The National Science Foundation is expanding its research and development accelerator program to 10 regions nationwide to expand the program’s reach and fully utilize the nation’s geography of innovation.
Over the next three years, the NSF Convergence Accelerator program will expand to 10 geographic regions: the Northwest, West, Southwest, Mountain, Midwest, South Central, Central, Southeast, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, the agency said Wednesday.
The 10 new Convergence Accelerators will facilitate partnerships among cross-domain researchers, practitioners and stakeholders to address current and future regional economic and societal challenges.
“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,” said Erwin Gianchandani, assistant director for technology, innovation and partnerships at NSF.
The first stage of the expansion events is scheduled to begin in the Midwest region in May.
NSF expects to conclude the expansion program in the West region in 2027.