Program officers at the National Science Foundation: a case study of the Biological Instrumentation Program

Abstract

This is a case study analyzing the program officers of the Biological Instrumentation Program at the National Science Foundation. It was conducted in order to fill a lacuna in the literature concerning the program officers of science funding agencies. The current literature places the program officer in a black box, implying an autonomous professional. In contrast this study portrays the Program Officer as embedded in a web of relationships extending within and without the Foundation. Constructivist and relativist approaches to science studies argue for the significance of the influence of these 'non-scientific' relationships on all contemporary scientific activity. The study describes the web of resource relationships surrounding the program officer and how the program officer wields power that may affect the content and submission of proposals for scientific research grants.