The U.S. National Science Foundation is excited to announce the expansion of the NSF Convergence Accelerator to 10 regions to enhance national and regional competitiveness in research, innovation and workforce development.
These 10 regional Convergence Accelerators will promote convergence research and innovation by connecting researchers, practitioners and stakeholders from various domains and sectors across each region to expand the innovation ecosystem and address pressing societal and economic challenges within their regions while supporting the NSF Convergence Accelerator's vision, mission and priorities.
"In 2019, NSF established the NSF Convergence Accelerator to advance critical technologies and solutions addressing complex national-scale societal and economic challenges," said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP). "Over the last four years, the NSF Convergence Accelerator has demonstrated how to integrate a multidisciplinary approach with innovation processes to accelerate research to tangible, impactful solutions for the American people. The expansion of the NSF Convergence Accelerator will allow NSF to more fully harness the geography of innovation by increasing the concentration, proximity and diversity of NSF-funded researchers and practitioners, and by scaling the delivery of use-inspired solutions to benefit every part of the country."
Through this expansion, the NSF Convergence Accelerator will continue to foster and nurture the innovation ecosystem while moving from a single national program to a collection of regional programs. Collaboration at the state, regional and national levels will expand the U.S. innovation network, allowing funded teams to share regional results across networks to ultimately drive long-term national impacts.
