National Science Foundation Support for Civil Engineering Research

Abstract

The National Science Foundation is a major source of support for fundamental research in civil engineering. In the past five years, the Engineering Directorate of NSF was extensively reorganized. In particular, the Civil and Environmental Engineering program was discontinued and its research support activities divided among a number of new or continuing programs. This paper examines trends in NSF support for civil engineering research, especially in light of the recent reorganization and inauguration of new programs. The amount of research support for civil engineering has continued to grow, although not as fast as for other engineering disciplines. However, the focus of some research support has been changing.