Dr. HAWORTH. That is correct. Senator ALLOTT. And the various programs that you have outlined here on page 1, and I hope to ask you a few questions about those, too Dr. HAWORTH. But what I am trying to say is I think we should let that be affected just as much by housing as by nuclear weapons. In other words, you do not make a tight partnership of basic research and development in looking at the whole picture. I have not said it very well, perhaps, but I certainly agree with respect to the total. Senator MAGNUSON. Go ahead. EDUCATION IN SCIENCES Dr. HAWORTH. The Foundation also has major responsibilities in the closely related area of education in the sciences. The highly complex technology developed in our society, especially as a result of the defense, space, and other programs of the Federal Government, puts a heavy burden on the country's educational institutions. Our schools must prepare engineers and scientists to work with the technology of the 1960's and the 1970's, not that of the 1940's. In order to keep up, the educational institutions must carry out a difficult and expensive effort to update their educational capabilities on an almost continuous basis. At the same time the universities must educate increasing numbers of scientists and engineers to meet the manpower needs of industry and Government and to satisfy the higher educational aspirations of a growing population. In an earlier and simpler era the universities were able to fulfill their dual functions of discovering and transmitting knowledge with little or no help from governments. This is no longer possible. The cost of carrying out vigorous academic programs in the sciences and engineering far exceeds the availability of funds from traditional sources of support. Under these circumstances the Federal Government must take a direct and active role in order to assure the continuation of essential progress in science and technology. The National Science Foundation was established to carry out a major portion of this task, particularly in those areas likely to experience difficulty in finding support elsewhere. This is the underlying purpose of all of the programs that are included in the Foundation's budget. TOTAL 1965 BUDGET REQUEST The National Science Foundation's budget request for fiscal year 965 totals $487,700,000. This is a substantial sum, but it is one that I consider to be conservative in relation to the needs of science and ur ability to meet those needs. The budget provides essential upport for basic research and education in the sciences, including ome of the most urgently needed facilities, primarily at colleges and niversities. OBJECTIVES OF FOUNDATION The various programs are designed to achieve a number of objectives hich reflect the overall philosophy and purposes of the Foundation. "hese objectives are: (1) To encourage and support high quality research in all fields of eience; (2) To promote higher individual attainment in education in the sciences; (3) To attract sufficient numbers of students to careers in science and engineering; (4) To stimulate and assist the development of institutions of higher learning so that more of them may become centers of high quality research and education in the sciences; and (5) To encourage individual and cooperative programs to increase research emphasis on scientific areas of special national concern, such as the oceanographic and the atmospheric sciences. GRANTS TO COLLEGES, 1965 In fiscal year 1965 about 700 colleges and universities will receive one or more grants through the programs of the National Science Foundation. These grants will provide direct help to more than 92,000 research scientists, students, and teachers in their efforts to achieve higher standards of excellence in the sciences and engineering. Grants will be made for such purposes as: the cost of research projects, including salaries of research and technical staffs and purchase of equipment and supplies; the construction of laboratories and major research instruments and facilities; fellowships and traineeships for advanced students and science faculty members; the support of institutes to help teachers of science and mathematics improve their subject mastery; and the support of cooperative efforts to improve science curriculums and teaching materials. BASIS OF GRANTS AWARDS In Foundation-sponsored programs, grants are awarded to institutions and individuals on the basis of the scientific or educational merit of a proposal. This principle has resulted in some concentration of grant awards in certain geographic areas. The distribution of total awards, however, is generally proportional to the distribution of educational capacity as measured by the number of degrees awarded in science and engineering. Basic research and graduate science education resources are generally concentrated in three regions which produced 80 prcent of the Ph. D. degrees awarded in science and engineering in 1961-62. These regions, the Northeast, North Central, and Pacific received 80 percent of the Foundation's basic research grants in fiscal year 1963. In the budget book proper there are tables that illustrate some of these things. Senator ALLOTT. Where are those? Mr. ROSENTHAL. Page 8 and page 10. Dr. HAWORTH. In addition we have charts. SUPPORT OF SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE In carrying out the Foundation's mission to promote the advancement of science it is necessary, it seems to me, to continue to support scientific excellence wherever it may be found. Only by holding to quality as a major criterion in most Foundation programs can we be reasonably certain that the Federal investment will result in good science. It is equally clear, however, that a broader distribution of the resources for basic research and education in the sciences and engineering would be in the national interest. The achievement of this goal will require careful consideration of the needs of institutions in each geographic region and of the resources available to meet those needs. TYPE OF INSTITUTIONS SUPPORTED In the long run, improved geographic distribution can be achieved by building greater strength in those institutions of higher learningin every region that have the potential and the desire to increase their capabilities in science. This requires the addition of highly competent scientists to the faculties, the provision of needed improvements in facilities and the establishment of higher scholastic standards for students. These improvements are the responsibility of the institutions themselves and of the political, industrial, and academic organizations in every area of the country as well as of the Federal Government. Institutions that already are strong in science and engineering provide the principal source of highly capable teaching and research personnel for the developing institutions. In the effort to broaden the regional distribution of high quality research and education in the sciences we must not adopt policies that would weaken those institutions that now form the source of strength. Substantial and arbitrary changes in the distribution of Federal support for scientific research and education at the expense of support for the strong institutions would not, in the long run, benefit any geographic region. PROGRAMS SUPPORTED The National Science Foundation has for many years supported programs that assist institutions to develop greater strength in science and engineering and assist talented individuals studying in these fields. These programs make a very significant contribution to the improvement of the regional distribution of resources for high quality education in the sciences. For example, a number of programs, including teacher institutes, course content improvement, and special projects involving students, have made it possible for secondary schools in all parts of the country to greatly improve the preparation of their graduates for college work in science and mathenatics. Other programs serve in a similar way to strengthen the teaching of science and promote higher standards of scholarship at the college undergraduate level. Fellowship programs have helped many capable and highly motivated students at the graduate and postdoctoral level and have helped to encourage higher academic standards. Many National Science Foundation fellows go on to careers in teaching and research at colleges and universities, greatly strengthening the institutions in which they serve. INCREASES PROPOSED, 1965 For fiscal year 1965 the Foundation proposes major increases in several programs which will contribute directly to improving the distribution of science and engineering resources. About $80 million of the $129 million increase above fiscal year 1964 will be applied in programs that assist in the strengthening of institutions of higher learning on a broad geographic base. These programs include the science development program, graduate science facilities, instructional equipment for undergraduate education, institutional base grants, and the science education programs. The science development program, which is being initiated in fiscal year 1964, represents a specific effort to increase the number of institutions of recognized excellence in research and education in the sciences. This program will have a substantial impact on a limited number of institutions and we expect that these institutions. will be broadly dispersed. GRADUATE TRAINEESHIP PROGRAM Another recent innovation is the graduate traineeship program, which directly assists institutions to expand graduate enrollment in the sciences and engineering. Our experience with a limited program in fiscal year 1964 indicates that the traineeships will substantially improve the geographic distribution of graduate training. The coverage that can be achieved in these programs is dependent upon the amount of money available for them. Since continuing strong programs in support of existing centers of graduate education and basic research are essential, a greater effort to achieve an improved balance in the distribution of science and engineering resources will be effective only if supported by increased appropriations. Mr. Chairman, that concludes my prepared statement, and I thank you and the members of the committee for your attention. Our budget document contains an overall summary, running from page 3 to page 24. May I suggest that it might be helpful to make that summary a part of the record. I and the members of the staff will be happy to answer any questions you may have. (The document referred to follows:) SUMMARY STATEMENT ON THE FISCAL YEAR 1965 BUDGET The budget of the National Science Foundation for fiscal year 1965 proposes a broad program of support for basic scientific research and science education. An appropriation of $487,700,000 is requested, an increase of $134,500,000 over the appropriation for fiscal year 1964. The appropriation request is programed for use in the general activity areas shown in the following table: As a Federal agency primarily concerned with fostering the progress of the basic sciences, the Foundation has been guided by the following objectives in developing the programs proposed in this budget: (1) Encourage and support high quality research in all fields of science; (2) Promote higher individual attainment in education in the sciences; (3) Attract sufficient numbers of students to careers in science and engineering; (4) Stimulate the growth of existing centers of scientific excellence and encourage the development of new centers of excellence wherever this is feasible; and (5) Encourage individual and cooperative programs to increase research emphasis on scientific areas of special national concern, such as the oceanographic and the atmospheric sciences. In the distribution of financial resources the Foundation seeks to maintain a proper balance among these objectives in order to achieve the greatest possible value from appropriated funds. A paramount concern is to encourage scientific progress by supporting the research of creative individuals working in a scholarly environment with adequate technical staff and equipment. For this_reason, programs which support basic research are allocated a major portion of the Foundation's budget. Since the continued strength of science is dependent on the talents and training of students who choose science as a career, the Foundation also has a major interest in the quality of science education at all academic levels, with particular emphasis on graduate education. The following table shows an approximate distribution of the fiscal year 1965 appropriation request by major purpose. About $220 million, about 45 percent of the budget estimate, is proposed for purposes which support basic research and about $151 million, or 32 percent of the total, is proposed for use primarily in the area of science education. The remaining $115.9 million, 23 percent of the total, is for activities which contribute generally to both scientific research and education. In a number of programs, it is not possible to make a sharp distinction between research and education in the sciences and the table, therefore, indicates only an approximation of the distribution. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Estimated distribution of fiscal year 1965 budget by major purpose |