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 grant program supports research that advances a fundamental, process or systems-level understanding of the Arctic's rapidly changing natural environment and social and cultural systems, as well as to improve capacity in projecting future change.