Citing a host of concerns about how NSF ranks large research facility projects for funding, a National Academies panel has recommended that NSF “create and implement” a 10- to 20-year road map for such projects that would serve as a guide for both policymakers and scientists. In addition to defining and ranking projects, the report, released in mid-January, recommends the creation of independent oversight committees to monitor both construction and operations of the foundation’s scientific facilities.
“This is an opportunity for the National Science Foundation to further improve its work in the development of major research facilities by incorporating a more objective and transparent approach to screening and planning into its process,” said Princeton University physicist William Brinkman, who chaired the National Academies committee. Brinkman said the committee began with the premise that NSF had to be much more open to the scientific community and others about how it made...
