Core Support for the National Academy of Sciences' Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST) and Chemical Sciences Roundtable (CSR)

With the support of the Divisions of Chemistry (CHE) and Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET), Jeremy Mathis and Maggie Walser of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine guide the management of the core activities of both the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST) and the Chemical Sciences Roundtable (CSR). The results of BCST and CSR discussions and workshops are disseminated through workshop reports made available through professional societies, scientific and trade publications, and on the web.

The BCST has broad representation from academe and industry and uses its collective expertise to identify the needs of the community. The BCST provides peer-reviewed consensus reports, workshops, and symposia. The BCST enhances the impacts of the chemistry and chemical engineering communities by engaging in questions of importance to federal decision-makers.

BCST members oversee a portfolio of ad hoc studies in key areas of education, workforce, and research issues. Specific areas of consideration for this funding period include: the quantum information revolution, the green economy, materials sciences and its application to fields such as heat transfer, electrochemistry related to battery technology, single cell/molecule measurements, data sciences, undergraduate education and workforce development, sensor miniaturization and improvements, and laboratory automation.

By raising issues impacting the conduct of chemistry and chemical engineering research with federal officials, BCST helps assure that the community of practitioners can remain at the forefront of knowledge. The CSR provides an apolitical forum for leaders in the chemical sciences and engineering, with the objective of enhancing understanding of issues that affect government, academic, national laboratory, and nonprofit sectors.

CSR discussions provide a vehicle for interaction among the participants. These participants discuss and report on education, exchange of information, and issues and trends that affect the chemical sciences. CSR engages leading scientists and engineers to identify and explore, through workshops, emerging topics of importance to the chemical community.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.