[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1266-1267]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00188]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Extend a Current Information 
Collection

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION:  Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to 
request renewal of this collection. In accordance with the requirement 
of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. 
L. 104-13), we are providing opportunity for public comment on this 
action. After obtaining and considering public comment, NSF will 
prepare the submission requesting that OMB approve clearance of this 
collection for three years.

DATES:  Written comments on this notice must be received by March 11, 
2013 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:  Contact Suzanne H. Plimpton, 
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson 
Boulevard, Suite 295, Arlington, Virginia 22230; telephone (703) 292-
7556; or send email to [email protected]. Individuals who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8:00 a.m. 
and 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. You also may obtain 
a copy of the data collection instrument and instructions from Ms. 
Plimpton.
    Comments: Comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title of Collection: Higher Education Research and Development 
Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 3145-0100.

[[Page 1267]]

    Expiration Date of Current Approval: October 31, 2013.
    Proposed Renewal Project: The Higher Education Research and 
Development Survey (formerly known as the Survey of Research and 
Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges) originated in 
fiscal year (FY) 1954 and has been conducted annually since FY 1972. 
The survey is the academic research and development component of the 
NSF statistical program that seeks to provide a ``central clearinghouse 
for the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data on the 
availability of, and the current and projected need for, scientific and 
technical resources in the United States, and to provide a source of 
information for policy formulation by other agencies of the federal 
government,'' as mandated by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act 
of 2010 Sec.  505, codified in the National Science Foundation Act of 
1950, as amended. In recent years, NSF redesigned and expanded the 
survey to better reflect the current state of academic R&D. The 
redesigned survey was renamed the Higher Education R&D Survey and pilot 
tested with a random sample of 40 institutions during the FY 2009 
survey cycle. The revised survey began for all institutions with the FY 
2010 cycle.
    Use of the Information: The proposed project will continue the 
annual survey cycle for three years. The FY 2013 Higher Education R&D 
Survey will be administered to an expected minimum of 660 institutions. 
In addition, a shorter version of the survey asking for R&D 
expenditures by source of funding and broad field will be sent to 
approximately 325 institutions spending under $1 million on R&D in 
their previous fiscal year. Finally, a survey requesting R&D 
expenditures by source of funds, cost categories (salaries, indirect 
costs, equipment, etc.), and character of work (basic research, applied 
research, or development) will be administered to the 39 Federally 
Funded Research and Development Centers.
    The Higher Education R&D Survey will provide continuity of 
statistics on R&D expenditures by source of funding and field of 
research, with separate data requested on current fund expenditures for 
research equipment by field. Further breakdowns are collected on funds 
passed through to subrecipients and funds received as a subrecipient, 
and on R&D expenditures by field from specific federal agency sources. 
As of FY 2010, the survey also requests total R&D expenditures funded 
from foreign sources, R&D within an institution's medical school, 
clinical trial expenditures, R&D by type of funding mechanism 
(contracts vs. grants), R&D funded by the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009, and R&D by cost category (salaries, 
equipment, software, etc.). The survey also requests headcounts of 
principal investigators and other personnel paid from R&D funds, as 
well as a separate count of postdocs working on R&D.
    Data are published in NSF's annual publication series Higher 
Education Research and Development and are available electronically on 
the World Wide Web.
    The survey is a fully automated Web data collection effort and is 
handled primarily by administrators in university sponsored programs 
and accounting offices. To minimize burden, institutions are provided 
with an abundance of guidance and resources on the Web, and are able to 
respond via a downloadable excel spreadsheet if desired. Each 
institution's record is pre-loaded with the 2 previous years of 
comparable data that facilitate editing and trend checking. Response to 
this voluntary survey has exceeded 95 percent each year.
    The average burden report for the FY 2011 survey was 50 hours for 
institutions reporting over $1 million in R&D expenditures and 14 hours 
for those reporting less than $1 million. The burden estimate for the 
FFRDC survey is 6 hours.

    Dated: January 3, 2013.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2013-00188 Filed 1-7-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P