The National Science Foundation (NSF) has notified presidents of colleges and universities and heads of other NSF awardee institutions of its strategies for implementing the $3 billion provided to the agency through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). According to the NSF Director, Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr., the "majority" of the $2 billion allocated for research and related activities will be used for unfunded, highly rated proposals that are already "in house" and will be reviewed and/or awarded prior to Sept. 30. Furthermore, NSF will consider high quality proposals that were declined on or after Oct. 1, 2008, due to lack of funding; some of these decisions may be reversed. Additionally, this spring, NSF plans to post Recovery Act solicitations for its Major Research Instrumentation program, Academic Research Infrastructure program, and the Science Masters program. Stimulus-funded grants will be "standard grants with durations of up to 5 years." NSF also plans to prioritize funding for new investigators and high-risk, high-return research projects.

For additional information regarding NSF’s implementation plan, please go to http://www.nsf.gov/recovery.

Source: AAMC STAT, March 23, 2009.

April 2, 2009