The Framework for National Science Foundation Funding of Archaeological Research

Summary

National Science Foundation funding for archaeological research is driven by several factors some internal and others external to NSF. The Foundation is an agency of the federal government and the amount of money authorized for expenditure and strictures on how it is to be allocated is determined by a multifaceted process which involves the Foundation itself, the President and multiple House and Senate congressional committees. Thus for each annual budget appropriation cycle uncertainty is involved. The Foundation itself has then considerable leeway in the competitions held and the amounts allocated to individual Programs. While archaeology receives support through multiple sources within NSF the Archaeology Program constitutes the focal point and data indicate a stable funding base over many years. If the past is any predictor of the future one might expect the pattern to continue. NSF criteria require proposal evaluation to take into account both "intellectual merit" and "broader impacts" the latter of which is defined as "benefit society or advance desired social outcomes." The hope is that the current framework is both well enough established and appropriately designed for a stable future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• The Future of Funding for Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14621