nsf

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is soliciting proposals from institutions of higher education to join a network of Innovation Corps (I-Corps) regional nodes that will work cooperatively to establish, utilize and sustain a national innovation ecosystem that further enhances the development of technologies, products and processes that benefit society. NSF intends to commit approximately $2 million to establish four regional nodes that will be diverse in research areas, resources, tools, programs, capabilities, and in geographic locations. Applications must be submitted by October 19, 2012. Read the announcement...

An InfoBrief from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) provides a preview of the results of NSF's latest survey of R&D activities performed and funded by state government agencies in FY09. Though the InfoBrief is not a comprehensive guide to state R&D spending, the summary sheds some light on state research priorities. A total of $1.2 billion in spending was reported by state agencies, which also were asked about the type of R&D performed with those funds. Unlike past NSF reports on state R&D expenditures, this year's InfoBrief also includes a more detailed breakdown of spending by agency in California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding allowed the U.S. federal government to maintain steady funding of research and development (R&D) during the economic crisis. Now that the vast majority of those funds have been spent, however, the U.S. will have to step up its support of R&D to remain competitive. Earlier this year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics released some illuminating data on how an increase in federal spending helped buoy U.S. R&D as the country's gross domestic product (GDP) declined in 2009 (see the April 4, 2012 issue). Several NSF releases over the past few months have detailed the vital role ARRA funding played in bolstering federal R&D spending as private sector spending fell.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a report on federal research and development (R&D) spending — Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 2008–10. It percents data collected from NSF surveys sent to all 27 federal agencies that were conducting R&D programs in early 2008. Total R&D spending is reported as both outlays and obligations for those three fiscal years (FY). In this report, the basis for reporting is determined by fiscal year:

This week, both the U.S. House and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science and related agencies (CJS) approved FY13 funding legislation supporting several key TBED agencies. Press releases from the Senate CJS subcommittee and the House appropriations committee suggest that funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program will likely remain close to the level indicated in the president's FY13 budget at $128 million or a bit higher. FY13 funding for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) is less certain, with the current Senate bill allocating $238 million and the House bill funding it at only $220 million.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NSCES) has released a series of InfoBriefs that track U.S. R&D spending from 2009-10, as the country endured and began to recover from the recession. In 2009, U.S. R&D spending suffered its first decline since the 1950s, though that decline was minimal (0.6 percent) and much smaller than the drop in U.S. GDP (2.5 percent). After adjusting for inflation, the $400.5 billion spent on R&D in 2009 represents a slightly larger decrease (1.7 percent) than in current dollars.

The U.S. Senate has passed an FY12 funding bill encompassing appropriations measures for the Department of Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The bill includes funding for NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation, as well as other technology agencies and programs. By combining the separate appropriations bills, the Senate hopes to increase its leverage in conferences with the House. The American Institute of Physics publication FYI has prepared a breakdown of technology-related agency funding in the bill.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced that it will award $74 million total for the creation of four interdisciplinary research and education centers as part of the third generation of NSF Engineering Research Centers. In addition to their primary focus on commercialization and education, these centers will emphasize innovation, entrepreneurship, small business collaboration, and international partnerships. For the first time, two of the ERCs will be co-funded by the Department of Energy. One, led by Arizona State University, will investigate quantum energy and sustainable solar technologies. A second at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville will develop more reliable and efficient electricity transmission networks. The other two ERCs will focus on research into urban water infrastructure and mind-machine interface at Stanford University and the University of Washington, respectively.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a $27.5 million, five-year grant to the University of Maryland for a multi-disciplinary research center focused on the interplay of human activity and healthy ecosystems. The grant is the largest ever received by the university and will provide funds for research in environmental sciences, public policy, engineering, computer science and economics. Additional funding will be provides by the University of Maryland, College Park, the university's Center for Environmental Science, Resources for the Future (a nonprofit research organization) and the state of Maryland. Read the announcement...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, a public-private partnership, intends to connect NSF-funded scientific research with a project team, made up of professionals from the technological, entrepreneurial and business communities, to help transition NSF-funded scientific and engineering discoveries at institutions of higher education into commercial technologies, products and processes. I-Corps grants will provide financial support to project teams in determining the commercialization potential of the technologies developed through previous or current NSF awards. Each I-Corps team will include a principal investigator, an entrepreneurial lead and an I-Corps mentor. The outcome of each I-Corps funded project will be: