FY 2006 Budget Request to Congress

FY 2006 Budget Request to Congress

Cover image: Gravitational waves from in-spiraling black holes.
Credit: Ed Seidel, LSU; Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute); visualization by Werner Benger, Zuse Institute Berlin.

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Table of Contents

Innovation and technology are the powerhouses of the American economy -- and science and engineering research and education provide the fuel. The new knowledge, people, and capabilities that come out of America’s research and educational institutions each year provide the foundation for generating the jobs and wealth that keep the economic engines humming.

Sustained output requires sustained resources. The National Science Foundation requests $5.605 billion in FY 2006 to maintain the science and engineering community's contributions to economic growth and ability to respond to a wide range of national needs.

With the wealth of benefits that investments in science and engineering bring to the nation, perhaps none is more powerful than the capability to respond quickly and effectively to challenges of all kinds. NSF’s programs reach over 2,000 institutions across the nation, and they involve almost 200,000 researchers, teachers, and students in all fields of science and engineering and at all levels of education. This breadth of activity in and of itself creates a vital national resource, as it provides the nation with a constantly invigorated base of knowledge, talent, and technology. For example, in areas ranging from terrorism threats to natural disasters, NSF’s ongoing support of research in areas such as advanced information technologies, sensors, and earthquake engineering ensures a broad base of expertise and equipment that allows the science and engineering community to respond quickly in times of need.

The FY 2006 Request focuses on four funding priorities that address current national challenges as well as strengthen the core portfolios of NSF's research and education investments:

  • Strengthening core disciplinary research.
  • Providing broadly accessible cyberinfrastructure and world-class research facilities.
  • Broadening participation in the science and engineering workforce.
  • Sustaining organizational excellence in NSF management practices.

This year's investments will strengthen the core disciplines that enable every step of the process from discovery at the frontier to the development of products, processes, and technologies that fuel the economy. At the same time, NSF's investments will enable increasing connections and cross-fertilization among disciplines.

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