The Committee on Smithsonian Scientific Research was charged to provide specific recommendations and a rationale with criteria on what parts of the Smithsonian’s research portfolio should continue to be exempt from priority setting through competitive peer-reviewed grant programs because of uniqueness or special contributions. The charge to the Committee called for a review of the scientific research centers that report to the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Science—the National Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the National Zoological Park, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education, and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. The Committee was also charged to consider the effects on the Smithsonian, the research centers, and the relevant scientific fields of re-allocating the current federal support to a competitive process. Finally, the Committee was asked to make recommendations on how any Smithsonian science programs that continued to receive direct federal appropriations should be regularly evaluated and compared with other research in the relevant fields. The Committee was not asked to review the funding of SI research centers that report to the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for American Museums and National Programs.