National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent United States

Special programs

The NSF attempts to promote various special programs, at times to help increase the participation in science of under represented minorities. For example, the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program provides grants to research institutions for the purpose of providing undergraduate students the opportunity to perform research for a summer. This program targets women and minorities at many of the participant universities. The GK-12 Crosscutting Program provides money to universities with graduate students for the purpose of having graduate students interact with K-12 students. The goal is to increase student retention in the sciences starting at an early age. Other interdisciplinary programs unite various subfields of science, or the NSF and other funding agencies. And at this time all NSF grants carry with them a mandate to perform some form of outreach. See science education.

Related Topics:
Outreach - Science education

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The NSF also funds special, national-scale projects such as the National Science Digital Library and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers found at some research universities.

Related Topics:
National Science Digital Library - Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers

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