National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The NSF-sponsored Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) offer research and education opportunities through these and other programs to talented students from diverse backgrounds. They would like to meet you! You're invited to contact the ERCs through their websites (linked from the list of ERCs at the bottom of the page)
Research Experiences forThe National Science Foundation (NSF) offers a variety of ways for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in science and engineering to get involved in cutting-edge research at major universities—not garden-variety research,
but research in emerging fields of technology, in the most advanced laboratories, with world-class investigators as your team members! In many cases, students even receive a substantial stipend to support their work. Imagine
getting paid to do fascinating research at one of the flagship Engineering Research Centers, for example—all the way from undergraduate through to your doctoral degree in engineering!
The NSF programs shown above fund students directly. Those
shown below don’t fund students directly, but instead award academic institutions and faculty with funds that they can then provide, through education programs they establish, to interested students to come study and work with them. To
access these, find an ERC whose research area interests you and contact the Education Director there; or contact the NSF program officer for guidance as to the program(s) and institutional awardee(s) most suited to your needs and situation.
Note that the programs in the second row are aimed at supporting junior faculty and institution-wide diversity programs.
NSF is making these opportunities available because the Foundation wants to improve the nation’s ability to
draw upon pools of talent existing among population groups, such as minorities and women, who are underrepresented in today’s engineering workforce and on engineering faculties. The opportunities are there for students, young faculty,
and prospective Principal Investigators alike. Take advantage of them!
Student-focused
Faculty-focused
Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE) ...more info
Current BPE
Awards
Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science .... more info
Current NSF INCLUDES Awards
Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)
...more info
Current CAREER Awards
Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Program
...more info
Current CREST Awards
ADVANCE is aimed at women postdoctoral students and junior faculty. ...more info
Current ADVANCE Partnerships
The National Science Foundation-sponsored Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) are a group of large, interdisciplinary centers located at universities all across the United States, each in close partnership with industry. ERCs pursue strategic advances in complex engineered systems and systems-level technologies that have the potential to spawn whole new industries or to radically transform current industries. These centers help fulfill NSF's strategic goal to increase the diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce by including all members of society, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender, in all aspects of their activities. ...more info
NSF's education programs are rich with opportunity for students interested in engineering.
See what interests you and make a contact. It's the next step toward your future!
Check out these related non-NSF resources