NSF Programs

The National Science Foundation has awarded 357 new grants totaling $3.2 million under its undergraduate research participation program, which is now in its third year. The grants, together with 165 awards made last year, will give several thousand undergraduate science students an opportunity to work alongside established scientists in college and university laboratories and in other research institutions. During the summer, 2400 students will take part in the program, and about 1900 will participate during the 1961–62 academic year. Of the total number of students, NSF estimates that 12 percent will work in physics, 37 percent in chemistry, 26 percent in the biological sciences, 13 percent in engineering, and the remainder in astronomy, mathematics, and other fields. The stated aims of the program are to help build the interest of superior students in research, to widen their understanding of scientific method, and to improve their ability to employ scientific investigative procedures.