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 in the field of Materials Research, which integrates physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Its primary goal is to deepen the fundamental understanding of materials and the phenomena they exhibit, covering a broad scope from nanoelectronics to health-related applications. The program emphasizes the importance of materials as foundational elements in technology and innovation, highlighting their role in driving U.S. economic growth. Research funded by this grant seeks to elucidate the electronic, atomic, and molecular structures that determine the properties and behavior from the nanoscale to the macroscale, foster the discovery of new phenomena in matter and materials, and encourage novel design, synthesis, and processing methods that lead to unprecedented materials. This initiative is critical for developing future technologies to meet societal needs and training the upcoming cadre of materials scientists and engineers.