NSF, NSB Want to Hear Your Thoughts on Merit Review Process

In recent weeks, the National Science Board (NSB), the governing and oversight body of the National Science Foundation (NSF), has issued a Dear Colleague letter requesting public input into the Board’s ongoing review of NSF’s merit review criteria and process. As previously reported, the NSB-NSF Commission on Merit Review (MRX) was formed following passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which required NSF to commission a review of how “broader impacts” criterion are being applied in the merit review process across the agency. The NSB chose to broaden the review to the entire merit review process, which has not had a holistic look in more than a decade.

The Request for Information (RFI) issued late last month seeks to “obtain input on how NSF’s Merit Review criteria, policy, and processes are currently understood and feedback on whether and/or how they might be revised to increase clarity and alignment with NSF’s statutory mission and improve fairness, competitiveness, and transparency in the process to identify projects to support and advance NSF’s statutory mission.” Comments are due by September 20 and are to be submitted online; the RFI includes five framing questions for respondents to consider. More information is available here.

COSSA is also interested in hearing your thoughts on ways the NSF merit review process can be improved or enhanced. If you have points you would like COSSA to consider in its own response to the RFI, please email them to wnaus@cossa.org.