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The U.S. National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program has revised the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Type-2 NSF Engines program proposals, moving the deadline up to Jan. 18, 2023, among other changes, which are detailed in the revised BAA and key related resource documents that were published on Oct. 17, 2022. NSF added new preparation and content requirements, along with requirements for a Region of Service map and Mandatory Disclosure document. The NSF Engines is a new program intended to foster innovation ecosystems across the U.S. through partnerships across industry, academia, government, nonprofits, and others. More information is available here.

On the closing days of the previous federal fiscal year and with an Oct. 21 deadline looming for new proposals, the National Science Foundation announced the first 24 awards for a new program to support “Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems” (OSE). NSF’s goal is to exploit the advantages of using open-source development to find technological solutions to problems of national and societal importance. According to the program’s website, the goal is “to fund new OSE managing organizations, each responsible for the creation and maintenance of infrastructure needed for efficient and secure operation of an OSE based around a specific open-source product or class of products.”

A group of seven researchers analyzed upwards of one million National Science Foundation (NSF) proposals over a 23-year period (1996-2019) and found patterns of racialized disparities where white principal investigators (PIs) were consistently funded at higher rates (8+ percent) than most non-white PIs. The preprint study (not peer reviewed) states that similar patterns can be observed in other agencies and are consistent with other past studies as well. The question of whether systemic racism is at play in the NSF peer review and award selection process is even more pronounced when one considers more specific demographics such as Black and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander PIs.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced four new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) that will focus on agriculture, health, manufacturing and smart cities. The research centers will receive $104 million over five years and will be aimed at finding more sustainable solutions to food production, autonomous manufacturing systems, human health and the built environment, and hyperlocal street technology. The four research centers are: 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is breaking with tradition this week and for the first time released application data before it formally accepts applications for the NSF Engines program, which will provide up to $160 million of funding for up to 10+ years to establish each regional-scale innovation ecosystem Engine. The nearly 700 concept outlines have been published to help submitters in preparing successful proposals, with the belief that the applications and subsequent Engines will be strengthened if applicants are able to find one another and collaborate. NSF has also announced the Type-2 award deadlines for the Regional Innovation Engines program.

This week, Congress approved a new version of legislation to incentivize semiconductor manufacturing facilities, create a Regional Technology Hubs program, and reauthorize many science-related agencies. The Senate passed the bill on the 27th, and the House passed the legislation a day later.

To expand the innovation capacity in the nation, the United States needs to leverage resources, creativity, and ingenuity from across all geographic regions. The National Science Foundation this week announced a new program in support of these efforts: the NSF Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines program. This program encourages the creation of regional coalitions of industry, academia, government, nonprofits, civil society, and communities of practice to form partnerships that boost scientific and technological innovation and benefit the economy in a geographic region. Specifically, the NSF Engines program targets geographic areas in the U.S. that lack well-established innovation ecosystems. Awards of up to $160 million for up to 10 years ultimately will be provided. At SSTI’s Annual Conference this week, attendees learned more about this program from NSF representatives.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator intends to provide solutions with nationwide social impact at an accelerated pace. Recently, NSF announced the addition of three new research tracks for the 2022 cohort: Track H, Track I, and Track J. The latest research track topics for the NSF Convergence Accelerator include:

Following President Joe Biden’s signing of the FY 2022 budget, yesterday the National Science Foundation announced the formation of the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate that was approved in the bill. According to a statement released by NSF, the goals of this directorate will be to advance critical, emerging technologies, accelerate tech translation, and diversify the U.S. STEM workforce. TIP will leverage a suite of relocated and new programs to advance this mission.

Recognizing that the era of total U.S. dominance in the global science and engineering (S&E) enterprise is over, a recent report from the National Science Board (NSB) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) on the State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2022 indicates that the U.S. must focus on strengthening international research and development (R&D) collaboration and developing domestic STEM talent to maintain its leadership on the global S&E stage. As in previous years, the report includes a detailed examination of the statistical indicators of S&E activities, but also updates the definitions used for the S&E workforce and includes an analysis of the role of K-12 STEM education in the domestic STEM talent pipeline.