Internet Research Task Force
The Internet Research Task Force is a sister group to the IETF. Its stated mission is “To promote research of importance to the evolution of the future Internet by creating focused, long-term and small Research Groups working on topics related to Internet protocols, applications, architecture and technology”.It is composed of research groups that study long-term issues relating to the Internet and related technologies. The list of current groups can be found on IRTF's homepage.
The IRTF is managed by the Internet Research Steering Group or IRSG which corresponds to the similar organization called IESG on the IETF side. The chair of the IRTF is appointed by the IAB for a two year term. The current IRTF chair is Vern Paxson.