Pending congressional appropriations, the NSF Engines program aims to add additional regions to the 10 inaugural awardees announced earlier this year, expanding innovation potential across the U.S.

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a funding opportunity to invest in a new set of NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) across the U.S. In January, NSF announced the 10 inaugural NSF Engines, and the latest opportunity looks to build upon that investment, pending congressional appropriations.

What's new for this competition?

In this round of funding, the NSF Engines program is only accepting proposals for full NSF Engines, competing for up to $160 million over 10 years. Proposers will be asked to submit a letter of intent in place of a concept outline and a short preliminary proposal.

New to this round of funding, tribal nations and state and local government agencies are eligible to submit a proposal as the lead organization.

NSF does not require that proposers have an NSF Engines Development Award nor previous support from NSF or other federal agencies. Any organization that meets the eligibility requirements specified in the funding opportunity may apply.

Proposals must be submitted via Research.gov. Letters of intent are due by June 18, 2024.

Synopsis

The NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program creates regional-scale, technology-driven, inclusive innovation ecosystems throughout the United States by accelerating key technologies, addressing regional, national, societal, and/or geostrategic challenges, driving economic growth, creating and retaining quality jobs, expanding equitable pathways into careers, and strengthening national competitiveness and security. Each NSF Engine represents a formal coalition of regional partners, led by a full-time Chief Executive Officer (CEO), tasked to carry out an integrated and comprehensive set of activities spanning use-inspired research, translation of innovation to practice, entrepreneurship, workforce development, community engagement, and ecosystem building, to nurture and accelerate the growth of regional innovation ecosystems grounded in technological innovation and regional, national, societal, and/or geostrategic challenges. The mission of an NSF Engine must be clearly rooted in regional interests and reflect the aspiration that a regional innovation ecosystem can help build strong communities where all residents can thrive. This includes the equitable development of regional talent, intentional community engagement, and attention to impacts on a region's identities and cultures. The NSF Engines program is a placed-based innovation funding initiative, where the emphasis on "regions" expresses NSF's aim to stimulate innovation-driven economic growth within a particular place or region of service. The emphasis of the NSF Engines program further includes creating new business and economic growth in sectors that are critical to American competitiveness and in those regions of America that have not fully participated in the technology boom of the past several decades.

More information can be found on the NSF Engines program website.

Register for the 2024 NSF Engines Funding Opportunity Webinar on Thursday, April 25, 2024, at 2 p.m. ET.