The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 'to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense?' With an annual budget of about $6.06 billion, we are the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing. As described in our strategic plan, NSF is the only federal agency whose mission includes support for all fields of fundamental science and engineering, except for medical sciences.
Featured Report: DocuTicker Report: DocuTips on Health Literacy: "What has traditionally been understood as literacy has been disrupted, like so much else, by the advent of the Internet. No longer is it regarded as simply the ability to read and write. In the Information Age, information literacy is a concept that recognises skills in judging trustworthiness and quality as critical. Such matters of accurate interpretation have long been among the concerns of scholars."
