The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF was established in 1950 by Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.
The Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations (AccelNet) program emphasizes cooperation over competition in the research field. Its broad goals are to leverage previous NSF support to initiate international research networks that accelerate scientific advancement beyond the award period and to develop a diverse, US-based workforce skilled in leading international, multi-team collaborations. Eligible research areas include any funded by the National Science Foundation, especially those addressing significant research challenges as identified by research communities or by NSF. The program aims to accelerate scientific research through international cooperation, make network members more competitive for future research awards, and enhance the recruitment and training of a diverse workforce with international collaboration skills. AccelNet supports collaborative networking activities for creating synergies across networks of networks (NoNs). The program offers two tracks: The Design Track focuses on building capacity across teams to establish an international NoN, while the Implementation Track, with its two phases, concentrates on executing and furthering the research or networking activities to fill critical research gaps.