The first $90 million has been awarded through NSF’s new program Information Technology Research (ITR) initiative. The goal of the program is to build US leadership in information technology (IT) through support of fundamental research and innovative applications of IT. The ITR program is designed to strengthen the nation’s IT knowledge base as well as the IT workforce.

During its six years in operation, the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program has awarded more than $150 million in grants to strengthen the education of technicians for the high tech fields driving our economy. The ATE Program is managed jointly by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Undergraduate Education and the Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education.

Since its inception in 1975, the Alan T. Waterman Award remains the highest honor awarded by the National Science Foundation. The award is conferred annually to the young researcher who has demonstrated exceptional individual achievement in scientific or engineering research of sufficient quality to place them at the forefront of their peers. The awardee receives a $500,000 nonrestrictive grant over a three-year period for continued research.

"How we view -- and treat -- the environment is a critical question for the 21st century," begins the letter from Eamon Kelly, chair of the National Science Board, that accompanies Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century: The Role of the National Science Foundation. The study outlines the scope of the $600 million in current NSF environmental activities and conveys policy guidance for NSF to design a future $1.6 billion portfolio of programs and initiatives.

Two-thirds of all U.S. research and development (R&D) expenditures in 1997 were concentrated in just ten states according to a July 10, 2000 Data Brief from the National Science Foundation. In contrast the 20 lowest ranking states in R&D expenditures accounted for only four percent of the $199 billion total. 

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and its sponsors have more than $1 million available through several programs to support and recognize science students and teachers. Applications are currently available for the following programs: 

Minnesota Technology, Inc. seeks candidates to fill the position of Technology Transfer Specialist. The incumbent will help bring Federal Technology Transfer activities to Minnesota companies by developing partnerships with federal labs, identifying opportunities for tech transfer activities in Minnesota companies, and assisting companies with the development of proposals, agreements and licenses. 

More than 240 of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers, including 14 Nobel laureates, will begin sharing their passion for discovery with middle school students across the nation as a result of the “Scientists and Engineers in the Schools” program. Announced last week, the program is a new initiative of the National Science Foundation.

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the world's largest organization dedicated to the improvement of science teaching, and ExxonMobil Foundation today announced a $3.9 million grant from the Foundation to expand the Building a Presence for Science initiative.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released the first request for proposals under the new Partnerships for Innovation Program (PFI).

The National Science Foundation seeks applications to fill the position of Legislative Specialist (GS 301-11/12). The Legislative Specialist's work is closely related to the often-time critical flow of information about NSF programs and activities to the Congress, Congressional staff, state officials, industrial leaders, and the general public.

Legislation to be reconciled by a conference committee of the Minnesota State Legislature next week includes language creating a $15 million fund to support industry-university research collaborations. The North Star Research Coalition, a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation, would be established by the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to administer the one-time appropriation. 

The South Atlantic region leads the nation in doctoral scientist and engineer employment rates, according to Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States: 1997 (NSF 00-308), prepared by the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF completed an in-depth demographic and employment study of doctoral scientists and engineers taken from the 1997 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR).

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has several solicitations open currently. Four opportunities of particular interest to the S&T community are highlighted below. These and additional funding opportunities from NSF can be found on a web page that conveniently lists the solicitations by deadline: http://www.nsf.gov/home/deadline/deadline.htm 

This past winter, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released most of the statistical tables compiled from the 1998 surveys of federal, academic and industrial research and development expenditures. Also included are early release tables presenting federal support for science and engineering to universities, colleges and nonprofit institutions.

Universities play a central role in supporting regional technology-based economic development and only one small federal grant program focuses each funding cycle toward new models for improving university-centered collaborative innovation strategies. The Partnership for Innovations (PFI) Program within the National Science Foundation (NSF) opened a new round of competition last week, offering funding of up to $600,000 for 10-15 successful proposals.

On Friday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released Science & Engineering Indicators 2006, an update for the nation's most significant, quantitative and neutral assessment of the health of the U.S. and international science and engineering communities.

National R&D spending increased by $10.1 billion in fiscal year 2003, according to a recent National Science Foundation (NSF) InfoBrief. The increase followed an $8.1 billion decrease in FY 2002 expenditures over the FY 2001 level, the data show.

In Perfectly Competitive Innovation, a March 2002 research department staff report for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine address whether current copyright, licensing and patent laws which grant monopolist rights to inventors beneficial or harmful to the innovation process. The authors suggest the latter in certain markets. 

Industrial R&D intensity — measured by the ratio of industry R&D to Gross State Product (GSP) — can be a useful S&T indicator, because it indicates the level of private sector R&D activity and standardizes the data to eliminate geographic, demographic, historical, and natural resource differences among the states. 

The National Science Foundation has released a new set of statistical tables that show research and development (R&D) funding levels, reported by 31 federal agencies for the last three fiscal years.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published the Science & Engineering State Profiles: 1999-2000, an online database. One-page statistical summaries are given for each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, permitting calculation of per capita statistics and rankings.

Increasing globalization of research and development (R&D) and the prolific growth of information technology (IT) are major elements in a "science and engineering enterprise that is in transition," the National Science Board (NSB) reports in Science and Engineering Indicators 2000.

The National Science Foundation has released two statistical reports that present several science and engineering statistics by state: 

The McKnight Foundation has committed $44.5 million over ten years to support scientific research in neuroscience/memory and brain disorders.