The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has had a tough couple of years. Republicans in the US Congress have put the agency under the microscope, questioning its decisions on individual grants and the purpose of entire fields of study. The agency was without a permanent director for a year, and it is now planning an expensive, and controversial, move to new headquarters. As she prepares to mark one year at the agency's helm, astrophysicist France Cordova is carefully navigating these challenges. "I used to be a mountaineer," she says. "It's all about looking at every move and how you can best do it so that you don't take a fall." But many researchers worry that Congress has begun to interfere with the scientific process. As mistrust grows, the NSF is caught between the scientists it serves and the lawmakers it answers to.
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