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How We Work
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081106010903im_/http://nsf.gov/images/greenlineshort2.jpg)
![Group of people around a table](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081106010903im_/http://nsf.gov/images/about/review.jpg) NSF solicits advice from groups of experts such as this committee.
Credit: National Science Foundation |
NSF's task of identifying and funding work at the frontiers of science and engineering is not a "top-down" process. NSF operates from the "bottom up," keeping close track of research around the United States and the world, maintaining constant contact with the research community to identify ever-moving horizons of inquiry, monitoring which areas are most likely to result in spectacular progress and choosing the most promising people to conduct the research.
Awardees are chosen from those who send us proposals asking
for a specific amount of support for a specific project. This process
begins with workshops and conferences to discuss the progress of
science and engineering and what the United States needs to accomplish
in each field. Next, the agency publishes a notice about a funding
opportunity (usually called a "solicitation"), which
invites researchers to submit proposals describing
their ideas on how to meet a particular need. At any time, scientists
and engineers are also welcome to send in unsolicited proposals for
research and education projects, in any existing or emerging field.
At present, NSF receives more than 42,000 proposals per year.
Nearly every proposal, whether solicited or unsolicited, receives the same
rigorous and objective treatment. It is evaluated by a panel of
independent reviewers consisting of scientists, engineers and educators,
who do not work at NSF or for the institution that employs the
proposing researchers. NSF selects the reviewers from among the
national pool of experts in each field and their evaluations are
confidential. On average, about 50,000 experts now give their time to serve
on review panels each year.
The panel's job is to decide which projects are the very highest priorities. This competitive process, called "merit review", ensures that many voices are heard and that only the best projects make it to the funding stage. An enormous amount of research, deliberation, thought and discussion goes into the final recommendations of the independent reviewers.
Glossary [Next]
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![Photo: Caption Below](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081106010903im_/http://nsf.gov/images/about/howleft1.jpg)
To select the most promising proposals for funding, NSF uses a rigorous system of merit review. Review panels such as this meet often at NSF.
Credit: Garie Fordyce, National Science Foundation
For a 3-minute video overview of NSF’s mission and focus, Click Here
![Photo: Caption Below](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081106010903im_/http://nsf.gov/images/about/howleft2.jpg)
NSF maintains constant contact with the research community through many mechanisms, including symposia such as
this one held at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.
Credit: Peter
West, National Science Foundation
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