New NSF Centers with Research Universities Will Focus on Health, Transportation, Quantum, and Agriculture

IBL News | New York

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) announced it will invest $104 million to create four new engineering research centers, each with several American research universities collaborating as partners.

Each center–which will receive $26 million apiece for an initial five-year period– will focus on:

  • Preserving biological systems, including cells, tissues, organs, and whole organisms. This center will involve four partner universities: University of Minnesota (lead); Massachusetts General Hospital; University of California, Berkeley; and University of California, Riverside.
  • Designing a sustainable infrastructure for electrified vehicles. With four partner universities: Utah State University (lead), Purdue University, University of Colorado, and University of Texas at El Paso.
  • Creating new technologies to build the capacity of the quantum internet. With the University of Arizona (lead), Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University.
  • Advancing precision agriculture by promoting food, energy, and water security and minimizing resource use and environmental impacts of agricultural practices. With the University of Pennsylvania (lead); Purdue University; University of California, Merced; and the University of Florida.

“For the last 35 years, engineering research centers have helped shape science and technology in the United States by fostering innovation and collaboration among industry, universities, and government agencies,” said NSF Director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan.

Since the program’s inception in 1985, NSF has funded 75 centers and will support 18 in this fiscal year, including the four new centers.