SPRING 2024 NSF GRANTS CONFERNCE

The mission of MPS is to harness the collective efforts of the mathematical and physical sciences communities to address the most compelling scientific questions, educate the future advanced high-tech workforce, and promote discoveries to meet the needs of the Nation. The NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences consists of the Divisions of Astronomical Sciences, Chemistry, Materials Research, Mathematical Sciences, and Physics, as well as the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities. These organizations comprise the basic structure for MPS support of research and education. The MPS Divisions support both disciplinary and interdisciplinary activities and partner with each other and with other NSF Directorates to effectively encourage basic research across the scientific disciplines.

Speaker
Leonard Spinu, Program Director, Division of Materials Research

NSF’s newest directorate, “TIP,” Technology, Innovation and Partnerships — creates breakthrough technologies; meets societal and economic needs; leads to new, high-wage jobs; and empowers all Americans to participate in the U.S. research and innovation enterprise. TIP is a unique opportunity that engages the nation’s diverse talent in strengthening and scaling the use-inspired and translational research that will drive tomorrow’s technologies and solutions. TIP brings together teams of researchers, practitioners, and users to shape research directions, catalyze iterative co-design and co-creation, develop game changing technologies and solutions to address the nation’s societal and economic challenges, and grow the future workforce.

Speaker
Carol Bessel, Section Head, Translational Impacts

Research funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Engineering (ENG) has enriched the understanding of natural systems, enhanced electronics, fortified the nation's infrastructure and introduced the exciting possibilities of engineering to the next generation. Investments in engineering research and education are critical building blocks for the nation's future prosperity. Engineering breakthroughs address national challenges, such as smart manufacturing, resilient infrastructure, and sustainable energy systems. Engineering also brings about new opportunities in areas ranging from advanced photonics to prosthetic devices.

Speaker
Carole Read, Program Director, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems

NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) Sciences supports basic research on people and society. The SBE sciences focus on human behavior and social organizations and how social, economic, political, cultural, and environmental forces affect the lives of people from birth to old age and how people in turn shape those forces. SBE scientists develop and employ rigorous methods to discover fundamental principles of human behavior at levels ranging from cells to society, from neurons to neighborhoods, and across space and time. Such fundamental principles help us understand patterns of stability and change at the individual, group, organizational, and societal levels that can be applied to promote the progress of science and to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare. Through its various core disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs, as well as contributions to cross-directorate NSF investments, SBE supports approximately 5,000 scientists, educators, and students in a typical year. Understanding human behavior individually and in groups has far-reaching impacts from optimizing child development to safeguarding our troops; from exploring the origins of our species to finding our way with GPS; from understanding the state of the science and engineering enterprise to securing cyberspace.

Speakers
Jorge Valdes Kroff, Program Director, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
Patricia Van Zandt, Program Director, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences

The mission of EDU (formerly EHR) is to achieve excellence in U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels and in all settings (both formal and informal) to support the development of a diverse and well-prepared workforce of scientists, technicians, engineers, mathematicians, and educators and a well-informed citizenry that have access to the ideas and tools of science and engineering. The purpose of these activities is to enhance the quality of life of all citizens and the health, prosperity, welfare, and security of the nation.

Speaker
LeRoy Jones, Program Director, Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM

The mission of the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is to enable the U.S. to uphold its leadership in computing, communications, and information science and engineering; promote understanding of the principles and uses of advanced computing, communications, and information systems in service to society; support advanced cyberinfrastructure that enables and accelerates discovery and innovation across all science and engineering disciplines; and contribute to universal, transparent, and affordable participation in an information-based society. To achieve this mission, CISE supports investigator-initiated research and education in all areas of computer and information science and engineering, fosters broad interdisciplinary collaboration, helps develop and maintain cutting-edge national cyberinfrastructure for research and education, and contributes to the development of a computer and information technology workforce with skills necessary for success in the increasingly competitive global market.

Speaker
Amy Apon, Program Director, Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure

The mission of the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) is to enable discoveries for understanding life. BIO-supported research advances the frontiers of biological knowledge, increases our understanding of complex systems, and provides a theoretical basis for original research in many other scientific disciplines.

Speaker
Samuel Scheiner, Program Director, Division of Environmental Biology

GEO supports basic research that advances the frontiers of knowledge and drives technological innovation while improving our understanding of the many processes that affect the global environment. These processes include the role of the atmosphere and oceans in climate, the planetary water cycle, and ocean acidification. Support is provided for interdisciplinary studies that contribute directly to national research priorities such as: understanding, adapting to, and mitigating the impacts of global change; developing and deploying integrated ocean observing capabilities to support ecosystem-based management; and understanding future availability of fresh water. Lives are saved and property is preserved through better prediction and understanding of natural environmental hazards such as earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, drought, and solar storms. Basic research supported by GEO enables preparation for and subsequent mitigation of, or adaptation to, the effects of these and other disruptive natural events. GEO provides about 64 percent of the federal funding for basic research at academic institutions in the geosciences.

Speaker
Jennifer Wade, Program Director, Division of Earth Sciences