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Dear NSF Community,
Thank you for reading this issue of NSF Quarterly: News from the Director.
Our nation’s economic and national security depends on our ability not only to harness the technologies of today, but to lay the foundation for the industries of the future. We also need to inspire and train the next generation STEM workforce and unleash the potential of our innovators of tomorrow by investing in their ideas. The "CHIPS and Science Act" that was just passed by Congress will make crucial investments in NSF's mission and at an incredibly important time when global competition is fiercer than ever.
I have been traveling the country, meeting with some of the remarkable STEM talent that exists in every region of America. I am constantly inspired by the passion and ideas from researchers who are rising to the greatest challenges and building a better America thanks to the U.S. National Science Foundation. To spotlight a few outstanding exemplars, we are powering entrepreneurship in Connecticut, AI-enabled possibilities in Florida, equitable opportunities through mobility tech in Wisconsin, and critical natural hazards research with the world's largest experiment earthquake facility in California.
From scence and engineering, to innovation and technology, to STEM education and discovery, the very future is happening in places across the country and world because of NSF. That is why we launched an exciting public awareness campaign to show that NSF catalyzes the science and engineering happening everywhere in the U.S. and beyond.
Will you please join us by participating in the "Science Happens Here" campaign? I want to hear what amazing things you are making happen and where. Here is how:
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NSF's phenomenal reach extends from Antarctica, where we are celebrating the 65th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year, to the soaring heights of imagination at Awesome Con, the science fiction and comic book festival where NSF staff explained the science behind beloved sci-fi like "The Mandalorian," "Black Panther" and "Aquaman."
Finally, I am thrilled to share that NSF is again one of the "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government®." We strive for excellence. That is why I can tell you we did not just make the list — we moved up to the second spot among mid-sized agencies. It is thanks to the amazing NSF team, who work every day to ensure curiosity starts at NSF, that innovation can happen anywhere and opportunities for STEM participation are everywhere.
Sincerely,
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Sethuraman Panchanathan
Director, National Science Foundation
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In a warm, humid forest clearing, the Tyrannosaurus rex was calmly chewing on the carcass of a duck-billed dinosaur, when a small white light appeared in the sky. The light grew larger and larger, until it became blinding; the dinosaur never finished its lunch. Read more ...
Environmental engineer Detlef Knappe was surveying water quality in North Carolina watersheds in 2013 when his team found something surprising in the Cape Fear River Basin: high levels of a group of human-created chemicals called “PFAS” that are linked to a host of health issues, including cancer. Read more ...
Packing foam is forever – it can't be recycled, and its petroleum-based plastic components can persist in the environment for centuries. With packaging waste making up about one-third of total U.S. waste every year, it's a major challenge. Read more ...
Writing in the journal Nature, scientists at the University of California San Diego and Scripps Research, along with local and federal public health officials, describe how wastewater sequencing provided dramatic new insights into levels and variants of SARS-CoV-2 on campus and in the broader community — a key step in public health interventions in advance of COVID-19 case surges. The work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Read more ...
Engineers at Princeton University, supported by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, have developed a new class of renewable solar energy technology. The team successfully manufactured a perovskite solar cell that can operate above industry standards for close to 30 years, a significant increase over the prior threshold of 20 years. The new technology is efficient and performs at the same level as silicon-based cells. Read more ...
Want more? From Earth’s poles to black holes, read more NSF stories about transforming the world through science.
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On August 11 at 7 p.m. EDT, join ecologist Kim Bernard and her team live from Palmer Station, Antarctica for an event in honor of the first ever World Krill Day. In this live Zoom event, learn how NSF researchers study krill, small crustaceans that play an important role in the marine food web, and why they are so important to the health of the ocean.
Register for the event online today
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NSF's International Research Experiences for Students program supports international research and research-related activities for U.S. science and engineering students. Join the IRES program team at an upcoming virtual office hours aimed at giving potential principal investigators an opportunity to ask questions. Sessions will be held 1-2 p.m. EDT on August 9, August 16, August 23, August 30, September 6 and September 13.
Save the date and access the zoom link.
Image caption: Desert Eyes PI Barbara Tewksbury (Hamilton College) works with Egyptian student Marwa Abu Amra to collect orientation data on bedrock structures. Credit: Barbara Tewksbury
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In case you missed it – on-demand sessions from the 'Spring 2022 NSF Virtual Grants Conference'
NSF hosted the "Spring 2022 NSF Virtual Grants Conference" June 6-10, 2022. This conference is designed to give new faculty, researchers and administrators key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF. NSF program officers provided up-to-date information about specific funding opportunities and answered attendee questions. Visit the NSF Grants Conference Resource Center to access presentations and recorded sessions from the conference.
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Search and save the date for other upcoming NSF events.
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Science happens all over the country and around the world, from big research vessels and telescopes to small labs and classrooms. With the launch of the "Science Happens Here" campaign, NSF is inviting you – our community – to join in sharing stories of the amazing science, engineering, innovation, STEM education, research facilities, future workforce and more that are powered by the agency.
Want to be part of the fun? Share your stories with us by accessing the "Science Happens Here" toolkit for ways to participate on social media, including easy-to-use templates and examples for inspiration. NSF will amplify your stories on its platforms, and together we will show the impact of partnerships across all sectors to create new knowledge, drive innovation and empower U.S. STEM talent. Learn more about the campaign in this Science Matters story.
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NSF is currently seeking nominations for exceptional candidates that represent the diversity of the nation. This annual award, established by Congress in 1975, recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by NSF. In addition to a medal, the awardee receives a grant of $1,000,000 to use over a five-year period for scientific research or advanced study. 2023 Alan T. Waterman Award nominations will be accepted through September 16, 2022.
The Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations program supports strategic linkages among U.S. research networks and complementary networks abroad that will leverage research and educational resources to tackle grand challenges that require significant coordinated international efforts. The program seeks to foster high-impact science and engineering by providing opportunities to cooperatively identify and coordinate efforts to address knowledge gaps and research needs. Proposals are due October 10, 2022.
NSF, in partnership with the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, recently released a solicitation for the Partnership to Advance Conservation Science and Practice program, which aims to accelerate the use of data and research in conservation efforts. This program will support conservation science and science-informed conservation practice in the U.S. Proposals are due October 11, 2022.
The NSF Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems program, or POSE, offers researchers a novel pathway for open-source development. The POSE Phase II program, aligned to the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, provides up to $1.5 million in funding to support the transition of promising open-source research products into sustainable and robust open-source ecosystems. Proposals are due October 21, 2022.
This new solicitation seeks to establish two centers and up to five hubs to develop the infrastructure needed to generate and disseminate new knowledge, successful practices and effective design principles arising from research on and work at Hispanic-serving institutions, or HSIs. NSF's goal is to create a robust national ecosystem consisting of multi-sector partners to support and share knowledge and successful models of undergraduate STEM education at HSIs, build institutional capacity, and effectively broaden participation of students that are historically underrepresented in STEM. A letter of intent is due November 14, 2022.
This program invites proposals focused on using the Design-Build-Test-Learn platform capabilities at the Agile BioFoundry to develop testable prototypes based on the latest advances in synthetic engineering biology. Proposals are due March 15, 2023.
NSF and the Social Science Research Council invite research proposals that can reveal the complex factors that contribute to effective public health guidance and provide rigorous evidence that will be useful for decision-makers seeking to improve and protect the health of their communities.
Search for more NSF funding opportunities in your field and check out NSF 101, our informational series for the science and engineering research community. NSF 101 answers commonly asked questions for applicants who might be new to applying for NSF funding opportunities and want to know more about how to communicate with NSF.
How does your research impact society? Scientists and engineers funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation are accountable to taxpayers for conducting research, and collectively moving their research beyond the lab to impact the public good, thereby benefitting the economy, society and discovery itself. This is what NSF defines as "Broader Impacts." Read more ...
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