As the National Science Foundation (NSF) awaits their new building, the American Chemical Society hosted the National Science Board’s (NSB) February Meeting. Chair of the NSB, Victor McCrary, PhD, opened the meeting which convened Board members and agency leadership to discuss major agency changes within NSF, reforms to the agency’s merit review process, and updates to science indicators.
New NSF Management Structure
NSF Chief of Staff, Brian Stone, and Chief Management Officer, Micah Cheatham, provided an overview of recent and ongoing changes to NSF operations. According to the presentation, over the past year, NSF has worked to advance new priorities, restructure the organization, and introduce changes to staffing.
NSF has developed three committees focused on the president’s science and technology initiatives: (1) an executive committee that regularly advises the NSF Director on management strategy policy, resource allocation, and enterprise-level planning; (2) a science strategy counsel to coordinate strategic guidance across directorates; and (3) a management team to support both of these committee efforts.
As a part of NSF’s restructuring, Board leadership emphasized the need to modernize internal processes in order to more effectively fund and support scientific breakthroughs. NSF is exploring the option of front-loading awards, balancing the benefits of long-term funding certainty with the flexibility needed to support a broad portfolio of research. NSF suggested front-loading would provide recipients with greater financial predictability early in the funding period. The Board also inquired about reducing cycle time for grant decisions. Over the next 12 to 18 months, NSF aims to both deliver on the President’s directive to make internal processes more effective and develop standardized requirements for the next generation of grant-management systems.
Cheatham and Stone also presented new personnel policies intended to strengthen internal career pathways. When relevant, staff will be encouraged to gain experience, such as continuing education or specific training outside of NSF, before returning to a senior-level role. These policies should expand promotion opportunities and cultivate future leadership. NSF will use AI-driven tools to support employee development through customized learning plans and leadership training. NSF leaders explained that they have prioritized employees with expertise that aligns with the current administration’s focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum science. FABBS notes that NSF has experienced a workforce reduction of over 35 percent and is preparing a hiring plan to build back up to the requested level laid out in the President’s 2026 budget.
Merit Review Reform
Cheatham introduced a discussion of NSF Merit Review for a Changing Landscape, a three-year evaluation of the agency’s core award review process (see previous FABBS article). In the review process, the commission analyzed relevant legislation, gathered input from NSF staff and leadership via surveys, held focus groups and listening sessions, and issued a public request for information.
The evaluation focused on three main questions: (1) whether the merit review process is sufficiently transparent; (2) whether it helps NSF strategically build a portfolio covering a wide range of intellectual and societal benefits, including those mandated by law; and (3) whether it reflects the full breadth of science and technology expertise and perspectives across communities.
Currently, NSF evaluates proposals using two primary criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. Based on the evaluation, the Board proposed six policy recommendations, including: renaming “Broader Impacts” to “Societal Benefits” to provide greater clarity, refining the definitions of both evaluation criteria, aligning award portfolios with NSF strategy, and improving transparency and accountability.
Science Indicators 2026
Julia Phillips, PhD, Chair of the Science and Engineering Policy Committee, then reviewed several recent reports released by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). Among them was the latest STEM Talent report, which examines how the U.S. STEM education and workforce landscape is evolving. The report also depicts that STEM occupations are expected to grow faster than non-STEM related jobs in the next decade.
