U.S. National Science Foundation

Unlocking major technologies with quantum-scale science. ⚛️ NSF's investments in fundamental research are driving the development of quantum technologies that can do what no other technology can. bit.ly/4eiDvTF 📸: Ella Maru Studio

Today, NSF announced it has made offers & will award 2,500 Graduate Research Fellowships for the 2026-2027 academic year to outstanding graduate students across the U.S. pursuing research-based degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. bit.ly/4cpAHBO

The NSF AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning is advancing the tools behind #AI. Researchers use deep generative models to reduce noise & sharpen images, including MRIs, resulting in more precise results. ➡️bit.ly/4e9Tq6G 📸: Gengshuo Liu, @usc

Supercomputers drive discovery at incredible speed. Since the 1980s, NSF has invested in their power to fuel innovation and transform technology.💡Learn how ➡️ bit.ly/41q5ysH 📷: SDSC_UCSD

NSF is working to make American businesses & workers AI-ready. The NSF TechAccess: AI-Ready America initiative will expand access to AI tools, training & capacity-building so that all Americans can participate in — & benefit from — the AI economy. bit.ly/4bUGM9c

NSF announced the winners of the Tech Metal Transformation Challenge. Each team will develop prototype systems that can extract, convert & return metals from complex domestic waste streams into high-performance materials for advanced manufacturing.  bit.ly/3NCAYsM

NSF announced $11M to expand AI professional development for K-12 teachers nationwide. @Csteachersorg will launch a multistate initiative to prepare thousands of educators to teach foundational computer science and AI. bit.ly/4dCarpM

Over 8 million diabetic patients in the U.S. rely on daily insulin. Learn how NSF's early investments in recombinant DNA research led to the development of synthetic insulin and paved the way for other lifesaving therapeutics. nsf.gov/impacts/rdna-i… 📸: Crystal Rictor, CC0

From tomatoes and cooking oil to clothing and biofuels, NSF's investments in agricultural biotechnologies have transformed the supply and quality of numerous everyday products. 👕🥗 Learn more: bit.ly/4b4czUH 📷: Anh Van

As federal priorities emphasize #AI, advanced computing and workforce development, the National AI Research Resource delivers a national AI-driven research infrastructure to power it all. Two years in, the foundation is set to scale from pilot to full capability, expanding access to shared AI resources, strengthening the workforce and accelerating discovery nationwide. Read the two-year progress update: bit.ly/4l8rHoq

@Mick_Goulish @VRubinObs The alerts are expected to increase to about 7 million per night! The beginning of scientific alerts is one of the last major milestones before NSF-DOE @VRubinObs begins its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) later this year.

@NSF @VRubinObs Is it ramping up gradually to full capacity? Will it be millions per night?

“With the first alerts from NSF-DOE @VRubinObs, we are witnessing the start of a new era in discovery — one in which the night sky becomes a living stream of data, accessible to researchers everywhere in near real time. This capability transforms how we study a dynamic universe & reflects the power of sustained nat'l investment in cutting-edge research infrastructure. Rubin will not simply observe change in the cosmos — it will empower the scientific community to better see & understand the universe around us,” said Brian Stone, performing the duties of the NSF director.

NSF-DOE @VRubinObs has released its first alerts documenting astronomical events spotted by the observatory. The alerts call scientists' attention to new asteroids, exploding stars and other changes in the night sky. 🌌 bit.ly/4aCSANT

NSF's ongoing support for digital twins, a virtual replica of a real-world object, is creating a reliable tool for testing high-stakes scenarios. At its full potential, it can transform cities, quantum networks, health care & more, improving everyday life. bit.ly/46SSSO8

The complex science behind synthetic insulin, known as recombinant DNA (rDNA), was funded by NSF in the 1970s and helped spark the biotech industry. Learn more: bit.ly/4tyP8v2 📸:  Illustration by David S. Goodsell/RCSB Protein Data Bank

NSF is investing over $100M to launch the NSF National Quantum and Nanotechnology Infrastructure program, establishing a nationwide network of open-access research facilities for quantum and nanoscale technologies, innovation and workforce training. bit.ly/3ZwZTQP

New @NCSESgov report shows STEM workers represented abt 1/4 of the U.S. workforce in 2023, w/ employment growth continuing to outpace non-STEM fields & offering strong economic returns. NSF plays a critical role in helping create a robust STEM workforce. bit.ly/4rSShnW

Modernizing agriculture 🌾 New awards under the AI-ENGAGE initiative will harness global research expertise and leverage emerging technologies for agricultural innovation. Discover how: bit.ly/46pKJkj

The NSF-DOE @VRubinObs was honored to welcome Vera Rubin's family to get a firsthand view of the observatory named in her honor. The NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory will soon embark on a mission to better understand the mysteries of our universe. 📸: NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory