The FY 2002 Budget Request for the Chemistry (CHE)
Subactivity is $153.46 million, a decrease of $60,000, or -0.04
percent, over the FY 2001 Current Plan of $153.52 million.
(Millions of Dollars)
||FY 2000 Actual
||FY 2001 CurrentPlan
||FY 2002 Request
Chemistry is the science of molecules and their transformations.
Progress in the field of chemistry is therefore critical to advances
in other sciences such as materials research, molecular biology,
biomedicine, plant and agricultural biology, environmental sciences,
and the development of new energy sources. It also forms the basis
upon which the chemical and allied products industries, including
the pharmaceutical industry, can build and grow.
The award of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to
Alan G. MacDiarmid of the University of Pennsylvania is an example
of how fundamental research supported by the Chemistry Subactivity
can have important long-term practical applications. MacDiarmid
was supported by NSF in the 1970s to develop synthetic techniques
for the production of polymeric metals. At that time, conventional
wisdom considered polymers to be insulators. MacDiarmid and colleagues
demonstrated that polymers could be synthesized that were, in fact,
quite good electrical conductors. Today conductive polymers are
used in anti-static substances for photographic film shields for
computer screens against electromagnetic radiation, and for "smart"
windows that can exclude sunlight. In addition, polymers have recently
been developed that are the active materials in light-emitting diodes,
solar cells and as displays in mobile telephones and mini-format
television screens. The work of chemists such as MacDiarmid and
others laid the groundwork for the area that is now known as nanoscience,
a priority area for the NSF.
As the above example illustrates, academic research
in chemistry produces fundamental knowledge used by industrial,
governmental, and academic chemists and technologists, and contributes
to developing the skills and intellectual potential of students,
who are the workforce of the future. The federal government provides
about 70 percent of the funds for academic research in chemistry;
of that amount, the Chemistry Subactivity provides about 25 percent.
This investment provides the critical core support for fundamental
research, maintains the health of the discipline, and contributes
to research ideas and a highly skilled work force.
The Chemistry Subactivity supports research on the
synthesis of new organic and inorganic molecules; the structure
and reactivity of molecules in solids, liquids, and gases, and on
surfaces; preparation and characterization of supra-molecular nano-structures;
new measurement concepts and instruments for molecular characterization;
and theoretical and experimental understanding of chemical structure
and reactivity at the quantum level. Chemistry can now achieve molecular-level
understanding of complex systems, such as those presented by natural
and manufacturing environments and use this understanding to, for
example, design new, more effective drugs. It can define environmentally
benign synthetic processes and contribute to the development of
new energy sources and efficient uses of old ones. Chemistry relies
increasingly on mathematics, informatics, and instrumentation for
development of computational methods, real-time control of experiments,
and display and analysis of complex data. Undergraduate, graduate,
and postdoctoral students, together with essential instrumentation,
are supported to pursue this research through awards to individual
investigators, groups of investigators, and centers.
The FY 2002 Budget Request for the Chemistry Subactivity
is $153.46 million and will include:
$125.06 million, an increase of $550,000, to
support individual investigators and collaborative groups to participate
in the NSF priority areas of Information Technology Research,
Nanoscale Science and Engineering, and Biocomplexity in the Environment.
Research includes computational approaches to fundamental problems
in chemistry; synthesis and characterization of nanostructures;
and development of an understanding of the environment at the
molecular level. Also included is support for Chemistry Centers
and the Science and Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible
Solvents and Processes.
$28.40 million, a decrease of $620,000, will
continue to support the integration of computation with measurement;
the development of "smart" instruments; and the development
of user facilities such as a synchrotron beamlines and a high
field mass spectroscopy facility. This amount also includes support
for education activities designed to increase the number of undergraduate
students who have the opportunity to participate in research.
Support will be augmented by funds made available by the phase
out of existing projects.
The Chemistry Subactivity will continue to support
new demonstration projects of special interest to the field of chemistry,
especially with respect to preparing graduate students for competition
in the diverse, global workforce. Of particular emphasis will be
support of innovative programs that have the potential to increase
the participation of underrepresented groups in the chemistry profession.