Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§19105 Assistant Director

Title 42 › CHAPTER 163 — RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, COMPETITION, AND INNOVATION › SUBCHAPTER III — NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE › Part G — Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships › § 19105

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director must appoint an Assistant Director to run the Directorate. The person must have a professional background and experience that makes them especially able to advise on use-inspired and translational research, development, and commercialization, and to create and carry out policies that promote that kind of work across the Directorate and the Foundation. The Assistant Director must advise the Director on use-inspired and translational R&D and its possible effects on society and national interests; help find and coordinate collaborations inside the Foundation and with outside groups like universities, industry, nonprofits, labor, and government; make sure work does not needlessly duplicate other Foundation or federal activities; approve new Directorate programs; design and test ways to review and give awards for projects of different sizes; evaluate program success; manage awards to meet the goals in section 19102; and do other tasks the Director gives. The Assistant Director reports to the Director, and no other directorate reports to them.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §19105

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Director shall appoint an Assistant Director responsible for the management of the Directorate established under this part, in the same manner as other Assistant Directors of the Foundation are appointed.

(b)Qualifications

The Assistant Director shall be an individual, who by reason of professional background and experience, is specially qualified to—

(1)advise the Director on all matters pertaining to use-inspired and translational research, development, and commercialization at the Foundation, including partnership with the private sector and other users of Foundation funded research; and

(2)develop and implement the necessary policies and procedures to promote a culture of use-inspired and translational research within the Directorate and across the Foundation and carry out the responsibilities under subsection (c).

(c)Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Assistant Director shall include—

(1)advising the Director on all matters pertaining to use-inspired and translational research and development activities at the Foundation, including effective practices for convergence research, and the potential impact of Foundation research on United States societal, national and geostrategic challenges;

(2)identifying opportunities for and facilitating coordination and collaboration, where appropriate, on use-inspired and translational research, development, adoption, and commercialization—

(A)among the offices, directorates, and divisions within the Foundation; and

(B)between the Foundation and stakeholders in academia, the private sector, including non-profit entities, labor organizations, Federal or State agencies, and international entities, as appropriate;

(3)ensuring that the activities carried out under this part do not substantially and unnecessarily duplicate activities supported by other parts of the Foundation or other relevant Federal agencies;

(4)approving all new programs within the Directorate;

(5)developing and testing diverse merit-review models and mechanisms for selecting and providing awards for use-inspired and translational research and development at different scales, from individual investigator awards to large multi-institution collaborations;

(6)assessing the success of programs;

(7)administering awards to achieve the purposes described in section 19102 of this title; and

(8)performing other such duties pertaining to the purposes in section 19102 of this title as are required by the Director.

(d)Relationship to the Director (e) Relationship to other programs

The Assistant Director shall report to the Director.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 19105

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110