The U.S. National Science Foundation announced 25 new awards through the agency's NSF Research Traineeship (NSF NRT) program, expanding NSF NRT's reach to 45 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The $75 million investment supports awardees spanning 16 states, one NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) jurisdiction, five Hispanic-serving institutions and three historically Black universities.
The program engages graduate trainees in convergence research and innovative traineeship activities to prepare the STEM leaders of tomorrow in areas of national critical interest. Such areas include artificial intelligence, climate resiliency, quantum materials and STEM entrepreneurship. Collaboration with private, academic, governmental and other partners is strongly encouraged. The program is creating a new generation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics talent that reflects the diversity of the nation’s communities and is prepared to develop innovative solutions to future challenges. Over 5,000 trainees have been supported through the program’s 10-year tenure.
In July, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan's remarks at the National Science Board meeting underscored NSF's role at the forefront of scientific innovation and workforce development in the United States. The director, himself a former NRT principal investigator, recognized the 10th anniversary of the NRT program while also highlighting its impact: "When I talk about changing the landscape and trajectory, we all can feel proud of the accomplishments of just one program of NSF over the last decade: 190 project awards, 20 NSF EPSCoR jurisdictions involved, 45 states engaged, 115 unique institutions participating, 3,000 NRT supported students and 5,000 trainees prepared. This is the scope and scale of what we can do. So when we talk about the future, there is a lot more desire, a lot more intention, across the nation to do more of these trainings that are relevant and important for the future. And we need to make sure that we're making that possible." The 10th anniversary of the NRT program will be commemorated with special events throughout the year, starting at the NRT annual meeting in October.
The NRT program advances research by training graduate students in interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through a comprehensive traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based and aligned with evolving workforce and research needs. The program is transforming STEM graduate education nationwide; institutional support is critical for sustaining the program's numerous successes.
The 2024 NRT awards include the following projects:
- NRT: ENERGIZE ? Interdisciplinary graduate program integrating data science in energy materials research, Trustees of Boston University
- NRT-AI: Responsive and Resilient AI for Autonomous Systems Engineering (RAISE), University of New Mexico
- NRT-AI: An Innovative Approach to AI for Sustainability Science & Engineering to Foster Decarbonization of Energy & Agri-Food Systems through Convergence in STEM Graduate Training, Cornell University
- NRT-URoL: Emergent Intelligence Research for Graduate Excellence in Biological and Bio-Inspired Systems (EmIRGE-Bio), Syracuse University
- NRT-HDR: Data-Driven Discovery and Engineering from Atoms to Processes (3DEAP), University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
- NRT: Design for Equity in Policies, Products, Processes, Places and Pedagogy for People: A transdisciplinary approach to graduate research training, University of Texas at El Paso
- NRT-FW-HTF: NSF Traineeship in the Sustainable Development of Smart Medical Devices, Georgia Tech Research Corporation
- NRT-AI: Graduate Training in Translational Convergent Research - Harnessing AI and Data Science for Sustainable Agriculture (GRAD-AID for Ag), North Carolina State University
- NRT-AI: Enabling AI on the Fly, Texas A&M University
- NRT: Chips for All: Empowering Researchers from Diverse Disciplines to Design Hardware, New York University
- NRT-QISE: Quantum Science, Technology and Applied Research at Florida International University (Q-STAR), Florida International University
- NRT: Convergent Graduate Research Training for CMOS+X Semiconductor Technologies, Rochester Institute of Tech
- NRT: Community Resilience to Cascading Impacts of Extreme Events and Geohazards Across Scales Through Engaged Scholarship and Learning, Portland State University
- NRT-GCR, AI: Immersive Research Traineeship in the Convergence of Artificial Intelligence, Energy and Cyber Security, Tennessee Technological University
- Collaborative Research: NRT-Al: AI-driven next-generation semiconductor materials and devices, Johns Hopkins University
- Collaborative Research: NRT-Al: AI-driven next-generation semiconductor materials and devices, Morgan State University
- NRT: CLIMATE-CARE: Climate Action and Resilience for Extreme Urban Heat, University of Pennsylvania
- NRT-QISE: Broad Research in Interdisciplinary Development for Groundbreaking Engineering in Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics, William Marsh Rice University
- Collaborative Research: NRT: Next Generation Technology and Talent Driven by Environmental Sustainability, Purdue University
- Collaborative Research: NRT: Next Generation Technology and Talent Driven by Environmental Sustainability, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University
- Bioindustrial Engineering for Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST), University of California-Davis
- NRT-HDR: CAMBIUM - Climate change Adaptation and Mitigation through Biodiversity Informatics edUcation and Mentoring, University of Arizona
- NRT: Team Science for Integrated Biomedical Engineering and Social Science Training (BEST), University of California-Irvine
- NRT-AI: Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research Technologies (Track 1), University of Southern California
- NRT: Science, Technology, Engineering, Program for Upward Partnership (STEP-UP) for Advancing Microelectronics Education and Training, University of South Florida