Subra Suresh Takes Over as the NSF's New Director. (November 19, 2010)

Subra Suresh was Dean of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until he was asked by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the US Senate to become the thirteenth Director of the National Science Foundation.

Thomas Magnanti, who hired Professor Suresh as chair of MIT's department of materials science and engineering has told Science that the new director will bring "his knowledge and passion for research, along with a very creative and broad view of science and technology as an administrator... [and] he's got to take those skills and apply them to working with the entire scientific community, as well as Congress and the Administration".

In the first instance Professor Suresh told Science he wants to utilise the "low-hanging fruit, … ideas that we can start to implement within a few months, with the existing budget." And he has made it clear that there are some changes that he wants made.

For one the NSF's peer-review system requires modification. He told Science that he has in mind a pilot project using modern communications tools to overcome obstacles in scheduling panel meetings or on-site visits for pending proposals. "I'd like to find a way to tap the best experts in the world rather than just settling for whoever is available that week."

And he indicated that he may consider a reassessment of the importance of NSF's requirement that investigators describe the "broader impacts" of their grant proposal. "I think the spirit of the broader impacts criterion is good," he explained. "But the question is, on whom do you place the burden? A large program has multiple entities that can ensure or follow through on the broader impact. But an individual investigator, especially a young investigator, may not have the opportunity or resources to demonstrate broader impacts. So the question is whether you can put the requirement not just on the individual but on a program that includes a collection of individuals. Perhaps you could also have some accountability by the institution itself."

When it comes to matters of overreaching policy decisions for the NSF, Professor Surash was careful not to be drawn; there are a number of politically sensitive issues such as changes in programs aimed at a broader geographic distribution of limited NSF funds, a popular cause within Congress, that some scientists believe waters down the quality of NSF's portfolio. Another, Science notes is "finding the proper balance in NSF's portfolio between grants to individual investigators and large centers and between funding research and infrastructure... problems 'with multiple dimensions,' he noted. All the elements are worth 'nurturing,' he added".

The 13^th NSF director concluded with: "MIT was a visible position, but this job gives you a chance to have an impact not just at one institution but across institutions, and potentially around the world. I'm looking forward to the challenge."