NSF announces programs to support science talent and new technologies
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The National Science Foundation announced plans to launch programs and initiatives supporting the vision in the White House report Science: A New Golden Age. The programs combined with the $1.5 billion in investments announced in August will help the agency improve how it evaluates and supports science, harness super intelligence to accelerate discovery, and invest in exceptional students and early-career researchers.
NSF is establishing an Office of Metascience to serve as a testbed for studying how scientific communities respond to novel review and funding mechanisms. A job announcement for the head of the office will be forthcoming.
NSF is launching two Grand Research Challenge prize competitions. The Quantum+X Grand Research Challenge will accelerate quantum innovation for sectors like energy, biotechnology, and finance. U.S. participants will be invited to compete and showcase algorithm and application solutions.
The second competition is the Synthetic Multicellularity Prize Grand Challenge. U.S. participants will be invited to compete in a multistage challenge to showcase new computational and experimental approaches in synthetic and engineering biology.
NSF is launching the NSF X-Labs Consortium with an initial set of founding partners representing over $300 million in commitments. The consortium will support teams with floor space, instrument access, and direct support.
NSF will soon release a funding opportunity tied to the NSF Programmable Cloud Laboratories Network with a focus on Super Intelligence-Native Instruments. NSF anticipates an investment of up to $75 million over the next five years.
NSF is investing $30 million over four years in National Math Stars, fully matched by private philanthropy. The investment will help grow existing talent identification and development programs and support a scalable digital platform to assist families. The NextGen Workforce program will help students earning STEM graduate degrees enter the workforce faster.
