ABSTRACT CTS-9420478 National Academy of Sciences P. I.: Douglas J. Raber The National Research Council (NRC) requests partial core support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the continuing activities of the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST) of the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications. The BCST has as its constituency the entire chemical community, encompassing chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering, in academic, industrial, and government laboratories. Accordingly, the Board serves as the focal point within the National Research Council for concerns and issues affecting chemistry in its broadest sense. Board activities require extensive planning (including the determination of feasibility, evaluation of scope, and acquisition of funding) for potential studies, oversight of ongoing activities, private sector fund raising, and a broadly directed effort to communicate with the chemical community. All of these are core activities, which are not chargeable to specific projects. The capacity to develop a new project, while paying costs partially or fully from core funds, greatly enhances the freedom and ability of the Board to act responsively to important issues in the chemical sciences and technology. The requested funding will allow the BCST to remain a strong and independent body that can operate and plan in an environment free from some of the pressures and constraints imposed by funding that is directly tied to specific projects. This core support will help the Board to maximize its effectiveness in utilizing the scientific talent available to it through the National Academies and in aggressively launching new tasks of importance to the community, especially tasks that are time-dependent. Additional core support will be sought from other federal agencies and the private agencies and the private sector.
