National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent agency in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government concerned with promoting a national science policy by supporting basic research and education in science. The National Science Board is the policy-making body of the NSF. It consists of 25 members appointed by the president with the consent of Congress. Founded in 1950, the NSF does not conduct research of its own but makes support grants to qualified educational and nonprofit institutions and awards fellowships to individual scientists, teachers, and students. The foundation supports projects in the mathematical, physical, medical, biological, social, and engineering sciences, including the U.S. Antarctic Program, the Ocean Drilling Program, and programs in global geoscience. It supports the development of improved science curriculum materials and fosters the interchange of scientific ideas nationally and internationally. Among the more important permanent NSF-supported facilities are: National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder, Colo.), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (Green Bank, W.Va.), Kitt Peak National Observatory (Tucson, Ariz.), National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (Arecibo, Puerto Rico), and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (La Serena, Chile).

National Science Foundation NSF established by the U.S. Congress by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, it is an independent agency of the U.S. government responsible for supporting basic research and education in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. It grants funding for research and provides support for educational programs in mathematics and sciences.

National Science Foundation A US governmental body charged with the fostering and support of American research. It played a very important part in the development of the Internet in the 1980s when it started its Supercomputer Center Program. It is usually abbreviated to NSF. An early decision made by the NSF was to make supercomputing power available to as many American researchers as possible. In order to do this they networked the small number of supercomputers using Internet technology such as the TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL. The network that was developed was known as NSFNET and was the core of the Internet until the mid-1990s when it was retired and replaced by the NATIONAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORK.