Chap. 19 - Chemical Sciences in the FY 2000 Budget

19

Chemical Sciences in the FY 2000 Budget

David L. Schutt, ACS

HIGHLIGHTS
The proposed budget would provide modest increases for programs that support the chemical sciences;
In many cases, increased support would be tied to intra- and interagency initiatives; and

The relevance of the chemical sciences to the core missions of several agencies is recognized and emphasized in agency initiatives.

INTRODUCTION
Chemistry is a central science that provides the fundamental understanding required to address many societal needs, including many that determine our quality of life and our economic strength. More specifically, chemistry is the science that tries to understand the properties of substances and materials and the changes they undergo. It seeks to understand why substances have different properties, and how we can control and most effectively use these properties. Among other areas, chemistry is critical to the growth and safety of our food sources; unlocking new sources of energy; improving health and conquering disease; strengthening our national security; monitoring and protecting the environment; and developing new materials for the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, and the homes in which we live.
While support for the chemical sciences is not an explicit focus of the federal government, research support for chemistry is provided through many agencies. The federal government has made a strong commitment to support research in the chemical sciences. Its investments are highly leveraged by the chemical and allied products and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The federal government is an important source of support, particularly for basic research in the chemical sciences. Universities, which receive much of the federal support, perform research and educate future chemical scientists and engineers, and thus play a crucial role in the research system.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF)
NSF provides nearly one-third of federal support for academic research in the chemical sciences. Within NSF, chemistry research is supported primarily by the Chemistry Division within the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate. Areas of exploration supported by this division include experimental and theoretical research on methods of prediction and control of chemical reactivity, the creation and discovery of new molecules, characterization of molecules of both natural and artificial substances, and fundamental molecular interactions and reactions. Chemical research is also supported through the Materials Research Division within the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate, and through the Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Division within the Biological Sciences Directorate.
In the FY 2000 budget, the Chemistry and Materials divisions would receive 2 percent increases (see Table II-7). More broadly, however, chemistry research is involved in the three Foundation-wide priority areas. The success of the Biocomplexity initiative would rely heavily on a fundamental understanding of the chemistry and the chemical phenomena that underlie biological systems. The Information Technology for the Twenty-First Century (IT²) initiative encompasses a wide range of activities that would use chemistry for the study of advanced electronic materials. Lastly, the Educating for the Future initiative supports innovative approaches intended to meet the challenge of educating students for the 21st Century. Of particular importance to advances in chemistry are two programs associated with this effort: CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development), and IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training).
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH)
Through NIH-supported research in the chemical sciences, scientists are able to further the molecular understanding of disease and illness and develop new techniques to advance biomedical research. Increasingly, our ability to respond to health challenges, such as AIDS or a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, and to combat enduring afflictions such as cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease, relies on our understanding of human and disease systems at molecular and chemical levels. Much of this understanding has accumulated through years of investigation in basic chemical and biological phenomena.
NIH's portfolio of chemistry-related research is approximately one-third of the total federal support for university-based research in the chemical sciences. This support is critical to both the development of new, fundamental knowledge and for the training of the next generation of researchers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Research in the chemical sciences is heavily supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), whose responsibilities are not specific to particular diseases.
NIGMS provides the enabling research and training that underpins the advances of other NIH institutes. The largest single source of chemistry funding within NIH, it has traditionally provided approximately two-thirds of NIH's support for academic research in chemistry and one-third of its support for biochemistry. Chemistry-related instrumentation is supported by NCRR. Of particular importance to chemical researchers is the Shared Instrumentation Grants program, which provides the necessary state-of-the-art instrumentation to pursue research opportunities. The Center also facilitates the development of new technologies and techniques by which scientific inquiry can be undertaken. Through these contributions, NCRR offers the potential for major, and revolutionary, new approaches to health-related research.
The FY 2000 NIH budget request includes an effort to harness the expertise of allied disciplines, such as chemistry. This increased attention on integrating knowledge from the core disciplines into the more focused research programs would be an important step. Agency documents specifically cite chemistry as a discipline critically important to medical research, particularly rational drug design. The budget proposes 2.4 percent increases for NIGMS and NCRR (see Table II-9).
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)
DOE supports fundamental research in the chemical sciences that seeks to improve the cost-effectiveness and environmental impact of the production of energy and energy-related processes. Chemical research is advancing our national goals of reducing energy consumption, harnessing new energy sources, and reducing our dependence on imported oil. Our nation's economic development is tied to the growth of its energy use. Chemistry plays an important role in optimizing access to the available energy from nonrenewable sources, as well as harnessing energy from renewable sources. Most chemistry research at DOE is supported through two programs within the Office of Science: Basic Energy Sciences (BES) and Biological and Environmental Research (BER).
Chemistry within BES provides a fundamental understanding of energy-intensive processes. In the FY 2000 budget request for BES, increases are being targeted to the several initiatives. One initiative that has a strong chemistry component is the Climate Change Technology Initiative. In this initiative, chemistry research would improve molecular-level understanding of chemical processes associated with combustion, catalysis, photochemical energy conversion, electrical energy storage, electrochemical interfaces, and molecular specific separation from complex mixtures.
BER support is focused on basic research in the biomedical and environmental sciences with the goal of furthering our understanding of the potential long-term health and environmental effects of energy productions and use. Funding for BER would decline in the FY 2000 budget proposal. Research on global climate change and the Human Genome Project would benefit from the initiative focus.
Another area of DOE support for the chemical sciences is in the Fossil Energy program. This program is intended to stimulate sustainable development and utilization of fossil fuel resources and technologies to assure an adequate domestic fuel supply. Funding for these efforts would decrease slightly in the FY 2000 proposal (see Table II-11).
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)
Within EPA, the Office of Research and Development (ORD) is the primary source of support for research. Chemistry plays an important role in much of EPA's decision-making processes. Support for ORD would decrease nearly 5 percent in the FY 2000 budget, primarily due to the removal of congressional set-asides. The budget proposes several initiatives that would strengthen EPA's in-house scientific expertise and address high-risk problems or those solutions with the greatest potential to reduce risk.
The FY 2000 budget would continue to identify emerging environmental hazards and to reduce uncertainties in priority areas such as risks to children, endocrine disrupters, pfiesteria, drinking water disinfectant byproducts and microbes, particulate matter, and urban air toxics. The budget would also provide additional research support for studying coastal and climate change. Such research would contribute to understanding of the effects of multiple stresses on ecosystems and human health. Chemistry would play a major role in pollution prevention activities, including the green chemistry initiative.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD)
DOD supports military-relevant basic research in the chemical sciences through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Office, and the Office of Naval Research. Basic research funding, referred to as "6.1," is allocated for both intramural research and extramural research (conducted primarily at universities).
Chemistry is central to many areas of DOD's basic research efforts. One such area is energetic materials, such as higher-performance and more cost-effective explosives, rocket fuels, and space propulsion systems. Chemistry is the enabling science in this effort. Another is advanced batteries, long-lived, lightweight battery systems, needed for battlefield electronic units and torpedo propulsion systems. A third area is materials for extreme environments. New materials are needed for high-temperature, high-pressure, high-collision momentum, and space-related needs of the military. Similarly, the chemistry of wear, fatigue, lubrication, and corrosion requires investigation so that new approaches to these problems can be developed.
New means to detect and combat chemical and biological weapons are a priority to the military. Additional research into unexplored areas is essential for improving our defense against these agents of mass destruction. Modern warfare also relies critically on an instantaneous knowledge of the battlefield. Chemical sensors would provide information on troop, aircraft, and tank movements. The molecular basis for the detection of missile and aircraft signatures is also a high priority.
The FY 2000 budget request provides a slight increase for the military's "6.1" research account. Chemistry would likely receive a similar modest increase in each of the branches.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY (NIST)
NIST has a major impact on the chemical industry. Through its laboratories, NIST develops the technologies and the calibration and measurement standards for a wide range of instruments and processes important to the chemical manufacturing, energy, healthcare, biotechnology, food processing, and materials processing industries. The laboratories work with the chemical industry to increase efficiency, cut costs, and improve competitiveness through the development of new sensor technologies for more efficient and environmentally sound process technology and for waste assessment and minimization. The laboratories also develop advanced technologies, standards, and data for benchmarking in areas such as process design and improvement. They produce standard reference materials and data needed to achieve ever-lower detection limits to improve quality, productivity, and efficiency of chemical measurements. The $285 million FY 2000 request for the intramural laboratory program is a 1.3 percent increase, with the Chemical Sciences and Technology Laboratory increasing 3 percent.
The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is the second area through which NIST supports the chemical sciences. ATP is a market-oriented, cost-effective means for promoting research that strengthens U.S. industry in high-risk technologies that hold promise for broad industrial impact. While still a relatively new program, the results of past investments are beginning to emerge. Many of the ATP focus programs have strong chemical science relevance, such as the catalysis and biocatalysis initiatives. The $239 million FY 2000 request, a 20.8 percent increase, would allow these and many other focus competitions to be supported.