NSF offers $1.5 billion in foundational research funding
The National Science Foundation announced a dozen new science funding opportunities for foundational research totaling $1.5 billion.
The new notice of funding opportunities (NOFOs) issued Monday includes both long- and short-term goals and spans research areas such as physics, engineering, computing systems, biology, geosciences, and astronomy. The Trump administration is touting the opportunities as a means to further its federal research-and-development priorities.
“America’s scientific enterprise is shaped by how we empower researchers to explore the frontiers of discovery,” Brian Stone, an agency official who is performing the duties of NSF director, said in a statement. “The investment that we are announcing today will enable researchers to accelerate fundamental research, giving rise to the transformational breakthroughs that will power our future.”
An NSF spokesperson told FedScoop the “funding opportunities are subject to the availability of funds via the annual appropriations process.”
Per the agency’s announcement, the new opportunities “take a portfolio-based approach” rather than treating research questions alike and will “enable structured experiments in how NSF supports discovery.” It also said the new opportunities “are shorter, fewer in number and easier to navigate” in an effort to attract “a broader cross-section” of the country and cut back on paperwork.
NSF grants have been a flashpoint of President Donald Trump’s second administration. The agency has sought to prohibit grants related to diversity, equity and inclusion; cancel awarded funds; and implement controversial changes to its federal grant procedures.
Just last week, the Justice Department told the agency that three of its STEM education programs are unconstitutional on the basis that they factor in race and ethnicity. That finding came in response to a request from NSF’s general counsel to review those programs for potential equal protection clause violations and see if the funds could be moved around.
The announcement of funding opportunities reflects recent statements from the administration on plans for federal research funding.
In a recent article for The Economist, Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios said the U.S. “should adopt a portfolio approach to funding that includes both fast, exploratory grants and longer-term support, matching the timeline to the researcher’s work.” That echoed a lengthy policy report Kratsios issued in July on the country’s scientific research and development strategy.
The Trump administration also previously announced $1.5 billion over the next decade for a program aimed at addressing major scientific challenges called X-Labs. The first round of those funding opportunities included research on sensing and imaging instruments that leverage quantum- and AI-based technologies, as well as research to advance quantum systems.
