NSF leadership in a new golden age of science

Dear Colleagues,

The U.S. National Science Foundation was established in 1950 to keep American discovery at the frontier. That mission has not changed. The science and technology ecosystem around it has.

We've heard this message clearly from researchers across disciplines and settings. Science today is no longer a straight line from laboratory to application. Talent is more widely distributed beyond organizations that have traditionally received federal support. Philanthropies and the private sector have risen to become major players in both basic and applied research. Artificial intelligence is changing not only what we can study, but how research itself is organized.

To meet this moment, NSF is embracing a portfolio approach, where the structure of an award matches the nature of the work. We are expanding who carries out NSF-supported work and how, to enable ambitious, multidisciplinary inquiry at the scientific frontier. We will find and support exceptional students and early-career researchers, at the stage when research creativity is high. Our new Office of Metascience will rigorously assess the effectiveness of new initiatives, scaling what works and retiring what does not.

Many of these changes at NSF have already begun. We know none of this succeeds without you, NSF's staff, reviewers, awardees, students, and partners across academia and industry. NSF's role is to create conditions for exceptional science to happen more often and more frequently. We are redoubling our commitment to do so through these efforts.

Our direction is consistent with the ambitious vision articulated in Science: A New Golden Age, the first comprehensive rethinking of the U.S. science and technology enterprise since Vannevar Bush's 1945, Science: The Endless Frontier, and the Fiscal Year 2028 OMB-OSTP R&D Budget Priorities Memorandum. We are proud to work with federal research agencies across the government to continue to push the American scientific frontier.

In the coming weeks and months, NSF will roll out a series of Dear Colleague Letters and announcements. We will release more funding opportunities that emphasize the best of what NSF has represented for the past 76 years, along with new and ambitious ideas to reinvigorate America's pioneering spirit of discovery.

I initially envisioned this statement as an internal message to our NSF staff with the goal of providing context around the themes in Science: A New Golden Age, and NSF's thinking on how to implement these priorities and principles. We also recognize the need to share our plans with the broader research community to provide an open, clear, and comprehensive vision of NSF's leadership as we enter a new era of discovery.

I encourage you to read my full letter, which goes into further detail.

Sincerely,
Brian Stone
Chief of Staff, Performing the Duties of the NSF Director