Partial Core Support of the Board on Physics and Astronomy

物理与天文学委员会（BPA）是美国国家科学院和国家研究委员会（NRC）的中心，负责处理与物理和天文学相关的活动，以及它们与工程、医学、化学、生物学和其他科学的互动。BPA的主要目标是保持对物理学和天文学研究现状的认识，确定新出现的需求，并发起解决问题和促进持续进步的研究。BPA通过与学术界、联邦机构及其咨询委员会、政府实验室、工业、相关科学和技术协会以及NRC的其他董事会和委员会的物理和天文团体密切合作来实现这些目标。BPA为实现影响所使用的重要机制之一是对这些领域进行定期的十年评估。由BPA发起和监督的天文学、天体物理学和物理学子领域的调查，在为主要设施的优先次序和解决这些领域更广泛的问题建立共识方面非常有效。通过促进物理学和天文学的进步，BPA帮助丰富了国家在学术界、工业界和政府实验室的知识企业。

The Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA) serves as the focal point in the National Academies of Sciences and the National Research Council (NRC) for activities related to physics and astronomy and their interactions with engineering, medicine, chemistry, biology, and other sciences. The BPA's principal objectives are to maintain an awareness of the status of research in physics and astronomy, to identify emerging needs, and to initiate studies that address problems and that foster continued progress. The BPA fulfills these objectives by working closely with the physics and astronomy communities in academia, federal agencies and their advisory committees, government laboratories, industry, relevant scientific and technical societies, and other boards and committees of the NRC.Among the important mechanisms used by the BPA to achieve impact are periodic decadal assessments of the fields. The surveys of astronomy and astrophysics and subfields in physics, which the BPA initiates and oversees, have been very effective in establishing a consensus on priorities for major facilities and for addressing broader issues in these fields. By facilitating progress in physics and astronomy, the BPA helps to enrich the nation's intellectual enterprise in academe, industry, and government laboratories.