This week with NSF Director Panchanathan

This week, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan reiterated the agency's mission and goals of diversifying the U.S. STEM workforce enterprise, recruiting and retaining new talent, and expanding partnerships and program collaborations around the world.

On Monday, Panchanathan delivered a keynote at the grand opening of Northeastern University's EXP, a state-of-the-art, 357,000-square-foot, energy-efficient research facility outfitted with labs, classrooms and a makerspace at the university's Boston, Massachusetts, campus. Attendees at the event included elected officials — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu; Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey; U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Jim McGovern (D-MA); and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — Biogen CEO Christopher Viehbacher; leaders, faculty, staff and students from Northeastern and surrounding universities and community colleges; industry stakeholders; and members of the media. Read more about the visit.

Later, the director welcomed Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan, deputy chief of mission of the Embassy of India, to NSF headquarters. Ranganathan has been instrumental in advancing relations and fostering cooperation between the U.S. and India. Strategic collaboration efforts across international research, science and technology communities are opening opportunities for joint research in critical and emerging technologies and leveraging strong scientific and cultural connections to impact the prosperity of the people of both nations.