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

With the support of the Divisions of Chemistry (CHE) and Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET), Charles Ferguson of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) will support the core functions of the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST) and the Chemical Sciences Roundtable (CSR). The BCST convenes our nation’s leading experts in chemistry and chemical engineering to tackle important and timely issues.

The BCST then translates their findings into actionable recommendations for federal agencies. The CSR is an activity run under the BCST, bringing together leaders in the chemical sciences and engineering to enhance understanding of critical issues in chemical sciences and technology that affect the government, industrial, and academic sectors. Results from both BCST studies and CSR workshops are disseminated to the broader community through a variety of methods, including webinars, consensus study reports, proceedings and professional society meeting presentations.

The BCST’s mission is to ensure that our nation’s decision-makers receive independent, objective advice on issues related to chemistry and chemical engineering. BCST members will identify emerging and important issues, strategically plan for new initiatives, perform information gathering, interact with federal agencies and other thought leaders, participate in program oversight, disseminate information, and engage in outreach.

The BCST will oversee a wide range of activities, including in-depth studies of scientific topics, fast-tracked reviews of research programs, and discussion forums on emerging topics. The BCST has identified several potential topics for discussion during this funding period, including: synthetic electrochemistry; novel degradation biochemistries; PFAS chemical substitutes; peptide and protein engineering; microchemistry in the classroom; chemistry data management needs for open science; artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The CSR’s mission is to provide a science-oriented, neutral forum to enhance understanding of critical issues in chemical sciences and technology affecting the government, industrial, and academic sectors. The CSR will carry out three objectives: a) enhance communication across sectors, b) identify and explore important, relevant topics in a neutral, high-profile setting; and c) disseminate information about the topics and any related events and discussions to the chemical community.

For this funding period, CSR will pursue the overarching themes of chemistry and artificial intelligence, including the impacts on sustainable chemistry, scale-up reactions, small (sparse) data and drug discovery. All objectives will be achieved through carefully organized meetings, workshops, symposia and webinars to identify and fully discuss critical chemistry and chemical engineering issues.

The dissemination of information will include consensus study reports, proceedings and professional society meeting presentations.

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.