NSF Tops Research Agencies With a $340-Million Boost – ScienceInsider

Yesterday, President Barack Obama proposed a 4.8% increase in funding for NSF as part of his $3.8-trillion budget request for 2013. The $340-million boost is the largest absolute increase in spending for any federal research agency. NSF’s proposed $7.37 billion budget includes $5.98 billion for its six research directorates, up 5.2%, and $876 million for its education directorate, a 5.6% boost.

The 2013 request falls well short of the $7.77 billion that Obama requested last year for NSF. But Congress didn’t come close to that figure in its final 2012 appropriation, instead giving NSF a 2.5% increase over its 2011 budget, to $7.03 billion. Still, that largess in a time of severe fiscal constraints bolsters the hopes of NSF Director Subra Suresh that legislators will again be kind to NSF. Suresh argues that a robust NSF is a wise investment. “NSF has fared very well in the president’s budget request,” Suresh told a press briefing at NSF headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. “And good news for NSF is good news for America, and for science everywhere.”