NSF Boot Camp

Tuesday morning Tina, Erik, Bernadine, Kevin, Mike, and myself, along with two AAS Fellows, and about 25 others from NSF, started trickling out of NSF pulling our carryon luggage behind us toward the bus that was taking us to the "Woods" in West Virginia for Boot Camp. I have no idea the route we took because it was pouring down rain and the bus windows were steamed up.  Once we arrived, we each found our assigned "cabins" complete with fireplace, Jacuzzi, and wireless internet.

During the day, we spent our time in the conference room learning about the in's and out's of the National Science Foundation and how the process of "peer review" of proposals for grants works.  We talked about NSF's relationship with Congress and the charge given to NSF "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; [and] to secure the national defense..."  We also did a lot of eating, laughing, and sharing.

I also managed to swim a few laps in the indoor pool and lift a few weights in the exercise room.  A favorite evening activity for many of us was power walks and talks in the dark led by Kevin.

USA Today

The Einstein Fellows had a field trip to USA Today headquarters.

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper has 1.8 million copies as of March 2010^[1] compared to the Wall Street Journal's 2.1 million though this figure includes the WSJ's 400,000 paid-for, online subscribers. USA Today remains the widest circulated print newspaper in the United States. USA Today is distributed in all fifty states, Canada, the District of Columbia,Puerto Rico, Guam and the United Kingdom. The newspaper has its headquarters in Tysons Corner, unincorporatedFairfax County, Virginia.^[2] Currently, USA Today sells for US$1.00 in newsstands; however, it is often found free at hotels and airports that distribute it to their customers.   - Wikipedia

It was a very interesting day.  We had a behind the scenes tour of the newsrooms where the reporters and editors were writing and creating the stories and news.  USA Today has many education components and they shared with us many of the projects available.  It was really cool that they also spent a fair amount of time asking us what we thought and what suggestions we had for improvement and new ideas for them to consider.  Everywhere we go we are shown the highest respect as educators.  Checkout USA Today website.

Several of us carpooled and I was the last one dropped off, so Terrie and I decided to stop and share a pizza.  Nice ending to the day.  

Gettysburg

Today is Veterans Day.  It is a pretty big holiday here in the D.C. area.  Since I did not have to go to work, a friend and I decided to go to Gettysburg.  Since she always drives her car, I decided it was my turn to drive.  We did not have too much trouble getting there.  It is about 80 miles northwest of D.C.  in Pennsylvania.  By the time we got gas, something to eat, went to the visitor center and such, we did not have a lot of time to see the battle fields before it started getting dark.  On the drive home, the 489 was bumper to bumper and stop and go traffic.  It probably took us two hours to go about 20 miles.  There had been an accident that had stopped up all of the traffic.  All in all, we had a great day and adventure.

Work, work, work.

Well, the last two weeks have been filled with work.  A little about the National Science Foundation.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" With an annual budget of about $6.9 billion (FY 2010), we are the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing. 

We have been busy with panel reviews.  NSF puts out a solicitation and universities submit grant proposals.  These are put into groups and a panel of proposal reviewers come to NSF for two days.  During these two days, the reviewers decide which of the proposals are Highly Competitive, Competitive, Low Competitive, and Non-Competitive.  It is a very intense process and involves long days.  I had a panel last week and a panel this week.  


But it is not all work.  Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

The International Horse Show was in DC.  Two streets were blocked off and filled with temporary stalls for the million dollar horses.

I happened on this swing band performing at the National Portrait Museum.  They were fun and put on a great show.  People danced.  I stayed for a couple of hours listening and watching.

The Newseum.  Everyday the front page of major papers from every state in the union are displayed on the sidewalk in front of the museum.  This is the Idaho Statesman for Idaho's paper.