Created in 1950 to keep wartime science funding alive in peacetime. It makes about 11,000 new awards a year from roughly 40,000 proposals and operates facilities like LIGO, which detected gravitational waves.
Open the interactive page for NSF →Created byNational Science Foundation Act of 1950, P.L. 81-507
Head appointed42 U.S.C. § 1864(a): Director appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate (after affording the National Science Board an opportunity to make recommendations), for a 6-year term; 24-member National Science Board appointed by the President alone for 6-year terms — Senate confirmation of Board members was eliminated by P.L. 112-166 (2012) (42 U.S.C. § 1863(a)) (PAS)
Removal standardno statutory protection — at will; 42 U.S.C. § 1864(a) says the Director serves six years 'unless sooner removed by the President'
Funded underannual Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (discretionary appropriations)
Congressional oversightHouse Science, Space, and Technology · Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Inspector generalown NSF OIG — designated-federal-entity-style arrangement: the IG is appointed by and reports to the National Science Board, not the President (IG Act, 5 U.S.C. § 415; OIG established 1989 under the 1988 IG Act amendments)
Judicial reviewAPA § 702 suits; individual grant denials are rarely reviewable (largely committed to agency discretion, 5 U.S.C. § 701(a)(2))
Comment on NSF policies; ask your members of Congress, who set its budget; the scientific community shapes grant decisions through peer review.