Support for Basic Research at the National Science Foundation Jeannette M. Wing Assistant Director Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate National Science Foundation and President’s Professor of Computer Science Carnegie Mellon University Microsoft Research Asia Faculty Summit Beijing, China November 3, 2008

2MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing NSF Vision Advancing discovery, innovation and education beyond the frontiers of current knowledge, and empowering future generations in science and engineering.

3MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Four Goals (NSF Strategic Plan ) Discovery –Foster research that will advance the frontiers of knowledge, emphasizing areas of greatest opportunity and potential benefit and establishing the nation as a global leader in fundamental and transformational science and engineering. Learning –Cultivate a world-class, broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce, and expand the scientific literacy of all citizens. Research Infrastructure –Build the nation’s research capability through critical investments in advanced instrumentation, facilities, cyberinfrastructure and experimental tools. Stewardship –Support excellence in science and engineering research and education through a capable and responsive organization.

4MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing

5MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate FY08 appropriation: $535M FY09 request: $639M –“Continuing Resolution” till March 9, divisions –Computer and Communications Foundations (CCF) –Computer and Network Systems (CNS) –Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) 96 people

6MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Core and Cross-Cutting Programs CNSIISCCF Core Algorithmic F’ns Communications & Information F’ns Software & Hardware F’ns Human-Centered Information Integra- tion & Informatics Robust Intelligence Computer Systems Network Systems Infrastructure Education & Workforce Core Cross-Cutting Cyber-Physical Systems Data-intensive Computing Network Science and Engineering Trustworthy Computing Plus many many other programs with other NSF directorates and other agencies

7MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing CDI: Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation Paradigm shift –Not just computing’s metal tools (transistors and wires) but also our mental tools (abstractions and methods) It’s about partnerships and transformative research. –To innovate in/innovatively use computational thinking; and –To advance more than one science/engineering discipline. FY08: ~$50M invested by all directorates and offices –1800 Letters of Intent, 1300 Preliminary Proposals, 200 Final Proposals, 36 Awards Computational Thinking for Science and Engineering

8MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Range of Disciplines in CDI Awards Aerospace engineering Atmospheric sciences Biochemistry Biophysics Chemical engineering Communications science and engineering Computer science Geosciences Linguistics Materials engineering Mathematics Mechanical engineering Molecular biology Nanocomputing Neuroscience Robotics Social sciences Statistical physics … advances via Computational Thinking

9MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Range of Societal Issues Addressed Cancer therapy Climate change Environment Visually impaired Water

10MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Simple Mission Fund basic, long-term research in science and engineering Fund good ideas and good people

11MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Simple Approach: What We Invest In Research community (academia, industry, …) How? Technical conferences, workshops Reports and studies, e.g., by the National Academies Professional org’ns Direct, frequent communication with PI (“principal investigator”) community. Assistant Director Division Directors Director Program Directors Bottom up: Ideas generated by research community

12MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Simple Approach: What Gets Funded Research community (academia, industry, …) Assistant Director Division Directors Director Program Directors Bottom Up: Merit Review Process The PI community is the review community Peers define what is good, what is new, what is important NSF Program Directors make funding recommendations based on reviews

13MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing NSF’s Distinctive Role NSF funds curiosity-driven research NSF is not mission oriented –In contrast to the Department of Defense (DARPA, Army, Navy, Air Force), NASA, National Security Agency (NSA), … NSF funds academic researchers –Not national labs, in contrast to the Department of Energy (DOE), … NSF helps train and educate next generation scientists and engineers –Graduate students, post-docs –Undergraduate research programs –Education Directorate, educational programs

14MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing What Do I (as CISE AD) Do? Represent, speak for, and stand up for our field Within and outside of NSF Private and public sectors Nationally and internationally Guide/encourage community toward new, emerging areas Shine a light on or create new opportunities, e.g., CDI Set priorities for the field Striking balances

15MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Challenge: Striking Balances Preserving (deepening) the Core and expanding our frontiers (broadening) Single PI (small) versus multi-PI (large) Traditional high-quality versus bold high-risk non-competitive competitive high riskhigh quality

16MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing More Balances Preserve the core, single-PI effort versus - Multi-disciplinary/inter-disciplinary: CISE + X - Multi-perspective/intra-disciplinary theoretical  experimental foundational  applications - Collaborative These are not the same (and we want to support all). Research versus Education –Education programs Revitalizing undergraduate computer science curricula Broadening participation in computing

17MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Stewardship for the Field NSF support as a percent of total federal support of academic basic research

18MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Distinctive to the Computing Field Academia Industry Government Ecosystem

19MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Examples of CISE-Industry Engagement Fundamental Research auto finance civil aero medical chemical materials energy transportation Multi-core CISE + ENG + Semiconductor Research Corporation Data-Intensive Computing Google + IBM software and services for cluster HP + Intel + Yahoo! + UIUC software and hardware for cluster Cyber-Physical Systems Basic research by academics inspired by sector-specific problems Flower Model CISE seeks more and new models of engagement with industry!

20MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing International Science transcends political, geographic, and cultural boundaries. CISE welcomes working with international partners too!

Last Word: The Future of Computing is Bright!

22MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Drivers of Computing Science Society Technology What is computable? P = NP? (How) can we build complex systems simply? What is intelligence? What is information? J. Wing, “Five Deep Questions in Computing,” CACM January A’s Anytime Anywhere Affordable Access to Anything by Anyone Authorized.

Thank You!

24MSRA Faculty SummitJeannette M. Wing Credits Copyrighted material used under Fair Use. If you are the copyright holder and believe your material has been used unfairly, or if you have any suggestions, feedback, or support, please contact: Except where otherwise indicated, permission is granted to copy, distribute, and/or modify all images in this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation license, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation license” ( The inclusion of a logo does not express or imply the endorsement by NSF of the entities' products, services or enterprises