require international collaboration in many scientific and technological fields. New communication technologies both intensify competition and allow for greater research cooperation. At the same time, however, expensive new scientific instrumentation escalates the costs of research and in several countries there is a narrowing pipeline of new scientists and engineers.