Letters of Intent
The U.S National Science Foundation NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program is creating regional-scale innovation ecosystems across the U.S. To apply for the program under the current funding opportunity, organizations were required to submit a letter of intent (LOI) with information on the overarching challenge their NSF Engine aims to address and their key technology areas, partners and geographic footprints. NSF has published nearly 300 LOIs.
Use the data to find partners
Regions benefit from proactive teaming and collaboration. Use the published data from LOIs to reach out to potential partners and build strong, collaborative teams.
Encouraging place-based innovation and investment
The NSF Engines program requires applicant teams to define their geographic region of service and lead their application submission with that information. LOI submitters should know about and connect with others within their regions and topic areas. By publishing the accepted LOIs, NSF hoped to connect applicants before the preliminary proposal deadline in July 2024.
Unlocking new partnerships
The NSF Engines program garners interest from a variety of organization that may not naturally be connected to one another. Nonprofits, foundations, investors, state and local government officials, tribal governments and community organizations have all expressed interest in connecting with NSF Engines. By publishing data from the LOIs, NSF aims to create opportunities across the U.S. for like-minded groups to connect with submitters (within one's community and beyond) to offer ideas, capital, expertise and more. The agency hopes this process leads to stronger teams with a more diverse set of partners.
Power in the data
As a leading science and technology agency, NSF believes in the power of transparently sharing data. Given other federal and state government efforts to build regional ecosystems and capacity, NSF saw the value in sharing data early, rather than waiting until awards are made. The agency encourages you to build tools and visualizations on top of its data.
Past events
In the video below, the NSF Engines program team provides an overview of the NSF Engines program, describes the new funding opportunity, and reviews the proposal submission and merit review process.
The slide deck used in the video can be downloaded here: TIP and NSF Engines overview slides. (PDF, 1.97 MB)
The NSF Engines Roadshows are a series of five regionally focused virtual events held during the spring of 2024 that served as jumping-off points for NSF Engines application discussion development. Each roadshow included an overview of the NSF Engines program, a fireside chat with current NSF Engines awardees and interactive breakout rooms for regional collaboration.
Roadshow Highlights
Roadshow 1 (AR, CO, KS, MO, ND, NE, NM, OK, SD, TX):
May 7, 2024
Fireside Chat Guests:
- Melissa Sharp, North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine
- Per Stromhaug, Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine
Roadshow 2 (CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT):
May 9, 2024
- Kaneisha Bailey Akinpelumi, Louisiana Energy Transition Engine
- Catherine Armstrong, North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine
Roadshow 3 (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY, territories):
May 14, 2024
- Anna Herr, Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine
- Alan Rudolph, Colorado-Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine
Roadshow 4 (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, PR, SC, TN, VA, VI):
May 16, 2024
Fireside Chat Guests:
- Hollie Mackey, North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Engine
- Olga Petrova, Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine
Roadshow 5 (IA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, OH, PA, WI, WV):
May 20, 2024
- Kathy Cochran, North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Engine
- Mike Freeman, Colorado-Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine.
Subscribe to the NSF Engines email list to receive information about more events taking place in the coming months.
Ways to stay connected
Sign up for the NSF Engines email list
Subscribe to the NSF Engines email list to receive information program updates, announcements, funding opportunities, webinars and more.
Contact
Email the NSF Engines program team with questions about the program. Most emails are answered within one business day.
Additional information
The NSF Engines team has created an interest form to help members of the innovation community connect with and support the NSF Engines development awardees and NSF Engines awardees. NSF recognizes that building robust innovation ecosystems across the country requires identifying and working with new sources of talent and building strong cross-sector collaborations. The goal of this interest form is to create an entry point for individuals, organizations and funders who are interested in supporting our portfolio of NSF Engine awardees and/or working within an NSF Engine to share their information.
Run by The Engine Accelerator, a public benefit corporation with origins at MIT, the Builder Platform is a unique post-award support model that will provide tailored resources and a high level of personalized engagement and support that will significantly contribute to the success of the NSF Engines program. The NSF Engines Builder Platform isn't a technology platform or app, but rather is an entirely new way of thinking about post-award support — a human-centered portfolio of support structures that empowers awardees with the tools, networks and capital needed to thrive. It's inspired and informed by the support systems pioneered by venture incubators and accelerators, national philanthropy and lessons learned from prior place-based investment efforts.
As NSF continues to support and invest in America's innovation economy, we also seek to foster collaboration, encourage knowledge sharing, and facilitate meaningful discussions to drive innovation forward. For your knowledge, NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) developed a glossary of shared vocabulary used in the dynamic and ever-evolving innovation ecosystem space. Review the glossary to understand terminology frequently used at NSF to describe key terms, ideas and concepts to aid in navigating through and communication about innovation, entrepreneurship and ecosystem building.