NSFStrategicPlanforFiscalYears(FY)2011-2016.PDFVIP

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) (Public Law 103-62) requires Federal agencies to develop strategic plans setting forth missions, long-term goals, and means to achieving those goals, and ensure the effectiveness of agency programs through the integration of planning, budgeting, and performance mea- surement. “Empowering the Nation Through Discovery and Innovation: NSF Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2011-2016” updates and replaces “Investing in America’s Future: NSF Strategic Plan FY 2006-2011.” To develop this new plan, NSF formed a working group consisting of office and directorate deputies and others. This working group received input from NSF staff and from NSF’s many advisory committee members repre- senting the science and engineering community. The plan will be updated in FY2013 in accordance with the new requirements of the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-352). To read more about strategic planning and performance measurement at NSF, please see /about/performance/ on our website. … About the cover: Crystal growth traditionally has been viewed as the addition of small units to a monolith. But chemists from New York University (NYU) and Russia’s St. Petersburg State University have discovered crystals that twist and untwist as they grow. The work could lead to a better understanding of the properties of high- polymers, which are used in clothing, liquid crystal displays and other consumer products. The researchers focused on growing crystals from undercooled melts of hippuric acid—a derivative of the amino acid glycine. As mol- ecules are added to the end of fine crystalline needles, stresses build up at the tips of the crystals and result in a helical twist. When the crystals thicken from the opposite end of the growing tip, the process is reversed—the twisting is undone by stresses that build-up. The int