National Science Foundation (NSF) The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." NSF is vital because we support basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future. With an annual budget of $8.1 billion (FY 2019), we are the funding source for approximately 24 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing. Every year they receive about 50,000 research proposal. which is evaluated by diverse mix of faculty and university faculty members, who help NSF to assess the significance and the quality of the proposed research. They have rigorous Merit review process is considered the gold standard the world over for evaluating proposals in a competitive environment and they fund about 12000 new awards annually. And every year 93% of the foundations budget goes back out to support more than 360,000 researchers , teachers, post doctoral fellows. trainees and students at 2,000 institutions. Well over 200 NSF supported scientists have received Nobel prize for their ground breaking discoveries Process: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Foundation#Grants_and_the_merit_review_process The NSF uses four main mechanisms to communicate funding opportunities and generate proposals: dear colleague letters, program descriptions, program announcements, and program solicitations. Content Ref# - Website: https://www.nsf.gov/about/ - NSF PAR(Public Access Repository) - https://www.research.gov/research-web/ - Data API - https://www.research.gov/common/webapi/awardapisearch-v1.htm, NSF Award Search Web API (ASWA). This web API provides an interface to the Research Spending and Results (RS&R) functionality available through NSF's Research.gov system. The award search data demonstrates how federal research dollars are being spent, what research is being performed, and how the outcomes of research are benefiting society as a whole. Goal: Help Merit Review Process. Predict fundsObligatedAmt based on past data about the project proposals. https://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_disp.jsp?med_id=76467