National Science Foundation Funding Mechanisms

NSF has developed a multilevel approach to funding research in nanotechnology. The Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE) program has been funded for five years now. The funding structure ranges from small, one-year, exploratory grants to large five- to ten-year center awards. Each type of grant provides a different opportunity for researchers and a different level of technological maturity for companies that may be looking for new technology and partners in academia. NSF also has primary programs (not specifically related to nanotechnology) in the Directorates for Engineering, Math and Physical Sciences, and Biological Sciences; these programs fund substantial levels of research related to nanotechnology. Abstracts of funded research projects can be found at the NSF Web site (www.fastlane.nsf.gov).

Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers (NSECs)

NSEC awards are typically for five years and are renewable for another five years. Although the actual funding for individual research projects within a center is not large, a key mission of these centers is to address interdisciplinary, systems-level research, as well as to build an infrastructure for both education and research. Each NSEC is also meant to be a focal point and portal for a specific research vision, leading advances in a specific theme while retaining knowledge about what others are doing in related areas. Currently fourteen NSECs have been established, with two others anticipated to be funded in the fiscal year 2005 competition (see Table 7-1).

Table 7-1. NSF-funded Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers (NSECs)

Institution	Center	Established
Northwestern University	Integrated Nanopatterning and Detection Technologies (www.nsec.northwestern.edu)	Sept. 2001
Cornell University	Nanoscale Systems in Information Technologies (www.cns.cornell.edu)	Sept. 2001
Harvard University	Science of Nanoscale Systems and Their Device Applications (www.nsec.harvard.edu)	Sept. 2001
Columbia University	Electronic Transport in Molecular Nanostructures (www.cise.columbia.edu/nsec)	Sept. 2001
Rice University	Nanoscience in Biological and Environmental Engineering (www.cben.rice.edu)	Sept. 2001
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Illinois	Directed Assembly of Nanostructures (www.rpi.edu/dept/nsec)	Sept. 2001
UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Stanford, UNC Charlotte	Center for Scalable and Integrated Nanomanufacturing (www.sinam.org)	Sept. 2003
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical-Manufacturing Systems (www.nano-cemms.uiuc.edu)	Sept. 2003
Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of New Hampshire	Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (www.nano.neu.edu)	Sept. 2004
University of California Berkeley	Center for Integrated Nanomechanical Systems(nano.berkeley.edu/coins)	Sept. 2004
Ohio State University	Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymer Biomedical Devices (www.nsec.ohio-state.edu)	Sept. 2004
University of Pennsylvania	Center for Molecular Function at the Nano/Bio Interface (www.nanotech.upenn.edu)	Sept. 2004
University of Wisconsin Madison	Templated Synthesis and Assembly at the Nanoscale (www.nsec.wisc.edu)	Sept. 2004
Stanford University	Center for Probing the Nanoscale	Sept. 2004

Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Teams (NIRTs)

NIRT awards are typically for four years and must involve a minimum of three principal investigators. These awards typically fund research for which promising preliminary results have already been obtained and where joining researchers having different expertise will boost the rate of progress and degree of impact. For industry researchers looking at cutting-edge projects with shorter time horizons, NIRTs are a good resource. Typically about 50 to 70 awards are funded each year.

Nanoscale Exploratory Research (NER)

NER awards are typically for one year only. As suggested by the name, these grants are meant for high-risk, high-impact projects at a very early research stage. About 50 to 70 are funded each year.

In addition, NSF has funded two user networks. These networks are meant to provide access for both industrial and academic researchers to instrumentation, tools, and computational resources.

National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN)

The NNIN (www.nnin.org), funded at a level of $14 million per year for five years and renewable for another five years, was completed in 2004 after conclusion of the National Nanofabrication Users Network (NNUN). Led by Cornell, the initial network includes Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Howard University, North Carolina State University, Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, the University of New Mexico, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Washington, with the potential of adding new nodes. The mission of the NNIN is to provide access to nanotechnology-relevant infrastructure for synthesis, characterization, fabrication, and integration.

Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN)

Initially funded in 2002 and led by Purdue, the NCN (ncn.purdue.edu and www.nanohub.org) has a number of participants, including Northwestern University, University of Illinois, University of Florida, Morgan State University, University of Texas at El Paso, and Stanford University. The mission of the NCN is to create and provide access to new algorithms, modeling approaches, software, and computational tools.

Education and Workforce Development

In the 2003 NSF solicitation, a new component in Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) was added, followed by a separate solicitation on Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education (NSEE) in 2004. In addition to the funding provided by the NUE, the NSEE included funding for Centers for Learning and Teaching (NCLT), Informal Science Education (NISE), and Instructional Materials Development (NIMD). These efforts are focused primarily on expanding nanotechnology knowledge and generating excitement in K12 and undergraduate students.