NSB Releases Report on NSF’s Merit Review Criteria

January 9, 2012

The National Science Board (NSB) has released its report National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria:  Review and Revisions. The report is the culmination of a thorough review by the NSB Task Force on Merit Review to determine if the Merit Review Criteria used by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to evaluate all proposals since 1997 remain appropriate. The Board also recognized that the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 included a provision mandating the retention of the Broader Impacts criterion. Based on the Task Force's analyses, NSB concluded that the two current Merit Review Criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts remain appropriate for evaluating NSF proposals, though with revisions. The revisions to the Criteria are described in the report.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

 Get NSB News Updates by Email 

Useful NSB Web Sites:
Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/
Highlights: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/news/highlights.jsp
Press Releases: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/news/press_release.jsp
Media Advisories: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/news/media_advisories.jsp
Interviews: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/news/interviews.jsp
Media Contact: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=lzgorski
Topics of Interest: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/topics/