NSF and NIST directors quizzed on budget requests

Members of Congress have asked the directors of the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to justify requested budget increases for both agencies in 2016.

NSF director France Cordova and NIST acting director Willie May, along with National Science Board director Daniel Arvizu, fielded questions from members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology during a hearing in front of the Research and Technology subcommittee.

The most pointed questions from Republican members concerned agency budget requests. The Obama administration’s fiscal year 2016 budget includes a 5.2 percent raise for NSF and a 30 percent increase for NIST.