4 physics research centers set their sights on new frontiers with $76 million from NSF

NSF invests in 4 Physics Frontiers Centers to help researchers punch through tough scientific barriers and see what's on the other side.

Exploring, understanding and harnessing mysterious phenomena at the frontiers of physics are the aims of four research centers to be backed by $76 million in funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation through its Physics Frontiers Centers program. The centers will tackle some of the most challenging — and potentially rewarding — areas of physics research.

NSF Physics Frontiers Centers bring together large teams of researchers to produce boundary-breaking results. Such work requires years of concentrated effort, a range of scientific and technical expertise and new types of equipment. Among the four newly funded centers are one new center and three that successfully competed for renewed funding from NSF. Each will receive between $14 million and $25 million over six years.

"Research teams at NSF Physics Frontiers Centers have made breakthrough after breakthrough, such as creating remarkable new states of matter and revealing the first evidence for the gravitational wave background of the universe," says NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "While different in their respective areas of focus, NSF's newly funded centers are all bold team efforts to punch through to exciting new vistas of scientific exploration. Achieving transformative opportunities requires us to reach those vistas through new technologies and other advances and have a look around."

📰 In case you missed it

Quantum-scale sensors to yield human-scale benefits with new backing from NSF

A new breed of sensors may one day allow doctors to pinpoint infections inside individual cells, or geologists to find subterranean mineral deposits without lifting a shovel. Bringing such innovations to fruition is the goal of 18 research teams backed by a $29 million investment from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The aim is to harness the infinitesimal — and sometimes counterintuitive — quantum-scale properties of nature to create new opportunities at the human scale.

Did someone forward this message to you?
You can subscribe to get NSF news and updates directly to your inbox.