New Directions in Catalysis Science and Technology

化学部特别项目办公室的这一奖项为美国国家科学院物理科学、数学和资源委员会化学科学与技术委员会(BCST)的一项研究提供部分资金，该研究将确定催化科学和技术的研究前沿。近年来，美国在催化科学和技术领域的领导地位日益受到日本和西欧研究人员的挑战。在此期间，美国科学家和工程师越来越多地认为，催化领域的研究机会变得不那么及时和有趣。人们普遍认为，美国在催化研究方面的总体努力的规模和活力还没有达到有效满足未来国家需求和国际挑战所需的水平。BCST认为，催化领域取得进一步进展的科学基础是强大的，一份高能见度的报告提供了对研究前沿的实质性讨论，可以在很大程度上将注意力集中在该领域的新方向上，并为全国广大受众提供有前景的研究领域的简要指南。该项目由美国国家科学基金会化学部和化学与热系统部、美国陆军研究办公室、美国能源部等来源联合支持，将汇集约8名杰出的学术和工业研究人员，从化学、生物化学、化学工程、分子生物学、固体物理和材料科学界汲取意见，吸收这些意见，起草一份40页的报告，广泛宣传并分发给学术和工业研究人员。

This award from the Office of Special Projects of the Division of Chemistry provides funds for the partial support of a study by the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST) of the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources of the National Academy of Sciences that will identify research frontiers in catalysis science and technology. In recent years, United States leadership in the catalysis science and technology has been increasingly challenged by researchers in Japan and Western Europe. During this period, there has been a growing perception among U.S. scientists and engineers that research opportunities in catalysis are becoming less timely and interesting. It is widely acknowledged that the size and vigor of the general U.S. effort in catalysis research is not at the level needed to effectively meet future national needs and international challenges. The BCST believes that the scientific basis for further advances in catalysis is strong, and that a high-visibility report offering a substantive discussion of research frontiers could do much to focus attention on new directions in the field and to serve as a brief guide to promising research areas for a broad national audience. This project, which is jointly supported by the Division of Chemistry and the Division of Chemical and Thermal Systems of the NSF, the U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other sources, will bring together some eight distinguished academic and industrial researchers to draw input from the chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, molecular biology, solid state physics, and materials science communities, assimilate that input, and craft a forty-page report that will be widely publicized and distributed to academic and industrial researchers.