Letters of Intent
The U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program is creating regional-scale innovation ecosystems across the United States. To apply for the program under the 2024 funding opportunity, organizations were required to submit a letter of intent (LOI) with information on the overarching challenge their NSF Engine aims to address and their key technology areas, partners and geographic footprints. NSF has published nearly 300 LOIs.
Why did NSF publish data from LOIs?
Encouraging place-based innovation and investment
The NSF Engines program required applicant teams to define their geographic region of service and lead their application submission with that information. LOI submitters should know about and connect with others within their regions and topic areas.
Unlocking new partnerships
The NSF Engines program garners interest from a variety of organizations that may not naturally be connected to one another. Nonprofits, foundations, investors, state and local government officials, tribal governments and community organizations have all expressed interest in connecting with NSF Engines. By publishing data from the LOIs, NSF aims to create opportunities across the U.S. for like-minded groups to connect with submitters (within one's community and beyond) to offer ideas, capital, expertise and more. The agency hopes this process leads to stronger teams with a more diverse set of partners.
Power in the data
As a leading science and technology agency, NSF believes in the power of transparently sharing data. Given other federal and state government efforts to build regional ecosystems and capacity, NSF saw the value in sharing data early rather than waiting until awards are made. The agency encourages you to build tools and visualizations on top of its data.
Ways to stay connected
Sign up for the NSF Engines email list
Subscribe to the NSF Engines email list to receive information, program updates, announcements, funding opportunities, webinars and more.
Contact
Email the NSF Engines program team with questions about the program. Most emails are answered within one business day.
NSF Engines interest form
The NSF Engines team has created an interest form to help members of the innovation community connect with and support the NSF Engines development awardees and NSF Engines awardees. NSF recognizes that building robust innovation ecosystems across the country requires identifying and working with new sources of talent and building strong cross-sector collaborations. The goal of this interest form is to create an entry point for individuals, organizations and funders who are interested in supporting our portfolio of NSF Engine awardees and/or working within an NSF Engine to share their information.
Additional Information
Builder Platform
Run by The Engine Accelerator, a public benefit corporation with origins at MIT, the Builder Platform is a unique post-award support model that will provide tailored resources and a high level of personalized engagement and support that will significantly contribute to the success of the NSF Engines program. The NSF Engines Builder Platform isn't a technology platform or app but rather is an entirely new way of thinking about post-award support — a human-centered portfolio of support structures that empowers awardees with the tools, networks and capital needed to thrive. It's inspired and informed by the support systems pioneered by venture incubators and accelerators, national philanthropy and lessons learned from prior place-based investment efforts.
Glossary
As NSF continues to support and invest in America's innovation economy, we also seek to foster collaboration, encourage knowledge sharing, and facilitate meaningful discussions to drive innovation forward. For your knowledge, the NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) developed a glossary of shared vocabulary used in the dynamic and ever-evolving innovation ecosystem space. Review the glossary to understand terminology frequently used at NSF to describe key terms, ideas and concepts to aid in navigating through and communicating about innovation, entrepreneurship and ecosystem building.
