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NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines)

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NSF 24-565

Important information about NSF’s implementation of the revised 2 CFR

NSF Financial Assistance awards (grants and cooperative agreements) made on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the applicable set of award conditions, dated October 1, 2024, available on the NSF website. These terms and conditions are consistent with the revised guidance specified in the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2024.

Important information for proposers

All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

Supports multi-sector coalitions focused on accelerating technology, workforce development and economic growth within a particular region of service.

Supports multi-sector coalitions focused on accelerating technology, workforce development and economic growth within a particular region of service.

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.

Program contacts

NSF Engines Program Team
engines@nsf.gov (703) 292-7463

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