July 21, 2000

Declining Applications for NSF Grants

To the Editor:

Regarding the concern of the National Science Foundation about the decline of proposals from new investigators, I was surprised to see no mention of the N.S.F. policy prohibiting investigators from simultaneously sending their proposals to the N.S.F. and other funding agencies ("N.S.F. Officials Worry as Number of New Grant Applicants Falls," June 9). With a 6-9-month turnaround and the usual uncertainties associated with program objectives and