The very first rumblings from NSF are being heard regarding implementation of their plans to disburse stimulus funding - we all wait with great expectations!
Little bits of information are trickling out about the all important President's request for FY2010 - more complete data will be available next week - but let me share a few numbers.
The FY10 request for NSF Geosciences is $909M versus the FY08 Actual of $758M - a healthy increase of 19.9 per cent. This is very good news. NOAA did not fare so well - only a 1.5 per cent increase (relative to FY08 actual) for OAR and for NASA science a decrease of 4.9 per cent. But the real story on this, and its impact on Geosciences I am sure lies in the next level of budget detail which we will not see till next week. Remarkably, Science at DoE has an FY10 request of $5813M relative to an FY08 actual of $4080M - an increase of an amazing 42.5 per cent.
As we all know, this budget has a long way to go from here - doubtless Congress will make significant changes. But certainly for NSF and DoE this is an excellent start.
Next Friday afternoon we will be holding a ceremony to announce and present this year's Mentoring Award. Chris Zappa and his committee have been hard at work making the final selection for some weeks. This is always a fun event - please come to the Monell Auditorium 4:00pm Friday 15th. After the brief ceremony there will a reception for all.
Have a great weekend,
- Mike