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Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships

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Integrative Activities (OIA/IA)


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The U.S. National Science Foundation’s Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships program supports innovative, complex and potentially transformative research and education projects that require large-scale, long-term awards.

This program is awaiting a new solicitation and is not currently accepting proposals. Please check this page for updates.

Read the STC funding opportunity

Table of Contents

About

The Science and Technology Centers program has grown from a new idea into a vital, interdisciplinary network. It has catalyzed breakthroughs, built bridges of exchange with industry, spun off new technologies and businesses, and trained young scientists and engineers.

The Science and Technology Centers (STC): Integrative Partnerships program supports exceptionally innovative, complex research and education projects that require large-scale, long-term awards. STCs focus on creating new scientific paradigms, establishing entirely new scientific disciplines and developing transformative technologies which have the potential for broad scientific or societal impact. STCs conduct world-class research through partnerships among institutions of higher education, national laboratories, industrial organizations, other public or private entities, and via international collaborations, as appropriate. They provide a means to undertake potentially groundbreaking investigations at the interfaces of disciplines and/or highly innovative approaches within disciplines. STCs may involve any area of science and engineering that NSF supports. STC investments support the NSF vision of creating and exploiting new concepts in science and engineering and providing global leadership in research and education.

NSF's Science and Technology Centers:

  • Conduct world-class research through partnerships among academic institutions, national laboratories, industrial organizations and other entities, both domestically and internationally.
  • Undertake significant investigations at the interfaces of disciplines and/or using fresh approaches within disciplines.
  • Can involve any areas of science and engineering that NSF supports.
Three researchers stand around a work bench covered in research equipment
Undergraduate students work alongside researchers as part of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at the University of Washington, supported through the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center program.

Credit: Arka Majumdar, University of Washington

History

In 1989, the National Science Foundation (NSF) established the Science and Technology Research (STC) Centers Program to help maintain U.S. preeminence in science and technology and ensure the requisite pool of scientists with the quality and breadth of experience required to meet the changing needs of science and society-ingredients essential to successful economic competitiveness.

The original objectives of the program were to:

  • Exploit opportunities in science and technology where the complexity of the research problems or the resources needed to solve these problems require the advantages of scale, duration , and/or equipment and facilities that can only be provided by a campus-based research center.
  • Involve students and research scientists and engineers from academia, nonprofit organizations, industry, and Federal laboratories in order to enhance the training and employability of professionals with an awareness of potential applications of scientific discoveries and to provide a mechanism for increasing the transfer of knowledge among sectors of society.
  • Provide stable, long-term funding.

Active centers

Class of 2023

  • Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology (QCB)
  • New Frontiers of Sound Science and Technology Center (NewFoS) 
  • Center for Complex Particle Systems (COMPASS)
  • Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS)

Class of 2021

  • Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet (C-CoMP)
  • Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability Center (STEPS)
  • Center for Learning the Earth with Artificial Intelligence and Physics (LEAP)
  • Center for OLDest Ice EXploration (COLDEX)
  • Center for Research On Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS)
  • Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand (IMOD)

Class of 2016

  • Center for Bright Beams (CBB)
  • Center for Cellular Construction (CCC)
  • Center for Engineering MechanoBiology (CEMB)
  • Science and Technology Center on Real-Time Functional Imaging (STROBE)

Class of 2013

  • Biology with X-Ray Free Electron Lasers (BioXFel)
  • Center for Brains, Minds and Machines: the Science and Technology of Intelligence (CBMM)
  • Center for Integrated Quantum Materials (CIQM)

Informational webinars

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Science and Technology Centers Informational Webinar
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation
The NSF STC program team presented a webinar about the STC program, with an emphasis on key leadership considerations for potential STC Principal Investigators / future Center Directors. Topics included highlights from the STC solicitation, a presentation on common challenges experienced by Center Directors and a panel discussion with current STC Directors, followed by a Q&A session.

Integrative partnerships slides (PDF, 20.02 MB)

Thursday, October 17, 2024

STC Informational Webinar ~ About Partnerships: Overview & Insights
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation
The STC Team held a webinar with emphasis on partnerships with different types of organizations. Topics included an NSF overview of partnerships within the STC program, partnership examples from current STCs and partner organizations, and a Q&A session.

Overview and insights slides (PDF, 17.75 MB)

Graduated centers

BEACON: An NSF Center for the Study of Evolution in Action
Award Abstract: 0939454 
Center Director: Erik D. Goodman
Michigan State University (Lead Institution)
North Carolina A&T State University
University of Idaho
University of Texas at Austin
University of Washington

Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations
Award Abstract: 0939564
Center Director: Jan Amend
University of Southern California (Lead Institution)
University of Alaska, Fairbanks
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Hawaii
University of Rhode Island

Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Science
Award Abstract: 0939514
Center Director: Eli Yablonovitch
University of California Berkeley (Lead Institution)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
The University of Texas at El Paso
Contra Costa College
Los Angeles Trade Technical College

Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems
Award Abstract: 0939511
Center Director: Roger D. Kamm
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Lead Institution)
Clark Atlanta University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Morehouse College
University of California, San Diego
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Pennsylvania
Spelman College
Texas A&M

Center for Science of Information
Award Abstract: 0939370
Center Director: Wojciech Szpankowski 
Purdue University (Lead Institution)
Bryn Mawr College
Howard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, San Diego
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Center for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction (CMOP)
Award Abstract: 0424602
Center Director: Antonio M. Baptista 
Oregon Health and Science University (Lead Institution)
Oregon State University
Saturday Academy 
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
University of Utah 
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Center for Layered Polymeric Systems (CLiPS)
Award Abstract: 0423914
Center Director: Eric Baer
Case Western Reserve University (Lead Institution)
Cleveland Institute of Art 
Cleveland Municipal School District Ohio Northern University
Fisk University 
Naval Research Laboratory 
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
State University of New York 
University of Southern Mississippi
University of Texas at Austin

Center for Microbial Oceanography (C-MORE)
Award Abstract: 0424599
Center Director: David M. Karl 
University of Hawaii (Lead Institution) 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Monterey Peninsula College
Oregon State University
University of California-Santa Cruz
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Center for Multi-Scale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes (CMMAP)
Award Abstract: 0425247
Center Director: David A. Randall
Colorado State University (Lead Institution) 
Colorado College
Columbia University
Hampton University 
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Pacific Northwest National Laboratories
The Catamount Institute
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, San Diego
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Maryland 
University of Utah
University of Washington

Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS)
Award Abstract: 0424589
Center Director: S. Prasad Gogineni
University of Kansas (Lead Institution) 
Elizabeth City State University
Ohio State University 
NASA
Pennsylvania State University
University of Maine

Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology (TRUST)
Award Abstract: 0424422
Center Director: S. Shankar Sastry
University of California at Berkeley (Lead Institution) 
Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell University
Mills College
San Jose State University
Smith College
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley
Vanderbilt University 
 

Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems (WATERCAMPWS)
Award Abstract: 0120978
Center Director: Mark Shannon
University of Illinois (Lead Institution)
Clark Atlanta University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
National Risk Management Research Laboratory
Rose Hulman Institute
Rutgers University 
Sandia National Laboratories
University of California at Berkeley
University of Notre Dame
Yale University

Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology (CBST)
Award Abstract: 0120999
Center Director: Dennis Matthews
University of California at Davis (Lead Institution)
Alabama A&M University
Fisk University
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Mills College
Stanford University
University of California at Berkeley
University of California at San Francisco
University of Texas at San Antonio

National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics (NCED)
Award Abstract: 0120914
Center Director: Efi Foufoula-Georgiou 
University of Minnesota (Lead Institution)
Johns Hopkins University
Louisiana State University
Science Museum of Minnesota
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory 
University of California at Berkeley
University of Colorado at Boulder 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Texas at Austin

Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS)
Award Abstract: 0120778
Center Director: Deborah Estrin 
University of California at Los Angeles (Lead Institution)
California Institute of Technology 
University of California, Merced
University of California, Riverside
University of Southern California

Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM)
Award Abstract: 0120950
Center Director: W. Jeffrey Hughes
Boston University (Lead Institution)
Alabama A&M University
Dartmouth College
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Rice University
Science Applications International Corporation
Stanford University
University of California at Berkeley
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Maryland

Center on Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research (CMDITR)
Award Abstract: 0120967
Center Director: Philip Reid
University of Washington (Lead Institution)
California Institute of Technology
Cornell University
Georgia Institute of Technology
New Mexico Highlands University
Norfolk State University
University of Arizona
University of Central Florida
University of Maryland, Baltimore County 

Adaptive Optics
Award Abstract: 9876783
Center Director: Claire Max 
University of California at Santa Cruz (Lead Institution)
California Institute of Technology
Indiana University
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Michigan Technical University
Montana State University
University of California at Berkeley
University of California at Irvine
University of California at Los Angeles
University of Chicago
University of Houston
University of Rochester

Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN)
Award Abstract: 9876754
Center Director: Elliott Albers
Georgia State University (Lead Institution)
Clark Atlanta University
Emory University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Morehouse College
Morehouse School of Medicine
Spelman College

Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes (CERSP)
Award Abstract: 9876674
Center Director: Joseph DeSimone
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Lead Institution)
Georgia Institute of Technology
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina State University
University of Texas at Austin

Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC)
Award Abstract: 9876771
Center Director: Harold Craighead 
Cornell University (Lead Institution)
Clark Atlanta University
Howard University
Oregon Health and Science University
Princeton University
Sciencenter
Wadsworth Center

Center for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA)
Award Abstract: 9876800
Center Director: Juan Valdes
University of Arizona (Lead Institution)
Arizona State University
Desert Research Institute
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Northern Arizona University
Pennsylvania State University
University of California at Irvine
University of California at Los Angeles
University of California at Merced
University of California at Riverside
University of California at San Diego
University of Colorado
University of New Mexico
Utah State University
 

Center for Advanced Liquid Crystalline Optical Materials (ALCOM)
Award Abstract: 8920147
Center Director: John West
Kent State University (Lead Institution)

Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA)
Award Abstract: 8920223
Center Director: John Carlstrom
University of Chicago (Lead Institution)

Center for Biological Timing (CBT)
Award Abstract: 8920162
Center Director: Gene Block
University of Virginia

Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate (C4)
Award Abstract: 9405024
Center Director: Veerabhadran Ramanathan
University of California at San Diego (Lead Institution)

Center for Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization
Award Abstract: 8920219
Center Director: Richard Riesenfeld
University of Utah (Lead Institution)

Center for Engineering Plants for Resistance Against Pathogens (CEPRAP)
Award Abstract: 8920216
Center Director: George Bruening
University of California at Davis (Lead Institution)

Center for High-Pressure Research (HIPR)
Award Abstract: 8920239
Center Director: Donald Weidner
State University of New York at Stony Brook (Lead Institution)

Center for Light Microscope Imaging and Biotechnology
Award Abstract: 8920118
Center Director: Alan Waggoner
Carnegie Mellon University (Lead Institution)

Institute for Research in Cognitive Science (IRCS)
Award Abstract: 8920230
Center Director: Aravind Joshi
University of Pennsylvania (Lead Institution)

Southern California Earthquake Center
Award Abstract: 8920136
Center Director: Thomas Henyey
University of Southern California (Lead Institution)

Center for Synthesis, Growth, and Analysis of Electronic Materials
Award Abstract: 8920120
Center Director: John White
University of Texas at Austin (Lead Institution)

Center for Ultrafast Optical Science
Award Abstract: 8920108
Center Director: Gerard Mourou
University of Michigan (Lead Institution)

Center for Advanced Cement-Based Materials
Award Abstract: 8808432
Center Director: Surendra Shah
Northwestern University (Lead Institution)

Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms
Award Abstract: 9120009
Center Director: Kelvin Droegemeier
University of Oklahoma (Lead Institution)

Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science
Award Abstract: 9119999
Center Director: Diane Souvaine
Rutgers University at New Brunswick (Lead Institution)

Center for High-Performance Polymeric Adhesives and Composites
Award Abstract: 8809714
Center Director: James McGrath
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Lead Institution)

Center for Microbial Ecology
Award Abstract: 9120006
Center Director: James Tiedje
Michigan State University (Lead Institution)

Center for Molecular Biotechnology
Award Abstract: 9214821
Center Director: Leroy Hood
University of Washington (Lead Institution)

Center for Particle Astrophysics
Award Abstract: 9120005
Center Director: Marc Davis
University of California at Berkeley (Lead Institution)

Center for Photoinduced Charge Transfer
Award Abstract: 8810024
Center Director: David Whitten
University of Rochester (Lead Institution)

Quantized Electronic Structures
Award Abstract: 9120007
Center Director: Evelyn Hu
University of California at Santa Barbara (Lead Institution)

Center for Research on Parallel Computation
Award Abstract: 9120008
Center Director: Ken Kennedy
William Marsh Rice University (Lead Institution)

Center for Superconductivity
Award Abstract: 9120000
Center Director: Miles Klein
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Lead Institution)

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