Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships

The Science and Technology Centers (STC): Integrative Partnerships program supports innovative, potentially transformative, complex research and education projects that require large-scale, long-term awards. STCs conduct world-class research through partnerships among academic institutions, national laboratories, industrial organizations, and/or other public/private entities, and via international collaborations, as appropriate. They provide a means to undertake important investigations at the interfaces of disciplines and/or fresh approaches within disciplines. STC investments support the NSF vision of advancing discovery, innovation and education beyond the frontiers of current knowledge, and empowering future generations in science and engineering. Centers provide a rich environment for encouraging future scientists, engineers, and educators to take risks in pursuing discoveries and new knowledge. STCs foster excellence in education by integrating education and research, and by creating bonds between learning and inquiry so that discovery and creativity fully support the learning process. NSF expects STCs to demonstrate leadership in the involvement of groups traditionally underrepresented in science and engineering at all levels within the Center. To achieve their diversity objectives, STCs are expected to involve individuals from underrepresented groups as members of the Center faculty, and as students actively engaged in Center activities. STCs are strongly encouraged to form meaningful, substantive and long-term partnerships with minority-serving institutions, women's colleges and institutions serving students with disabilities, thereby providing formal connections with institutions that serve large populations of underrepresented students interested in STEM. Centers undertake activities that will facilitate knowledge transfer, i.e., the mutual exchange of scientific and technical information among the Center partners and others with the objective of disseminating and utilizing knowledge broadly in multiple sectors. To date, five competitions have been held to establish NSF Science and Technology Centers. The first two competitions, one in the late 1980's and one in the early 1990's, led to the establishment of 25 Science and Technology Centers, which are no longer funded as NSF centers. A third competition for Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships was held in 1999 and resulted in five new Centers. A fourth competition resulted in six new Centers in 2002. The fifth and most recent competition, in FY 2005, added six centers.