United States National Research Council
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The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (also known as NASEM or the National Academies) are the collective scientific
national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with State (polity), state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but ...
of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The name is used interchangeably in two senses: (1) as an umbrella term for its three quasi-independent honorific member organizations the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
(NAE), and the
National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...
(NAM); and (2) as the brand for studies and reports issued by the operating arm of the three academies, the National Research Council (NRC). The NRC was first formed in 1916 as an activity of the NAS. Now jointly governed by all three academies, the NRC produces some 200 publications annually which are published by the National Academies Press. The reports produced by the National Academies have been characterized as reflective of scientific consensus.


History

The US National Academy of Sciences was created by an Act of Incorporation dated March 3, 1863, which was signed by then
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
,
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
. The Act stated that "... the Academy shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art. ... " With the American civil war raging, the new Academy was presented with few problems to solve, but it did address matters of "... coinage, weights and measures, iron ship hulls, and the purity of whiskey ..." All subsequently affiliated organizations have been created under this same overall congressional charter, including the two younger academies,
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
(NAE) (created in 1964) and NAM (created as the Institute of Medicine in 1970 and rechartered as NAM in 2015). Under this same charter, the National Research Council was created in 1916. On June 19 of that year, then US President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
requested that the National Academy of Sciences organize a "National Research Council". The purpose of the Council (at first called the National Research Foundation) was in part to foster and encourage "the increased use of scientific research in the development of American industries ... the employment of scientific methods in strengthening the national defense ... and such other applications of science as will promote the national security and welfare." At the time, the Academy's effort to support national defense readiness, the Committee on Nitric Acid Supply, was approved by Secretary of War
Newton D. Baker Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,Noble, Ransom E. "Henry George and the Progressive Movement." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 8, no. 3, 1949, pp. 259–269. w ...
.
Nitric acid Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitri ...
was the substance basic in the making of propellants such as
cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burn ...
, high explosives, dyes,
fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
s, and other products but availability was limited due to
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The NRC, through its committee, recommended importing Chilean
saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate Salt (chemistry), salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ...
and the construction of four new ordnance plants. These recommendations were accepted by the
War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...
in June 1917, although the plants were not completed prior to the end of the war.
In 1918, Wilson formalized the NRC's existence under
Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...
2859. Wilson's order declared the function of the NRC to be in general: :''"(T)o stimulate research in the mathematical. physical, and biological sciences. and in the application of these sciences to engineering, agriculture. medicine. and other useful arts. with the object of increasing knowledge, of strengthening the national defense, and of contributing in other ways to the public welfare."'' During World War I, the United States was at war, the NRC operated as the Department of Science and Research of the
Council of National Defense The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial s ...
as well as the Science and Research Division of the
United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...
. Accessed at
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
When war was first declared, the Council had organized committees on
antisubmarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
and
gas warfare Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...
. On June 1, 1917, the council convened a meeting of scientific representatives of the United Kingdom and France with interested parties from the U.S. on the subject of submarine detection. Another meeting with the British and French was held in Paris in October 1918, at which more details of their work was disclosed. As a result of these meetings, the NRC recommended that scientists be brought together to work on the problems associated with submarine detection. Due to the success of council-directed research in producing a sound-based method of detecting
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s, as well as other military innovations, the NRC was retained at the end of the war, though it was gradually decoupled from the military. NRC's Articles of Organization have been changed only three times: in 1956, January 1993, and July 2015.


The Academies

The National Academy of Sciences,
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
, and
National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...
are honorary membership organizations, each of which has its own governing Council, and each of which elects its own new members. The membership of the three academies totals more than 6,300 scientists, engineers, and health professionals. New members for each organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. By the terms of the original 1863 Congressional charter, the three academies serve '' pro bono'' as "advisers to the nation on
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
,
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
, and
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
."


Program units

The program units, formerly known as the National Research Council, are collectively the operating arm of the three academies for the purpose of providing objective policy advice. Although separately chartered (see above), it falls legally under the overall charter of the National Academy of Sciences, whose ultimate fiduciary body is the NAS Council. In actual practice, the NAS Council delegates governing authority to a Governing Board of the National Research Council that is chaired jointly by the presidents of the three academies, with additional members chosen by them or specified in the charters of the academies. Under this three-academy umbrella, the program units produce reports that shape policies, inform public opinion, and advance the pursuit of science, engineering, and medicine. There are seven major divisions
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and EducationDivision of Earth and Life Studies
Division of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Health and Medicine DivisionPolicy and Global Affairs Division
Transportation Research Board The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, formerly the National Research Council of the United States, which serves as an independent adviser to the President of the Uni ...
, and th
Gulf Research Program


Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE)


Units of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

*Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) *Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences (BBCSS) *Board on Human-Systems Integration (BOHSI) *Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS) *Board on Science Education (BOSE) *Committee on Law and Justice (CLAJ) *Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA) *Committee on Population (CPOP) *Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT)


Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS)


Units of the Division on Earth and Life Studies

*Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR) *Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC) *Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST) *Board on Earth Sciences and Resources (BESR) *Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST) *Board on Life Sciences (BLS) *Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) *Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board (NRSB) *Ocean Studies Board (OSB) *Polar Research Board (PRB) *Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB)


Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS)

The Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences has activities organized around: *Government missions in defense, space, and aerospace *National
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
challenges such as
energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...
and
environmental systems In science and engineering, a system is the part of the universe that is being studied, while the environment is the remainder of the universe that lies outside the boundaries of the system. It is also known as the surroundings or neighborhood, ...
, information and telecommunications, manufacturing and
engineering design The engineering design process is a common series of steps that engineers use in creating functional products and processes. The process is highly iterative - parts of the process often need to be repeated many times before another can be entere ...
,
civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...
, and the built or constructed environment inclusive of its Board on Infrastructure and Constructed Environment or BICE *Science and engineering disciplines such as physics, astronomy, computer science and engineering, materials science and engineering, and the mathematical sciences and their applications. *Continuing assessments of federal government laboratories and research programs.


Units of the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

*Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) *Air Force Studies Board (AFSB) *Board on Army Research and Development (BOARD) *Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) *Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE) *Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics (BMSA) *Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA) *Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) *Intelligence Community Studies Board (ICSB) *Laboratory Assessments Board (LAB) *National Materials and Manufacturing Board (NMMB) *Naval Studies Board (NSB) *Space Studies Board (SSB)


Gulf Research Program (GRP)


Health and Medicine Division (HMD)


Units of the Health and Medicine Division

*Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) *Board on Global Health (BGH) *Board on Health Care Services (HCS) *Board on Health Sciences Policy (HSP) *Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice (BPH) *Food and Nutrition Board (FNB)


Policy and Global Affairs Division (PGA)


Units of the Policy and Global Affairs Division

*Board on Higher Education and Workforce (BHEW) *Board on International Scientific Organizations (BISO) *Board on Research Data and Information (BRDI) *Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) *Committee on Human Rights (CHR) *Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) *Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Policy (COSEMPUP) *Committee on Science, Technology, and Law (CSTL) *Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (CWSEM) *Fellowships Office *Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR) *Resilient America Program *Science and Technology for Sustainability (STS)


Transportation Research Board (TRB)


Units of the Transportation Research Board

*Consensus and Advisory Studies Division *Cooperative Research Programs Division **Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) **National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) **Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Program (BTSCRP) **National Cooperative Research and Evaluation Program (NCREP) **Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) **National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) **National Cooperative Rail Research Program (NCRRP) **Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program (HMCRP)


The study process

The National Academies attempt to obtain authoritative, objective, and scientifically balanced answers to difficult questions of national importance. Top scientists, engineers, health professionals, and other experts (not limited to those in academies membership) are enlisted to address the scientific and technical aspects of some of society's problems. These experts are volunteers who serve on study committees that are convened to answer specific sets of questions. All committee members serve without pay. NASEM itself does not perform original research; rather it provides independent advice. Federal agencies are the primary financial sponsors of the Academies' work; additional studies are funded by state agencies, foundations, other private sponsors, and the National Academies endowment. The external sponsors have no control over the conduct or results of a study, once the statement of task and budget are finalized. Study committees gather information from many sources in public meetings but deliberate in private in order to avoid political, special interest, and sponsor influence. All reports go through an extensive external review facilitated by the internal Report Review Committee (also consisting of members from the NAS, NAE, and NAM).Who We Are, National-Academies.org, Where the Nation Turns for Independent, Expert Advice
National-Academies.org. Retrieved on 2013-08-12.
Through this study process, the National Academies produce around 200 reports each year. Recent reports cover such topics as addressing the obesity epidemic, the use of forensics in the courtroom, invasive plants, pollinator collapse, underage drinking, the Hubble Telescope, vaccine safety, the
hydrogen economy The hydrogen economy is using hydrogen to decarbonize economic sectors which are hard to electrify, essentially, the "hard-to-abate" sectors such as cement, steel, long-haul transport etc. In order to phase out fossil fuels and limit climate ch ...
, transportation safety,
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, and
homeland security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...
. Many reports influence policy decisions; some are instrumental in enabling new research programs; others provide independent program reviews. The National Academies Press is the publisher for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and makes its publications available for free online reading, and the full book PDFs have been available for free download since 2011.


Notable reports


Reports on climate change

In 2001, the NRC published the report ''Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions,'' which emphasized the fact that national policy decisions made now and in the long-term future will influence the extent of any damage suffered by vulnerable human populations and ecosystems later in this century. The report endorsed findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as representing the views of the scientific community:
The changes observed over the last several decades are likely mostly due to human activities, but we cannot rule out that some significant part of these changes is also a reflection of natural variability. Human-induced warming and associated
sea level rise Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...
are expected to continue through the 21st century ... The IPCC's conclusion that most of the observed warming of the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations accurately reflects the current thinking of the scientific community on this issue.
In 2013, the NRC published the report ''Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises,'' which provided an updated look at the issue of
abrupt climate change An abrupt climate change occurs when the climate system is forced to transition at a rate that is determined by the climate system energy-balance, and which is more rapid than the rate of change of the external forcing, though it may include sud ...
and its potential impacts. This study differed from previous treatments of abrupt changes by focusing on abrupt climate changes and also abrupt climate impacts that have the potential to severely affect the physical climate system, natural systems, or human systems, often affecting multiple interconnected areas of concern.


Report on sexual assault

In 2013, the NRC published the report ''Estimating the Incidence of Rape and Sexual Assault,'' which pointed out that approximately 80 percent of
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
s go unreported to law enforcement. The report recommends that the
National Crime Victimization Survey The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), administered by the US Census Bureau under the Department of Commerce, is a national survey of approximately 49,000 to 150,000 households - with approximately 240,000 persons aged 12 or older - twice ...
adopt new approaches to interviews of rape victims, including changing the wording of questions. In an article about the report, Amber Stevenson, clinical supervisor and therapist at the Nashville Sexual Assault Center, said that
victim-blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as ...
was the main issue preventing victims from coming forward:
As long as we as a community continue to make victim-blaming statements, such as, "She put herself in this situation,"..."She didn't fight back, she must have wanted it," we will continue to see rapes go unreported ... We have to stop blaming the victim. The conversation needs to shift to the person who chose to rape.


Report on integrity in research

The 1992 report, ''Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process'' was updated in 2017 by the report, ''Fostering Integrity in Research:''
... as experience has accumulated with various forms of research misconduct, detrimental research practices, and other forms of misconduct, as subsequent empirical research has revealed more about the nature of scientific misconduct, and because technological and social changes have altered the environment in which science is conducted, it is clear that the framework established more than two decades ago needs to be updated.
One of the report's main concerns is that a growing percentage of recently published research turns out to be not reproducible due in part to inadequate support of standards of transparency in many fields as well as to various other detrimental research practices.


Other programs

The Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellowship is an annual program for current or recent graduate students to spend three months working in the National Academies. The Academies also administered the
Marian Koshland Science Museum The Marian Koshland Science Museum of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) was located in Washington, D.C. from 2004 until 2017. It featured exhibits that presented modern science and scientific issues in an accessible way, geared for the g ...
in downtown Washington until its closing in 2017; the Museum has since been replaced by LabX, a program of online resources and nationwide public events that aim to increase awareness of scientific and evidence-based solutions to community problems.


Revenue

The National Academies do not receive direct appropriations from the federal government, instead their revenue comes from grants and contracts of Federal agencies and private sources.


See also

*
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
* List of members of the National Academy of Sciences *
Member of the National Academy of Sciences Membership of the National Academy of Sciences is an award granted to scientists that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the United States judges to have made “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research”. Membership ...
* National Academies Press * United States National Research Council rankings


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
National Academy of Sciences
(NAS)
National Academy of Engineering
(NAE)
National Academy of Medicine
(NAM)
National Academies Press
(NAP)
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
{{authority control Corporations chartered by the United States Congress National academies
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
Scientific organizations based in the United States Research councils Judiciary Square