 Marking a Spring of Progress
As we mark the official start of summer, we want to take a few minutes to reflect upon the initiatives and investments that we have catalyzed through the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships over this past spring, as we continue to advance use-inspired and translational research to accelerate key technologies, address pressing national, societal, and geostrategic challenges, and engage all Americans in new, high-wage, good-quality jobs.
Over the last few months, we deepened our commitment to bring innovation to every corner of the country, reflecting NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan’s vision that we must create opportunity everywhere because there is innovation potential anywhere. The NSF Convergence Accelerator began expanding to 10 U.S. regions to enhance national and regional research and innovation competitiveness. These 10 regional Convergence Accelerators will promote convergent research and innovation by connecting researchers, practitioners and stakeholders from various sectors and domains across each region to expand the region’s innovation ecosystem and address regional challenges. This expansion of the Convergence Accelerator will allow NSF to more fully harness the geography of innovation by increasing the concentration, proximity and diversity of NSF-funded researchers and practitioners, and by scaling the delivery of use-inspired solutions to benefit every part of the country.
Separately, TIP has put a spotlight on driving the development and translation of breakthrough technologies in areas not only aligned with the “CHIPS and Science Act of 2022” but also of timely criticality to U.S. competitiveness. Three recent initiatives are serving to accelerate progress in key areas of advanced wireless communications and biotechnology. The Breaking the Low Latency Barrier for Verticals in Next-G Wireless Networks (Breaking Low) opportunity will break through the historic low-latency barrier in next-generation wireless networks, which is instrumental to enabling a range of applications from agriculture to emergency management. The Use-Inspired Acceleration of Protein Design (USPRD) opportunity is designed to accelerate AI-based translational research in protein design. Advancing Cell-Free Systems Toward Increased Range of Use-Inspired Applications (CFIRE) looks to speed up the adoption of cell-free systems for biochemical applications. And Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing in Practice – just issued yesterday, in alignment with the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence – seeks to spur hardening and maturing of the outputs of foundational privacy research, leading to the development of practical privacy-preserving data-sharing solutions. For Breaking Low, USPRD, and CFIRE, TIP is specifically bringing together researchers from across academia and industry to form multisector teams. PDaSP constitutes a collaboration between NSF, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration and National Institute of Standards and Technology, and two companies, Intel and VMware.
TIP is also striving to streamline the process for entrepreneurs to get access to the resources necessary to bridge the varied valleys between the research lab and society. Just this week, TIP boosted the award levels for Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Phase I projects to $305,000 and for SBIR/STTR Phase II projects to $1.25M. And in an effort to reduce administrative burden for both small businesses and NSF, TIP launched the SBIR/STTR Fast Track pilot, which allows companies to develop new products and services based on NSF-funded research conducted in the last five years. Fast Track operates by requiring periodic reviews that can unlock more than $2M per project, focusing on what matters most: getting innovations from the lab to the market and society. Read the three new SBIR/STTR solicitations and get started by submitting a Project Pitch today.
With the acceleration of technology translation and development, the U.S. will need a skilled technical workforce spanning all of the key technology areas. Complementing investments at the community college, undergraduate, and adult and continuing education levels, TIP partnered with the Directorate for STEM Education to launch the NSF Research Traineeship Program Institutional Partnership Pilot (NRT-IPP), a new track of the NSF Research Traineeship program that will specifically provide industry-inspired training to graduate students.
Often our work in TIP cuts across the Foundation, across the federal government and across key technology areas. These cross-cutting efforts include a pilot effort with Halo designed to create new, diverse partnerships among emerging research institutions in U.S. higher education and industry innovators to accelerate breakthrough technologies to impact; a collaboration between NSF and the U.S. Department of Treasury Federal Insurance Office seeking to catalyze research that advances the insurance sector’s modeling and underwriting of terrorism and catastrophic cyber risks; and supplemental funding for the long running NSF Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program to expand advanced wireless testing capabilities and propel Open Radio Access Network ecosystem innovation and growth.
As we advance into the second half of 2024, we look forward to continuing to work with you all – a growing NSF community – to invest in new frontiers for American innovation.
Erwin Gianchandani
NSF Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships
Gracie Narcho
NSF Deputy Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships
TIP Program and Partnership Updates
Foster diverse innovation ecosystems
NSF Convergence Accelerator expands to 10 U.S. regions
NSF Convergence Accelerator is expanding to 10 U.S. regions to enhance national and regional research and innovation competitiveness. These 10 regional Convergence Accelerators will promote convergence research and innovation by connecting researchers, practitioners and stakeholders from various sectors and domains across each region to expand its innovation ecosystem and address regional societal and economic challenges. The expansion of the NSF Convergence Accelerator will more fully harness the geography of innovation by increasing the concentration, proximity and diversity of NSF-funded researchers and practitioners, and by scaling the delivery of use-inspired solutions to benefit every part of the country.
To kick off regional expansion and enhance national and regional competitiveness in research and innovation, the program hosted a series of events in the Midwest region in May. Additional expansion events will take place this summer in the Southeast region. In July, the program will be hosting two in-person events for the Southeast region in Jackson, Mississippi, (July 25) and Atlanta, Georgia (July 31). Over the next three years, regional expansion events will take place in each of the NSF Convergence Accelerator's 10 geographic regions.
NSF announces Convergence Accelerator Phase 1 awards in chemical sensing and equitable water solutions
In February, NSF announced a $10.4M investment in 16 teams to begin Phase 1 of Track L: Real World Chemical Sensing Applications to develop solutions for wide range of challenges related to chemical and biological sensing and a $9.8M investment in 9 teams in Track K: Equitable Water Solutions combining environmental sciences, geosciences, computing, engineering and social and behavioral sciences to address challenges such as freshwater supply and management; hydrologic systems and infrastructure; and resiliency against rising temperatures, drought and pollution.
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New funding opportunity seeks to invest in additional NSF Engines
From idea to NSF Engine: The history of the Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine
Learn the history of how one NSF Engine - the Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine - teamed with others within its region to become one of the inaugural NSF Engines. The Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine is working to establish a tech-based, industry-driven hub for new battery componentry, safety testing and certification, pilot manufacturing, applications integration, workforce development and energy storage, including through material sourcing and recovery.
Accelerate technology development and translation
New $12M funding opportunity seeks to break the low-latency barrier for next generation of wireless network applications
On February 21, NSF announced a new $12M funding opportunity to convene innovators in wireless communications to develop and validate low-latency communications technologies. Breaking the Low Latency Barrier for Verticals in Next-G Wireless Networks (Breaking Low) is a two-year initiative that seeks to identify and solve critical architectural, technical and technological issues that must be resolved in current fifth-generation (5G) and next-generation (Next-G) wireless networks. The outcomes will contribute to U.S. leadership in wireless communications and myriad other key technology focus areas that stand to benefit from NextG networks.
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New $40M funding opportunity accelerates the translation of novel approaches to protein design to bolster the U.S bioeconomy
New $40M funding opportunity seeks to accelerate the adoption of cell-free systems for biochemical applications
NSF launches new investment to accelerate the transition of privacy-enhancing technologies to practice
NSF names 9 winners of VITAL Prize Challenge
On February 29, NSF announced 9 winners of the Visionary Interdisciplinary Teams Advancing Learning (VITAL) Prize Challenge. Throughout the competition, participating teams received training from industry experts, mentorship from educators and research and development support through three competitive rounds of programming. The teams span the challenge's three technology tracks and received grand prize winnings of up to $250,000 per team. This $6M prize challenge was made possible through a partnership between NSF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures and the Walton Family Foundation.
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NSF and NobleReach Emerge select 11 projects to speed biotechnology development and translation
NSF and industry partners announce sustainable polymer research funding opportunity
On May 2, NSF launched a $9.5M research opportunity in partnership with BASF, Dow, IBM, PepsiCo Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co to fund multidisciplinary work to enable the accelerated creation of safe, sustainable and high-value polymers on a commercial scale. Sustainable Polymers Enabled by Emerging Data Analytics (SPEED) is part of NSF's Molecular Foundations for Sustainability program and seeks to accelerate the discovery and manufacture of superior and sustainable polymers to enhance national competitiveness and tackle global challenges such as plastic waste. NSF is providing $7M, and the five industry partners are collectively contributing $2.5M in funding and in-kind donations.
NSF boosts funding amounts for SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II programs to better support the nation's innovation and entrepreneurship community
NSF announces pilot for startups and small businesses to 'fast-track' successful development of technological innovations
Grow talent and resource development
NSF launches trainee track to help prepare graduate students to enter STEM careers
NSF partners with Micron and GlobalFoundries to invest in semiconductor workforce development at minority-serving institutions
On May 21, NSF announced a new partnership with Micron Technology, Inc., and GlobalFoundries (GF) to increase access to equitable education and develop the next generation of a diverse, semiconductor-ready science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. Through this partnership, NSF will invest in semiconductor workforce development at U.S. minority-serving institutions, including historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving Institutions to diversify the semiconductor workforce and build pathways for people to access careers through education and career reentry initiatives.
Cross-cutting efforts
NSF invests in a pilot to catalyze partnerships between industry and researchers in emerging research institutions
NSF seeks to stimulate research in areas that support the effective provision of insurance against terrorism and catastrophic cyber risks
NSF invests $7M to expand advanced wireless testing capabilities, propel O-RAN ecosystem innovation and growth
On April 11, NSF announced $7M in additional funding for the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program to augment the PAWR testbeds' capacities for testing and validation of Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) systems and subsystems. This additional funding expands PAWR’s capabilities as Open Testing and Integration Centers and makes O-RAN testing and verification services available to a wider audience, enabling the PAWR platforms to increase their testing capabilities in this space. The funding in this key technology area is directly aligned with the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022," which calls for accelerating the translation of technology.
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