NSF report - computer and computation research

This is my first report as an NSF official for the CCT Program. I hope to be able to keep you informed about the status of the program in SIGACT news on a quarterly basis. I' d lik e to first thank my predecessor Errol Lloyd, who is now with Delaware University, for serving a t NSF in the past year. As of the time when the report is prepared, the FY90 budget for NSF is not known. I therefore cannot tell you how much finding the theory program can provide. The budget fo r FY89 was approximately $6 Million. I assume a similar amount of funds, if not more, will b e available for the theory program this year. I do not plan to make drastic changes in terms of funding guidelines previously establishe d for the theory program. That is, the graduate student support will depend on the productivity of the PI and the quality of the PhD students supervised by the PI, and other direct costs wil l range from $4K to $7K a year. Junior PIs will normally receive no RA support, and secretar y support is only provided to PIs with major editorship. 11-13, include parallel computing theory, design and analysis of algorithms, probabilistic o r randomized, foundations of computer science and multidisciplinary research. A joint initiativ e with DARPA on parallel computing theory has been distributed, and the target date for th e initiative is set to be December 1, 1989. The following actions are planned. Increase support for regional conferences such as Theor y Day, CATS, etc. providing more opportunities for exchange of new research ideas and suppor t for workshops that promote links between theory and applications. Increase the number o f research initiation awards (RIA) for new PIs to accommodate the increasing number of researchers in theory. Last year 14 RIA's were awarded in CCT. These two year awards typicall y include summer support for the PI and other direct costs which will be kept at a minima l level. Encourage multidisciplinary research that "applies " theory to other application oriented disciplines, such as software engineering, artificial intelligence, etc. The competition for regular grants is expected to be much higher than in the past, as the funds available do not increas e at a rate commensurate with that of growth in theory community and the number of proposal s anticipated. Finally, …