nsf research

Prepare & Submit Proposals

Prepare, submit and check status of proposals

•   Letters of Intent and Proposals
•   Demo Site: Prepare Proposals
•   Check Proposal Status

Proposal/ Panel Review

Review proposals, participate in panels

• Proposal Review
• Panelist Functions

Awards & Reporting

Submit project reports, notifications & requests, and supplemental funding requests

•   Project Reports
•      Demo Site: Project Reports (Training)
•   Notifications & Requests
•   Deposit Public Access Publication
•   Award Documents
•   Supplemental Funding Requests (including Career-Life Balance)
•      Demo Site: Supplement Funding    Requests (Training)
•   Continuing Grant Increments Reports

Fellowships & Honorary Awards

Nominate colleagues, apply for awards

• Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
• Honorary Awards
•   Manage Reference Letters (Writers)

Manage Financials

View or submit cash requests, reports, and individual banking information

•   Submit or manage payment transactions
•   More about ACM$
•   Program Income Reporting
•   More about Individual Banking

Administration

Manage your account and user roles

•   User Management

NSF Award Highlights

•   Explore Scholarly publications in the NSF Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR)
•   Search awards going back to 1994

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS. A lock ( Lock Locked padlock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Most NSF systems and services, including NSF.gov, Research.gov and FastLane, will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 11 p.m. EDT – Saturday, April 27, 8:00 a.m. EDT due to extended maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

NSF invests $90M in innovative national scientific cyberinfrastructure for transforming STEM education

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced today a strategic investment of $90 million over five years in SafeInsights, a unique national scientific cyberinfrastructure aimed at transforming learning research and STEM education. Funded through the Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure Level-2 program (Mid-scale RI-2), SafeInsights is led by OpenStax at Rice University, who will oversee the implementation and launch of this new research infrastructure project of unprecedented scale and scope.

SafeInsights aims to serve as a central hub, facilitating research coordination and leveraging data across a range of major digital learning platforms that currently serve tens of millions of U.S. learners across education levels and science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

With its controlled and intuitive framework, unique privacy-protecting approach and emphasis on the inclusion of students, educators and researchers from diverse backgrounds, SafeInsights will enable extensive, long-term research on the predictors of effective learning, which are key to academic success and persistence.

"We are thrilled to announce an investment of $90 million in SafeInsights, marking a significant step forward in our commitment to advancing scientific research in STEM education," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "There is an urgent need for research-informed strategies capable of transforming educational systems, empowering our nation's workforce, and propelling discoveries in the science of learning. By investing in cutting-edge infrastructure and fostering collaboration among researchers and educators, we are paving the way for transformative discoveries and equitable opportunities for learners across the nation."

Because progress in science, technology and innovation increasingly relies on advanced research infrastructure — including equipment, cyberinfrastructure, large-scale datasets and skilled personnel — this Mid-scale RI-2 investment will allow researchers to delve into deeper and broader scientific inquiries than ever before. This will help society answer long-standing questions across STEM education, address the evolving needs of the scientific community, and strengthen U.S. leadership in STEM on a global scale.

As SafeInsights progresses, it will support a dynamic and vibrant community of multidisciplinary scientists and engineers, fostering collaborative efforts that unlock crucial insights into human cognition that can lead to effective teaching strategies for diverse learners nationwide.

By introducing a new era of personalized education, SafeInsights will equip educators and institutions with the knowledge and tools to create tailored programs, pedagogies and policies that will empower learners to thrive in today's dynamic educational landscape and tomorrow's workforce.

"Research is essential for advancing education and taking learning to the next level," said Richard Baraniuk, SafeInsights leader, OpenStax director and Rice University professor. "To answer fundamental questions of what works, for whom, and in what learning contexts, we need large-scale, reliable research. SafeInsights brings together learning researchers, educators, schools, and colleges in a secure environment to get the answers we need while strongly protecting students and their interests."

• Learn more about the Mid-scale RI-2 program
• View the project abstract

Research areas

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) leads and supports research to improve insights and discoveries in support of its mission, the federal statistical system, and research communities. As a principal statistical agency within the National Science Foundation (NSF), our specific work is strategic and nuanced, working to advance our mission to collect, interpret, analyze, and disseminate objective data on the science and engineering enterprise within a global context.

NCSES maintains an active research agenda that guides practice, strategy, and internal decision-making. Our research is conducted in a variety of ways. Although some of our work is driven by NCSES staff, other investigations partner with our data collection contractors and external collaborators. Explore highlights of our current research initiatives below.

NCSES's Commitment to Quality

NCSES encourages staff to pursue research interests independently and through strategic collaborations. One area of focus in recent years has been record linkage of NCSES data with other sources to answer new questions about STEM doctorate holders and other topics of interest. NCSES also conducts methodological experiments on our surveys to improve data collection procedures, with a particular focus on reducing costs and improving nonresponse. In addition, NCSES routinely conducts qualitative testing of survey questions and questionnaires to continuously improve our survey instruments.

Existing Research Partnerships

NCSES partners with several organizations in support of its research program.

• Our Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) provides research opportunities primarily to U.S. institutions of higher education and their collaborators to conduct a variety of research projects that support the strategic objectives of NCSES and partner federal statistical agencies. Much of what appears on the annual BAA is informed by the Research Agenda. More information can be found on our  Funding Opportunities page.
• Data science training
• Secure data access
• Data linkage research
• Rich context project
• NCSES coordinates with the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM) to support research and data quality. NCSES financially supports the FCSM grant program coordinated by NSF’s Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics program .
• We provide technical consultation on the development of the government-wide probability-based online panel, Ask US. More information will be provided on this project as it develops.
• Discovery of emerging trends for U.S. federally funded R&D
• Initiative on skilled technical workforce

Continuing Innovations

All major funding decisions for NCSES are guided by our Research Agenda. Some of our major research areas include:

• Privacy and data protections
• Innovative use of auxiliary data
• Reducing respondent burden
• Understanding sexual orientation and gender identity in STEM

NCSES also uses experimental online panel surveys, called bridge panels, as an internal mechanism for research. With these bridge panels, a subsample of our survey population is used to test survey improvements, such as new versions of survey questions and new methods of data collection. If testing shows positive results, these changes will be implemented in the next wave of the survey.

Visit our FAQ page for more information. You may also contact us at [email protected] . 

Get e-mail updates from NCSES

NCSES is an official statistical agency. Subscribe below to receive our latest news and announcements.

Apr. 24, 2024

Rice’s openstax awarded $90m to lead first-of-its-kind nsf research hub for transformational learning and education research, safeinsights brings together researchers, educational institutions and digital learning platforms to enable timely, impactful studies designed to overcome the challenges faced in education.

OpenStax at Rice University was awarded $90 million from the National Science Foundation to build and lead SafeInsights , a groundbreaking research and development (R&D) hub for inclusive learning and education research to benefit tens of millions of students and their instructors across all educational levels.

According to project leaders at OpenStax, the world’s largest publisher of free, open education resources, R&D is a powerful tool for advancing education, but it remains difficult to conduct large-scale, reliable research that yields the strongest results for students and teachers. SafeInsights will enable extensive, long-term research on the predictors of effective learning while protecting student privacy. This five-year project represents the NSF’s largest single investment in R&D infrastructure for education at a national scale.

“We are thrilled to announce an investment of $90 million in SafeInsights, marking a significant step forward in our commitment to advancing scientific research in STEM education,” NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said. “There is an urgent need for research-informed strategies capable of transforming educational systems, empowering our nation’s workforce and propelling discoveries in the science of learning. By investing in cutting-edge infrastructure and fostering collaboration among researchers and educators, we are paving the way for transformative discoveries and equitable opportunities for learners across the nation.”

Funded through NSF’s Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 (Mid-scale RI-2) program , which places it alongside other critical infrastructure for scientific discovery such as telescopes and supercomputers, SafeInsights is the largest research award in the history of Rice. 

SafeInsights will serve as a central hub for a multidisciplinary team of 80 partners and collaborating institutions, including major digital learning platforms that currently serve tens of millions of U.S. learners. The inclusion of researchers, educators, developers and students from diverse, representative backgrounds will be a top priority. 

“SafeInsights represents a pivotal moment for Rice University and a testament to our nation’s commitment to educational research,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said. “It will accelerate student learning through studies that result in more innovative, evidence-based tools and practices.”   

According to national polls conducted by the Data Quality Campaign, 86% of teachers recognize the importance of research in effective teaching. However, the majority of teachers must individually piece together research-informed teaching and learning strategies, often with limited resources.

Through SafeInsights, the education research community will generate research-informed insights about teaching and learning for educators, institutions and learning platforms to use to create tailored programs, pedagogies and policies that will equip learners to thrive.

“Education R&D opens up opportunities to better understand how students learn in different contexts,” said Richard Baraniuk, SafeInsights leader, OpenStax director and Rice professor. “Learning is complex. Research can tackle this complexity and help get the right tools into the hands of educators and students, but to do so, we need reliable information on how students learn. Just as progress in health care research sparked stunning advances in personalized medicine, we need similar precision in education to support all students, particularly those from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds.” 

To accomplish its objectives, SafeInsights has a world-class, experienced team with OpenStax-Rice University, 40 partners and 39 collaborating institutions: 

• R&D partners with expertise in learning and education research, open science, technology, student data privacy, community engagement and project management, including: AEM Corporation, Arizona State University (ASU), Center for Open Science, Digital Promise, Future of Privacy Forum, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse College, National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships, Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity in Education, TERC, The University of Chicago, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Washington University in St. Louis and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. 
• Digital learning platforms spanning all age groups, including lead-partner OpenStax, ASSISTments, EdPlus at ASU, CourseKata, Infinite Campus, Inc., iSTART, Quill.org, TERC’s Data Arcade, UPenn’s Massive Online Open Courses, Western Governors University (WGU) and The WritingPal.
• Thought partners providing implementation guidance. 
• Collaborating educational institutions, 77% of which are minority-serving institutions.

By instrumenting large-scale digital learning platforms for research, SafeInsights will capture a comprehensive picture of the learning process currently unavailable to researchers, including information from past academic experiences that can be paired with what is known about current learning processes, said Baraniuk. For example, a research study could reveal what strategies are most effective for middle school students struggling with reading comprehension in algebra to prepare them for success in high school and college. SafeInsights makes it possible to conduct comprehensive research studies while safeguarding privacy, added Baraniuk. These studies can be replicated and expanded across different platforms, enabling a deeper understanding of the multitude of factors that influence learning outcomes, leading to the development of more effective, evidence-based teaching methods and tools. 

“By design, SafeInsights stringently protects student privacy through an innovative architecture that makes large-scale information about learning available for research without revealing that protected information to researchers,” said J.P. Slavinsky, technical director at OpenStax and executive director of SafeInsights. Instead, researchers will develop study plans and analysis software to operate within digital learning platforms. This software will access learning information through secure data enclaves to produce aggregate insights about learning. The aggregate knowledge will undergo careful human oversight to check that it contains no identifiable student information before being returned to researchers, ensuring that all data remains secure within the original platforms and educational institutions, he said.

Prior awards from the NSF, Institute of Education Sciences (R305N210064), individuals and philanthropic funders like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, Walton Family Foundation, Valhalla Foundation and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation equipped OpenStax with the experience and capacity to lead this major R&D effort. Looking ahead, SafeInsights will collaborate with funder networks to leverage this national R&D infrastructure and grow its reach. To learn more about SafeInsights and support for its future work, please visit safeinsights.org .

Watch the April 24 news conference here .

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Machine learning
• Social justice
• Black holes
• Classes and programs

Departments

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Architecture
• Political Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
• Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
• Lincoln Laboratory
• School of Architecture + Planning
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
• Sloan School of Management
• School of Science
• MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

Two MIT teams selected for NSF sustainable materials grants

Press contact :.

Previous image Next image

Two teams led by MIT researchers were selected in December 2023 by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator , a part of the TIP Directorate, to receive awards of $5 million each over three years, to pursue research aimed at helping to bring cutting-edge new sustainable materials and processes from the lab into practical, full-scale industrial production. The selection was made after 16 teams from around the country were chosen last year for one-year grants to develop detailed plans for further research aimed at solving problems of sustainability and scalability for advanced electronic products.

Of the two MIT-led teams chosen for this current round of funding, one team, Topological Electric, is led by Mingda Li, an associate professor in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. This team will be finding pathways to scale up sustainable topological materials , which have the potential to revolutionize next-generation microelectronics by showing superior electronic performance, such as dissipationless states or high-frequency response. The other team, led by Anuradha Agarwal, a principal research scientist at MIT’s Materials Research Laboratory, will be focusing on developing new materials, devices, and manufacturing processes for microchips that minimize energy consumption using electronic-photonic integration, and that detect and avoid the toxic or scarce materials used in today’s production methods.

Scaling the use of topological materials

Li explains that some materials based on quantum effects have achieved successful transitions from lab curiosities to successful mass production, such as blue-light LEDs, and giant magnetorestance (GMR) devices used for magnetic data storage. But he says there are a variety of equally promising materials that have shown promise but have yet to make it into real-world applications.

“What we really wanted to achieve is to bring newer-generation quantum materials into technology and mass production, for the benefit of broader society,” he says. In particular, he says, “topological materials are really promising to do many different things.”

Topological materials are ones whose electronic properties are fundamentally protected against disturbance. For example, Li points to the fact that just in the last two years, it has been shown that some topological materials are even better electrical conductors than copper, which are typically used for the wires interconnecting electronic components. But unlike the blue-light LEDs or the GMR devices, which have been widely produced and deployed, when it comes to topological materials, “there’s no company, no startup, there’s really no business out there,” adds Tomas Palacios, the Clarence J. Lebel Professor in Electrical Engineering at MIT and co-principal investigator on Li’s team. Part of the reason is that many versions of such materials are studied “with a focus on fundamental exotic physical properties with little or no consideration on the sustainability aspects,” says Liang Fu, an MIT professor of physics and also a co-PI. Their team will be looking for alternative formulations that are more amenable to mass production.

One possible application of these topological materials is for detecting terahertz radiation, explains Keith Nelson, an MIT professor of chemistry and co-PI. This extremely high-frequency electronics can carry far more information than conventional radio or microwaves, but at present there are no mature electronic devices available that are scalable at this frequency range. “There’s a whole range of possibilities for topological materials” that could work at these frequencies, he says. In addition, he says, “we hope to demonstrate an entire prototype system like this in a single, very compact solid-state platform.”

Li says that among the many possible applications of topological devices for microelectronics devices of various kinds, “we don’t know which, exactly, will end up as a product, or will reach real industrial scaleup. That’s why this opportunity from NSF is like a bridge, which is precious, to allow us to dig deeper to unleash the true potential.”

In addition to Li, Palacios, Fu, and Nelson, the Topological Electric team includes Qiong Ma, assistant professor of physics in Boston College; Farnaz Niroui, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT; Susanne Stemmer, professor of materials at the University of California at Santa Barbara; Judy Cha, professor of materials science and engineering at Cornell University; industrial partners including IBM, Analog Devices, and Raytheon; and professional consultants. “We are taking this opportunity seriously,” Li says. “We really want to see if the topological materials are as good as we show in the lab when being scaled up, and how far we can push to broadly industrialize them.”

Toward sustainable microchip production and use

The microchips behind everything from smartphones to medical imaging are associated with a significant percentage of greenhouse gas emissions today, and every year the world produces more than 50 million metric tons of electronic waste, the equivalent of about 5,000 Eiffel Towers. Further, the data centers necessary for complex computations and huge amount of data transfer — think AI and on-demand video — are growing and will require 10 percent of the world’s electricity by 2030.

“The current microchip manufacturing supply chain, which includes production, distribution, and use, is neither scalable nor sustainable, and cannot continue. We must innovate our way out of this crisis,” says Agarwal.

The name of Agarwal’s team, FUTUR-IC, is a reference to the future of the integrated circuits, or chips, through a global alliance for sustainable microchip manufacturing. Says Agarwal, “We bring together stakeholders from industry, academia, and government to co-optimize across three dimensions: technology, ecology, and workforce. These were identified as key interrelated areas by some 140 stakeholders. With FUTUR-IC we aim to cut waste and CO2-equivalent emissions associated with electronics by 50 percent every 10 years.”

The market for microelectronics in the next decade is predicted to be on the order of a trillion dollars, but most of the manufacturing for the industry occurs only in limited geographical pockets around the world. FUTUR-IC aims to diversify and strengthen the supply chain for manufacturing and packaging of electronics. The alliance has 26 collaborators and is growing. Current external collaborators include the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI), Tyndall National Institute, SEMI, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Agarwal leads FUTUR-IC in close collaboration with others, including, from MIT, Lionel Kimerling, the Thomas Lord Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Elsa Olivetti, the Jerry McAfee Professor in Engineering; Randolph Kirchain, principal research scientist in the Materials Research Laboratory; and Greg Norris, director of MIT’s Sustainability and Health Initiative for NetPositive Enterprise (SHINE). All are affiliated with the Materials Research Laboratory. They are joined by Samuel Serna, an MIT visiting professor and assistant professor of physics at Bridgewater State University. Other key personnel include Sajan Saini, education director for the Initiative for Knowledge and Innovation in Manufacturing in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Peter O’Brien, a professor from Tyndall National Institute; and Shekhar Chandrashekhar, CEO of iNEMI.

“We expect the integration of electronics and photonics to revolutionize microchip manufacturing, enhancing efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and paving the way for unprecedented advancements in computing speed and data-processing capabilities,” says Serna, who is the co-lead on the project’s technology “vector.”

Common metrics for these efforts are needed, says Norris, co-lead for the ecology vector, adding, “The microchip industry must have transparent and open Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models and data, which are being developed by FUTUR-IC.” This is especially important given that microelectronics production transcends industries. “Given the scale and scope of microelectronics, it is critical for the industry to lead in the transition to sustainable manufacture and use,” says Kirchain, another co-lead and the co-director of the Concrete Sustainability Hub at MIT. To bring about this cross-fertilization, co-lead Olivetti, also co-director of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC), will collaborate with FUTUR-IC to enhance the benefits from microchip recycling, leveraging the learning across industries.

Saini, the co-lead for the workforce vector, stresses the need for agility. “With a workforce that adapts to a practice of continuous upskilling, we can help increase the robustness of the chip-manufacturing supply chain, and validate a new design for a sustainability curriculum,” he says.

“We have become accustomed to the benefits forged by the exponential growth of microelectronic technology performance and market size,” says Kimerling, who is also director of MIT’s Materials Research Laboratory and co-director of the MIT Microphotonics Center. “The ecological impact of this growth in terms of materials use, energy consumption and end-of-life disposal has begun to push back against this progress. We believe that concurrently engineered solutions for these three dimensions will build a common learning curve to power the next 40 years of progress in the semiconductor industry.”

The MIT teams are two of six that received awards addressing sustainable materials for global challenges through phase two of the NSF Convergence Accelerator program. Launched in 2019, the program targets solutions to especially compelling challenges at an accelerated pace by incorporating a multidisciplinary research approach.

Share this news article on:

Related links.

• Anuradha Agarwal
• Department of Materials Science and Engineering
• Materials Research Laboratory
• NSF Convergence Accelerator

Related Topics

• Materials science and engineering
• Sustainability
• Cleaner industry
• Sustainable computing
• Climate change
• Nuclear science and engineering
• Microsystems Technology Laboratories
• Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (eecs)
• National Science Foundation (NSF)

Related Articles

MIT-led teams win National Science Foundation grants to research sustainable materials

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

Two from MIT awarded 2024 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans

Read full story →

MIT Emerging Talent opens pathways for underserved global learners

The MIT Edgerton Center’s third annual showcase dazzles onlookers

Seven from MIT elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2024

3 Questions: A shared vocabulary for how infectious diseases spread

Study demonstrates efficacy of MIT-led Brave Behind Bars program

• More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

• Map (opens in new window)
• Events (opens in new window)
• People (opens in new window)
• Careers (opens in new window)
• Accessibility
• Social Media Hub
• MIT on Facebook
• MIT on YouTube
• MIT on Instagram

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS. A lock ( Lock Locked padlock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Most NSF systems and services, including NSF.gov, Research.gov and FastLane, will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 11 p.m. EDT – Saturday, April 27, 8:00 a.m. EDT due to extended maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Dear Colleague Letter: Joint National Science Foundation and United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Funding Opportunity: Supporting Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR)

April 18, 2024

Dear Colleague:

Recognizing the importance of use-inspired collaborations in promoting scientific discoveries, the National Science Foundation (NSF), in collaboration with United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA), seeks proposals to advance foundational research in agricultural robotics. These proposals should be of mutual interest to the NSF Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) program and to USDA/NIFA .

NSF's FRR program, jointly led by the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) and the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), supports research to create innovative robots with unprecedented new functionality. USDA/NIFA has the mission to provide leadership and funding for programs that advance agriculture-related sciences. Proposals submitted under this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) should present a compelling vision for pioneering robots with transformative potential in agricultural contexts. It is highly suggested that potential proposers contact the USDA/NIFA program director first (listed below) with a short narrative to determine project applicability for this program. If appropriate, an NSF program director will be further consulted.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

NSF is the lead agency for this collaboration. Proposals to be considered under this Dear Colleague Letter should have a title prefixed by "NIFA:" and should be submitted to the FRR program. Submissions will be evaluated in FRR review panels, following the requirements of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) ( https://new.nsf.gov/policies/pappg ), and the FRR Program Description ( https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/foundational-research-robotics-frr ). Proposals submitted under this Dear Colleague Letter must be clearly justified by important needs in agriculture and the agricultural sciences.

NSF will manage and conduct the review process of proposals submitted in accordance with NSF standards and procedures, as described in the PAPPG. USDA staff will participate in panels as observers during the discussion of USDA-focused proposals. Information about proposals and unattributed reviews of proposals will be shared with USDA staff. NSF and NIFA will meet as soon as possible after the proposals have been reviewed to formulate a set of funding recommendations consistent with the goals of this DCL. Note that if a proposal is selected for an award to be funded by NIFA, NSF will request the submitting institution withdraw their NSF proposal and submit to NIFA.

Recipients funded by NIFA will be encouraged to participate in annual FRR grantee meetings, along with recipients funded by NSF.

Interested parties are encouraged to contact the listed program directors at NSF and USDA/NIFA prior to submission.

TECHNICAL POINTS OF CONTACT

FRR Program Officers:

USDA/NIFA Program Officers:

Margaret Martonosi Assistant Director Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering<

Susan Margulies Assistant Director Directorate for Engineering

Graduate Research Fellowship Program

What is GRFP?

Fellowship benefits.

• Five year fellowship period with three years of financial support
• Annual stipend of $37,000
• Cost-of-education allowance of $16,000 to the institution
• No post-graduate study service requirement
• Access to supplemental funding to sustain research while on medical deferral (e.g. family leave)

Learn More »

Am I Eligible ?

To be eligible for the NSF GRFP, you must:

• be a US citizen, US national, or permanent resident
• intend to pursue a research-based Master’s or Ph.D. program in a GRFP-supported field
• be enrolled in an eligible program at an accredited United States graduate institution, with a US campus, by fall following selection
• be at an early stage in your graduate career
• have completed no more than one academic year of full-time graduate study (or the equivalent)
• Graduate students are limited to only one application to the GRFP, submitted either in the first year or in the second year of graduate school

Click here for more information

What's My Level?

Application level selection.

The GRFP Application requires you to select the academic level that best describes the stage of your academic career. Use the GRFP Academic Level Questionnaire to help you select the appropriate academic level in your application. Levels are determined as follows:

Level 1. You have not previously enrolled in a graduate degree-granting program, but plan to start graduate study next fall. Includes undergraduates in the final year of a bachelor’s degree program and individuals who previously earned a bachelor’s degree.

Level 2. First year graduate student currently enrolled in a graduate degree-granting program, who has never applied to GRFP before as a graduate student or returning graduate student, or a student currently enrolled in a joint bachelor’s-master’s degree program (must have completed three academic years in program).

Level 3. Second year graduate student who has completed no more than one academic year of graduate study while enrolled in any graduate degree-granting program, does not have a graduate degree, and has never applied to GRFP before as a graduate student or returning graduate student.

Level 4. Returning graduate student who is not currently enrolled in a degree-granting program, and may have more than one academic year in a graduate-degree granting program and/or a master’s or professional degree, followed by an interruption of at least two years just prior to the GRFP application deadline. Note: address the reasons for the interruption and why you should be considered to be in the early stages of your graduate education in the Personal, Relevant Background and Future Goals Statement.

GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers, early in their careers. Applicants must be pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education at accredited US institutions.

• Oct. 17, 2022 - Life Sciences
• Oct. 18, 2022 - Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Materials Research, Psychology, Social Sciences, STEM Education and Learning
• Oct. 20, 2022 - Engineering
• Oct. 21, 2022 - Chemistry, Geosciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physics and Astronomy
• Oct. 28, 2022 - 5:00 PM ET
• Aug. 31, 2022 - 11:15 AM to 1:15 PM ET Info for Applicants Webinar 1
• Sept. 21, 2022 - 11:15 AM to 1:15 PM ET Info for Applicants Webinar 2
• Sept. 28, 2022 - 11:15 AM to 1:15 PM ET Reading the Fine Points of the GRFP Solicitation Webinar

NSF welcomes scientists and engineers to serve as reviewers of GRFP applications. Serving as a GRFP Reviewer is an excellent opportunity to apply your research and career expertise to help identify future science and engineering leaders.

• Sep. 15, 2022 - 5:00 PM ET
• Nov. 1, 2022 - 11AM to 1 PM ET Reviewer Training Webinar #1
• Nov. 4, 2022 - 2 PM to 4 PM ET Reviewer Training Webinar #2
• Nov. 10, 2022 - 2 PM to 4 PM ET Reviewer Training Webinar #3
• Nov. 15, 2022 - 2 PM to 4 PM ET Reviewer Training Webinar #4

Reference Writers

Reference letters are a key component of a strong GRFP application package. The most effective reference letters provide detailed and specific information about how an applicant meets the NSF Merit Review Criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.

• Oct. 5, 2022 - 11:15 AM to 1:15 PM ET Info for Reference Writers & Research Mentors
• Oct. 6, 2022 - 11 AM to 1 PM ET Reference Writers Webinar

• Kansas State University

Status of ITS resources

• K-State home
• » K-State News
• » K-State students receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards

K-State News

• K-State Today
• Seek research magazine
• Graduation/honors lists

K-State News Kansas State University 128 Dole Hall 1525 Mid-Campus Dr North Manhattan, KS 66506

785-532-2535 [email protected]

K-State students receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowship awards

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

MANHATTAN — Eight current and former K-State students were selected or named honorable mention for the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program , a five-year fellowship that includes an annual stipend of $37,000. The current students selected for the program are Kalea Nippert, senior in ecology and evolutionary biology, St. George ; Kale Stahl, senior in applied mathematics and physics, Topeka ; Carson Connard , senior in mathematics, The Woodlands, Texas ; and Shannon Ruble, doctoral student in psychology, Parkersburg, West Virginia . The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, or NSF GRFP, recognizes graduate students pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in mathematics, engineering, technology or science. Its purpose is to maintain quality, vitality and diversity in the nation's scientific and engineering workforce. "These exceptional students have been honored with this prestigious fellowship, showcasing not only their academic ability but also their commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge," said David Rosowsky, vice president for research. "We are proud of their achievements and anticipate the groundbreaking discoveries and innovations they will lead in the future." Nippert, who will graduate in May, has been completing an undergraduate research project under Zak Ratajczak, assistant professor of biology, since 2022. Her research is focused on understanding extreme fire effects within woody plant communities and if extreme fire could be used as a management strategy to control woody encroachment occurring throughout global grassland and savanna ecosystems. "The NSF GRFP will allow me to be fully funded — my tuition will be paid for the duration of my Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina Greensboro," Nippert said. "This will help me reach my goals of getting a Ph.D. and becoming a research ecologist. I am very honored and excited to have the chance to receive the GRFP." Stahl is researching inverse scattering problems, with Dinh-Liem Nguyen, associate professor of mathematics. The purpose of their research is to develop a stable "imaging functional" for periodic objects. "The GRF is a very prestigious award, and receiving it will allow me to focus on research and passing my qualifying exams in my first years of graduate school," Stahl said. "I will be attending Purdue University's mathematics Ph.D. program in the fall, and this fellowship will allow me to start research almost immediately. I'm very excited that I will be able to do more research earlier, as research is by far my favorite part of studying mathematics." Connard, who will graduate Summa Cum Laude in May, is working with Lino Amorim, associate professor of mathematics, on a project focused on developing algebraic invariants for Lagrangian suborbifolds. "The GRFP will not only allow me to focus significantly more time and energy on research in graduate school, but it will also allow me to live more comfortably due to the generous size of the fellowship," Connard said. "I intend to pursue my Ph.D., and I aim to work in research — ideally in the academic realm — as a career. I am absolutely and completely honored to have received this prestigious distinction, and I have only just begun to reap its benefits." Connard will attend the University of Washington in the fall to pursue his Ph.D. Ruble is in her second year studying neural mechanisms of fear and avoidance behaviors in rats and how social interactions impact them. She is conducting her research with Maria Diehl, professor of psychological sciences. Ruble, who will complete her doctorate in the spring of 2027, said that after she earns her Ph.D., she plans to pursue a career in either academia or science communication. "The NSF GRFP provides me with an opportunity to conduct high-quality research and communicate the findings through publications and conference presentations," Ruble said. "I will also be able to mentor undergraduates involved in my GRFP-funded work and help them pursue careers in STEM as I would in a future career in academia." Abigail Schmidt, senior in environmental biology and natural resources and environmental science, Shawnee , was named honorable mention. Her research focuses on how climate extremes, like drought, will impact ecosystem structure and function. Ratajczak, assistant professor biology, is her research mentor. Schmidt will attend graduate school at Utah State University to study savanna ecosystems. Along with Nippert, Stahl, Connard, Ruble and Schmidt, three recent K-State graduates were also selected for the fellowship or named honorable mention: Reilly Jensen, a May 2021 bachelor's graduate in Spanish and biology, Buhler , who is at Wichita State University, fellowship recipient; Maxwell Harman, a May 2022 bachelor's graduate in biochemistry, Inman , who is now at Michigan State University, fellowship recipient; and Cole Wilson, May 2021 bachelor's graduate in biochemistry, Wichita , who is now at Northwestern University, honorable mention. Please visit the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program website for more information about the program. Kansas State University undergraduates and first-year graduate students interested in applying for the NSF Graduate Fellowship should contact Beth Powers, director of Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research and the Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships , at [email protected] .

Media contact

Division of Communications and Marketing 785-532-2535 [email protected]

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships

Buhler, Inman, Shawnee, St. George, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas; The Woodlands, Texas; and Parkersburg, West Virginia.

• Statements and disclosures
• Accessibility

• Manhattan, KS 66506
• 785-532-6011
• © Kansas State University
• Updated: 4/24/24

• MyU : For Students, Faculty, and Staff

Onrí Jay Benally receives 2024 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Doctoral student Onrí Jay Benally is a 2024 recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Benally is currently pursuing his doctoral research under the guidance of Distinguished McKnight Professor and Robert F. Hartmann chair Jian-Ping Wang exploring the world of quantum computing and spintronic devices. 

A Navaho (Diné) tribesman and carpenter, Benally comes to us from the mountains of Red Valley and Oak Springs, Arizona. After graduating from tribal high school, he found himself building off-road electric vehicles at a Utah State University lab led by Professors Curtiz Frazier and Jared Barrett. Two years later, in 2017, he transferred to the University of Minnesota and accepted a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) through the NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University. During this time, he worked with Professor Vlad Pribiag (School of Physics and Astronomy) building nanoelectronic devices in the cleanroom for Majorana fermion research. The REU was Benally’s first brush with quantum technology exploration. He returned to the MRSEC REU in summer 2018 and this time he worked with Wang on micro and nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions for classical computer memory and logic applications. He earned his bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies from the University in 2021. 

While Benally was working on his undergraduate degree, he earned an IBM certificate in quantum computation using Qiskit, and began hypothesizing how metallic-based spintronics and new architectures could be used to support the expansion of quantum supercomputing worldwide. The initial hypothesis motivated him to enter ECE’s doctoral program in fall 2022. 

Reflecting on his interest in quantum technology and his skills as a carpenter, Benally says, "Carpentry was my livelihood on the tribe before completing my undergraduate degree. It is a big part of who I am and has indirectly led to my success as a nanofabricator of spintronics and quantum chips." Benally shares that one of his first toys as a kid was a toy hammer. 

Benally’s research interests revolve around the engineering of quantum computing hardware and spintronic devices. An interdisciplinary area, his research involves the nanofabrication of ultrafast nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions, cryogenic magnetic random-access memory (cryo-MRAM), and hybrid spintronic quantum processing units (QPUs), systems that can form scalable, sustainable quantum hardware architectures. Under the guidance of Wang, Benally designs and fabricates these systems at the Minnesota Nano Center at the University. Benally addressed these new developments in his keynote speech at the Arizona State University-led Quantum Collaborative Summit this past fall in San Antonio, Texas. Over the upcoming summer, Benally will be a graduate intern with IBM Research in Yorktown Heights, New York. As a quantum hardware engineer, he will be working on cutting edge cryogenic electronics for large-scale superconducting quantum computers.

Benally has accepted the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and feels honored to start delivering on his proposed ideas on supporting quantum supercomputing through spintronics and new architectures. 

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program helps “ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States.” Learn about the program and eligibility requirements.

Related feature stories

• In Conversation with alumna Pushpavati Paladugu
• Wen Zhou receives doctoral dissertation fellowship and Early Innovation Fund award
• Burhaneddin Yaman recognized with best dissertation award
• Renata Saha's team wins third place at MMM 2022 Magnetic Sensor Challenge
• Alumnus Thomas Coughlin is 2023 IEEE President-Elect
• Future undergraduate students
• Future transfer students
• Future graduate students
• Future international students
• Diversity and Inclusion Opportunities
• Learn abroad
• Living Learning Communities
• Mentor programs
• Programs for women
• Student groups
• Visit, Apply & Next Steps
• Information for current students
• Departments and majors overview
• Departments
• Undergraduate majors
• Graduate programs
• Integrated Degree Programs
• Additional degree-granting programs
• Online learning
• Academic Advising overview
• Academic Advising FAQ
• Academic Advising Blog
• Appointments and drop-ins
• Academic support
• Commencement
• Four-year plans
• Honors advising
• Policies, procedures, and forms
• Career Services overview
• Resumes and cover letters
• Jobs and internships
• Interviews and job offers
• CSE Career Fair
• Major and career exploration
• Graduate school
• Collegiate Life overview
• Scholarships
• Diversity & Inclusivity Alliance
• Anderson Student Innovation Labs
• Information for alumni
• Get engaged with CSE
• Upcoming events
• CSE Alumni Society Board
• Alumni volunteer interest form
• Golden Medallion Society Reunion
• 50-Year Reunion
• Alumni honors and awards
• Outstanding Achievement
• Alumni Service
• Distinguished Leadership
• Honorary Doctorate Degrees
• Nobel Laureates
• Alumni resources
• Alumni career resources
• Alumni news outlets
• CSE branded clothing
• International alumni resources
• Inventing Tomorrow magazine
• Update your info
• CSE giving overview
• Why give to CSE?
• College priorities
• Give online now
• External relations
• Giving priorities
• Donor stories
• Impact of giving
• Ways to give to CSE
• Matching gifts
• CSE directories
• Invest in your company and the future
• Recruit our students
• Connect with researchers
• K-12 initiatives
• Diversity initiatives
• Research news
• Give to CSE
• CSE priorities
• Corporate relations
• Information for faculty and staff
• Administrative offices overview
• Office of the Dean
• Academic affairs
• Finance and Operations
• Communications
• Human resources
• Undergraduate programs and student services
• CSE Committees
• CSE policies overview
• Academic policies
• Faculty hiring and tenure policies
• Finance policies and information
• Graduate education policies
• Human resources policies
• Research policies
• Research overview
• Research centers and facilities
• Research proposal submission process
• Research safety
• Award-winning CSE faculty
• National academies
• University awards
• Honorary professorships
• Collegiate awards
• Other CSE honors and awards
• Staff awards
• Performance Management Process
• Work. With Flexibility in CSE
• K-12 outreach overview
• Summer camps
• Outreach events
• Enrichment programs
• Field trips and tours
• CSE K-12 Virtual Classroom Resources
• Educator development
• Sponsor an event