Foundations of a Healthy and Vital Research Community for NASA Science

The U.S. space science community includes thousands of scientists across multiple disciplines that influence and are influenced by the many engineers, technicians, and support personnel that are part of the space research enterprise. Over one-third of NASA's budget is devoted to space science, and the agency currently operates over 50 space missions in the fields of astrophysics, Earth science, solar and space physics, planetary science, and the biological and physical sciences. The strength of NASA science lies with its people, both those who work directly for the agency and the thousands of researchers and professionals who are funded by NASA grants and contracts.

At the request of NASA, this report examines the foundation for healthy and vital research communities. Foundations of a Healthy and Vital Research Community for NASA Science identifies the characteristics of a healthy and vital research community, defines implementable measures for assessing the health and vitality of a research community, describes the types of data that NASA should be collecting to enable future assessments of the health and vitality of the scientific work force, and recommends best practices to improve the health and vitality of NASA's research communities.

• Front Matter
• Summary
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Identifying the Characteristics of a Healthy and Vital Research Community
• 3 Assuring Strong, Clear Science Priorities
• 4 Ensuring a Healthy People Enterprise
• 5 Addressing Programmatic Issues
• 6 Implementable Measures for Assessing the Health and Vitality of NASA SMD's Research Community
• 7 Recommending and Prioritizing Promising Practices
• References
• Appendixes
• Appendix A: Statement of Task
• Appendix B: Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Appendix C: Committee Biographies