In May 2023, NSF awarded the first-ever NSF Engines Development Awards to 44 unique teams spanning 46 U.S. states and territories and run by businesses, nonprofits, universities, and other organizations. In April 2024, NSF awarded another 14 NSF Engines development awards to a subset of the NSF Engines semifinalists and finalists, bringing the total number of NSF Engines Development Awards to 58. Through these up to $1 million planning awards, NSF is seeding the future for communities to grow their regional economies through research and partnerships. These two-year awards will unleash ideas, talent, pathways, and resources to create vibrant innovation ecosystems across the United States.
Review or download a full list of NSF Engines Development Awards on the NSF award search page.
Explore the Map
Use this interactive map to learn more about each award. The map tool includes award details including regional coverage, institutional diversity, topic areas, and key technology areas. All data used to inform the development of this map were drawn from proposals submitted to NSF.
Key technology areas
The NSF Engines program supports projects across the key technology areas of artificial intelligence, high-performance computing or semiconductors, quantum information technology, robotics, technology for disaster prevention, communications technology, bioengineering, data storage, energy, and materials.
Broadening participation
The awardees span a broad range of states and regions, reaching geographic regions that have not fully benefited from the technology boom of the past decades. These NSF Engines Development Awards will help organizations create connections and develop their local innovation ecosystem within two years to prepare strong proposals for becoming future NSF Engines, where they will have the opportunity to receive up to $160 million.
Geography
NSF Engines represent regional coalitions that cross state and county borders and focus on advancing technologies to address pressing national and societal challenges and create economic opportunities across the U.S.
Demography
The NSF Engines development awards represent diverse coalitions that expand STEM opportunities to people of all racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, and to persons with differing abilities. These awards include minority-serving institutions, tribal organizations, and organizations new to NSF funding.
"These NSF Engines development awards lay the foundation for emerging hubs of innovation and potential future NSF Engines," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "These awardees are part of the fabric of NSF's vision to create opportunities everywhere and enable innovation anywhere. They will build robust regional partnerships rooted in scientific and technological innovation in every part of our nation. Through these planning awards, NSF is seeding the future for in-place innovation in communities and to grow their regional economies through research and partnerships. This will unleash ideas, talent, pathways and resources to create vibrant innovation ecosystems all across our nation."