Reaffirmation of merit-based peer review

sustained, predictable Federal funding of basic research is essential to United States leadership in science and technology; the Foundation’s intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria are appropriate for evaluating grant proposals, as concluded by the 2011 National Science Board Task Force on Merit Review; the proposals funded by the Foundation are of high quality and advance scientific knowledge; and the Foundation’s grants address societal needs through basic research findings or through related activities; and as evidenced by the Foundation’s contributions to scientific advancement, economic growth, human health, and national security, its peer review and merit review processes have identified and funded scientifically and societally relevant basic research and should be preserved. The Foundation shall maintain the intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria, among other specific criteria as appropriate, as the basis for evaluating grant proposals in the merit review process. If after January 6, 2017, a change is made to the merit-review process, the Director shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress not later than 30 days after the date of the change. The term ‘appropriate committees of Congress’ means the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives. The term ‘Federal science agency’ has the meaning given the term in section 103 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6623). The term ‘Foundation’ means the National Science Foundation. The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). The term ‘NIST’ means the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The term ‘STEM’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the American [sic] COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 [Pub. L. 111–358] (42 U.S.C. 6621 note). The term ‘STEM education’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the STEM Education Act of 2015 [Pub. L. 114–59] (42 U.S.C. 6621 note).” It is the sense of Congress that— evaluating proposals on the basis of the Foundation’s intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria should be used to assure that the Foundation’s activities are in the national interest as these reviews can affirm that— (Source: (Pub. L. 114–329, title I, § 101, Jan. 6, 2017, 130 Stat. 2970.))