42 U.S.C. § 1862 : US Code - Section 1862: Functions

Search 42 U.S.C. § 1862 : US Code - Section 1862: Functions

(a) Initiation and support of studies and programs; scholarships;
current register of scientific and engineering personnel
The Foundation is authorized and directed -
(1) to initiate and support basic scientific research and
programs to strengthen scientific research potential and science
education programs at all levels in the mathematical, physical,
medical, biological, social, and other sciences, and to initiate
and support research fundamental to the engineering process and
programs to strengthen engineering research potential and
engineering education programs at all levels in the various
fields of engineering, by making contracts or other arrangements
(including grants, loans, and other forms of assistance) to
support such scientific, engineering, and educational activities
and to appraise the impact of research upon industrial
development and upon the general welfare;
(2) to award, as provided in section 1869 of this title,
scholarships and graduate fellowships for study and research in
the sciences or in engineering;
(3) to foster the interchange of scientific and engineering
information among scientists and engineers in the United States
and foreign countries;
(4) to foster and support the development and use of computer
and other scientific and engineering methods and technologies,
primarily for research and education in the sciences and
engineering;
(5) to evaluate the status and needs of the various sciences
and fields of engineering as evidenced by programs, projects, and
studies undertaken by agencies of the Federal Government, by
individuals, and by public and private research groups, employing
by grant or contract such consulting services as it may deem
necessary for the purpose of such evaluations; and to take into
consideration the results of such evaluations in correlating the
research and educational programs undertaken or supported by the
Foundation with programs, projects, and studies undertaken by
agencies of the Federal Government, by individuals, and by public
and private research groups;
(6) to provide a central clearinghouse for the collection,
interpretation, and analysis of data on scientific and
engineering resources and to provide a source of information for
policy formulation by other agencies of the Federal Government;
(7) to initiate and maintain a program for the determination of
the total amount of money for scientific and engineering
research, including money allocated for the construction of the
facilities wherein such research is conducted, received by each
educational institution and appropriate nonprofit organization in
the United States, by grant, contract, or other arrangement from
agencies of the Federal Government, and to report annually
thereon to the President and the Congress; and
(8) to take a leading role in fostering and supporting research
and education activities to improve the security of networked
information systems.
(b) Contracts, grants, loans, etc., for scientific and engineering
activities; financing of programs
The Foundation is authorized to initiate and support specific
scientific and engineering activities in connection with matters
relating to international cooperation, national security, and the
effects of scientific and engineering applications upon society by
making contracts or other arrangements (including grants, loans,
and other forms of assistance) for the conduct of such activities.
When initiated or supported pursuant to requests made by any other
Federal department or agency, including the Office of Technology
Assessment, such activities shall be financed whenever feasible
from funds transferred to the Foundation by the requesting official
as provided in section 1873(f) of this title, and any such
activities shall be unclassified and shall be identified by the
Foundation as being undertaken at the request of the appropriate
official.
(c) Scientific and engineering research programs at academic and
other nonprofit institutions; applied scientific and engineering
research programs by Presidential directive; employment of
consulting services; coordination of activities
In addition to the authority contained in subsections (a) and (b)
of this section, the Foundation is authorized to initiate and
support scientific and engineering research, including applied
research, at academic and other nonprofit institutions. When so
directed by the President, the Foundation is further authorized to
support, through other appropriate organizations, applied
scientific research and engineering research relevant to national
problems involving the public interest. In exercising the authority
contained in this subsection, the Foundation may employ by grant or
contract such consulting services as it deems necessary, and shall
coordinate and correlate its activities with respect to any such
problem with other agencies of the Federal Government undertaking
similar programs in that field.
(d) Promotion of research and education in science and engineering
The Board and the Director shall recommend and encourage the
pursuit of national policies for the promotion of research and
education in science and engineering.
(e) Balancing of research and educational activities in the
sciences and engineering
In exercising the authority and discharging the functions
referred to in the foregoing subsections, it shall be an objective
of the Foundation to strengthen research and education in the
sciences and engineering, including independent research by
individuals, throughout the United States, and to avoid undue
concentration of such research and education.
(f) Annual report to the President and Congress
The Foundation shall render an annual report to the President for
submission on or before the 15th day of April of each year to the
Congress summarizing the activities of the Foundation and making
such recommendations as it may deem appropriate. Such report shall
include information as to the acquisition and disposition by the
Foundation of any patents and patent rights.
(g) Support of access to computer networks
In carrying out subsection (a)(4) of this section, the Foundation
is authorized to foster and support access by the research and
education communities to computer networks which may be used
substantially for purposes in addition to research and education in
the sciences and engineering, if the additional uses will tend to
increase the overall capabilities of the networks to support such
research and education activities.