INSTITUTION PROFILE / FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
National Science Foundation (NSF)
– The independent federal agency that funds basic materials research at U.S. universities
NSF is an independent U.S. federal agency. It does not carry out research or develop products itself. Its role is to award competitive grants to university researchers, building the basic knowledge of materials science and the next generation of materials researchers. Behind terms that appear in functional-materials stories, such as “materials research centers” and the “materials genome”, sits NSF funding. At the same time, NSF is not a body that sets materials standards, regulations, supply or prices. This profile focuses on how far NSF’s influence over functional materials actually reaches.
- NSF in 30 seconds
- What kind of institution – the “type” of influence
- What NSF does in functional materials
- Reach of influence (authority and geography)
- Organizations involved
- Outlook
- Glossary / References / Claim-to-source audit
1. NSF in 30 seconds
plus about 300 on loan from universitiesFiscal year 2024 actuals (1,548 and 300, both full-time equivalents)
What NSF funds is not product development but understanding how materials work. By NSF’s own description, its grants cover basic research (research driven by curiosity and discovery) and use-inspired research, and account for about 25% of federal support for basic research at U.S. colleges and universities Sourced. In materials, NSF credits its materials research centers with breakthroughs such as the discovery of conductive polymers (plastics that conduct electricity). So NSF is an institution that grows the “next seeds” of functional materials at universities, and for a materials company it is a window onto emerging technologies and a source of future talent (this last point is our interpretation).
2. What kind of institution – the “type” of influence
The institutions that appear in functional-materials stories are unlike companies: they do not make materials themselves. They can be sorted into four types by the channel through which they influence the industry.
3. What NSF does in functional materials
NSF’s involvement in materials research falls into four strands Sourced.
| Strand | Scale and timing | What it does | Main actors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Materials research programs (Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, MPS) | Open solicitations | Eight topical programs backing individual researchers and small teams: biomaterials; ceramics; condensed matter and materials theory; condensed matter physics; electronic and photonic materials; metals and metallic nanostructures; polymers; and solid state and materials chemistry | University researchers, selected through merit review by outside experts |
| DMREF (accelerating materials design and discovery) | US$1.5 million to US$2 million per award over four years; competitions planned every two years, in odd-numbered years | Research that loops theory, computation and experiment in a “closed loop” to speed materials from discovery to use. It is NSF’s principal program responding to the U.S. Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) | Four NSF directorates jointly (MPS, Engineering, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, and Technology, Innovation and Partnerships). Partners include U.S. defense and other agencies and NIST, and funding agencies in Israel, India, Canada and Germany |
| Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) | NSF’s page lists 22 centers (our count). Fiscal year 2024 current plan: about US$57.31 million for 20 centers | Large research centers where several research groups work together at one university. Examples of results: conductive plastics, nanoparticle materials that harvest water from air, and superalloys. Center instrumentation is opened to researchers nationwide through the Materials Research Facilities Network | 22 universities, including Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, Michigan, Nebraska-Lincoln and Tennessee |
| National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) and small-business grants | MagLab: described by NSF as the largest and highest-powered magnet laboratory in the world. SBIR/STTR (America’s Seed Fund): ongoing | MagLab is a hub for magnet design and construction, including development of new superconducting materials. SBIR/STTR supports startups commercializing technology, including advanced materials | MagLab: a facility supported by NSF. SBIR/STTR: small businesses |
Examples of MRSEC research themes that overlap with our technology explainers
| University hosting the center | Research theme as written on NSF’s page (excerpt) | Related explainer in this series |
|---|---|---|
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Two-dimensional MXenes with tailored optical, electrical and magnetic properties | See our explainer on MXenes and nanosheets |
| University of Michigan | Reconfigurable polymers that enable both self-healing and recycling | See our explainer on self-healing materials and vitrimers |
| University of California, Irvine | Complex concentrated metals and ceramics with high strength and much lower thermal conductivity | See our explainers on high-entropy alloys and high-entropy oxides and ceramics |
| University of Chicago | Shape-morphing hybrid materials, including materials that convert energy into mechanical work | See our explainers on shape memory polymers and liquid crystal elastomers, and on soft actuators |
| Ohio State University | Magnetic materials for next-generation electronics and magnetic phases for spintronics | See our explainer on spintronic materials |
* The pairing is our own Our calculation. It does not mean NSF “prioritizes” these technologies.
Most NSF results sit at the stage of principles and design rules, before a material becomes a product. DMREF, for example, supports work that alternates between computation and experiment to shorten the time from discovery to use, but it does not cover production cost or quality standards. From a materials supplier’s side, NSF grantees are potential collaborators and a source of new evaluation and design methods, not a force that shapes product specifications or procurement. Whether any given research theme becomes a product is a separate question.
4. Reach of influence (authority and geography)
| Aspect | What NSF has | What NSF does not have |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | The power to solicit proposals and select them through merit review. About 11,000 competitive awards in an average year. About 50,000 outside scientists, engineers and educators review proposals each year | Authority over materials standards, test methods or regulation, critical-mineral lists, prices or procurement (no such role appears in NSF’s official materials) |
| Geography | Mainly U.S. universities and research institutions. Supports about 1,900 institutions and about 350,000 researchers, students and others (NSF’s description). DMREF has a track for partnering with funding agencies in other countries | Direct grants to research institutions abroad (the DMREF international partnership appears to rely on the partner country’s agency providing funds, but we did not verify the details) |
| Spillover | Published papers and trained people are likely referenced internationally (inference) | Authority to require companies to commercialize or launch products |
| Scale | In fiscal year 2025, 43,532 proposals evaluated and 8,377 awards funded. Appropriations of US$8.826 billion (all fields) | A total for materials research alone does not appear in the official documents we checked |
The US$8.826 billion is NSF’s appropriation across all fields, including mathematics, biology, geosciences, education and computing. It is not a materials research figure Sourced. The total for materials research alone does not appear in the official documents we checked, so we do not estimate it Not yet confirmed. The only figures we could confirm are for MRSECs: a fiscal year 2024 current plan of about US$57.31 million, and a fiscal year 2026 request of US$30.0 million (up to 10 centers). A request is not an amount enacted by Congress, and we did not confirm the final figure Not yet confirmed.
5. Organizations involved
Among the company profiles in this series, none has a relationship with NSF that NSF’s own materials confirm. NSF’s grants go mainly to universities, and the only company-oriented track we could confirm is SBIR/STTR (for small businesses). No individual company is named on the NSF pages we checked, so none is named here Not yet confirmed.
6. Outlook
| What can be read | Primary-source basis | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The scale of the MRSEC program may shrink (a request for up to 10 centers and US$30.0 million) | Fiscal year 2026 budget request: materials centers had a fiscal year 2024 current plan of US$57.31 million (20 centers) against a fiscal year 2026 request of US$30.0 million. This is a request; we did not confirm the enacted amount | Not yet confirmed |
| The next DMREF competition is likely in an odd-numbered year (2027) | The solicitation page says that, subject to funds, competitions will continue every two years in odd-numbered years. We did not confirm a specific deadline | Inference |
| NSF’s staffing and organization are moving toward downsizing and restructuring | The fiscal year 2026 request plans to cut federal staff from 1,548 (2024) to 1,308 and staff on loan from 300 to 70. The Director position was vacant as of 30 September 2025. We could not fully confirm the current organization of the relevant offices | Not yet confirmed |
| Funding emphasis is likely to tilt toward AI, quantum, biotechnology, nuclear energy and translation to practice | The fiscal year 2026 budget request (Reference 4) names artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nuclear energy, quantum science and translational science as the administration’s priorities, and the DMREF page also refers to the administration’s priorities. AI and quantum already figure prominently among current MRSEC themes | Inference |
7. Glossary
- Merit review
- NSF’s process of selecting grant proposals through evaluation by outside experts.
- MPS
- The Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, the NSF directorate at the center of materials research.
- MRSEC
- Materials Research Science and Engineering Center: a large materials research center hosted by a university.
- DMREF
- Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer Our Future: a grant program that combines computation, experiment and data to speed up materials development.
- MGI
- The Materials Genome Initiative, a U.S. government effort to accelerate materials development.
- IPA
- The Intergovernmental Personnel Act mechanism, under which researchers join NSF on loan while remaining employees of their home institutions.
- SBIR/STTR
- U.S. programs supporting small-business R&D and commercialization; NSF calls its track “America’s Seed Fund”.
8. References
- U.S. National Science Foundation About NSF (established 1950; about 25% of federal support for basic research at colleges and universities; annual award counts and institutions supported; merit review; MagLab). https://www.nsf.gov/about
- NSF Budget, Performance and Financial Reporting (fiscal year 2025 appropriations of US$8.826 billion; 43,532 proposals; 8,377 awards; 1,621 institutions). https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget
- NSF FY 2025 Agency Financial Report (workforce composition; 75th anniversary; National Science Board; vacant Director position as of 30 September 2025). https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/FY-2025-Agency-Financial-Report_0.pdf
- NSF FY 2026 Budget Request, “Organizational Excellence” (fiscal year 2024: 1,548 federal FTE and 300 IPA FTE; fiscal year 2026 request: 1,308 and 70; this is a request, not enacted amounts). https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/47-fy2026.pdf
- NSF FY 2026 Budget Request to Congress (materials centers: fiscal year 2024 current plan of US$57.31 million for 20 centers; fiscal year 2026 request of US$30.0 million for up to 10 centers). https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF-FY26-CJ-Entire-Rollup.pdf
- NSF Materials Research (the eight MPS materials research programs; DMREF and MRSEC overviews). https://www.nsf.gov/mps/materials-research
- NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (program description; list of 22 centers and their themes; Materials Research Facilities Network). https://www.nsf.gov/mps/materials-research-science-engineering-centers
- NSF DMREF (Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer Our Future) solicitation page (four directorates; partners; US$1.5 million to US$2 million over four years; biennial competitions in odd-numbered years). https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/dmref-designing-materials-revolutionize-engineer-our-future
- NSF Materials focus-area page (MagLab; SBIR/STTR; directorates supporting materials research). https://www.nsf.gov/focus-areas/materials
9. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the text | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Founded 1950; independent federal agency; about 25% of federal support for basic research; about 11,000 awards, about 1,900 institutions and about 350,000 people in a typical year; merit review with about 50,000 reviewers | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.nsf.gov/about |
| Fiscal year 2025 appropriations of US$8.826 billion; 43,532 proposals; 8,377 awards | Sourced | Reference 2 https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget |
| 75th anniversary; workforce composition (federal employees and people on loan); vacant Director position as of 30 September 2025 | Sourced | Reference 3 https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/FY-2025-Agency-Financial-Report_0.pdf |
| Fiscal year 2024: 1,548 federal staff and 300 on loan (FTE); fiscal year 2026 request: 1,308 and 70 | Sourced | Reference 4 https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/47-fy2026.pdf |
| Materials centers: fiscal year 2024 current plan of US$57.31 million for 20 centers; fiscal year 2026 request of US$30.0 million for up to 10 | Sourced | Reference 5 https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF-FY26-CJ-Entire-Rollup.pdf |
| The eight MPS materials research programs | Sourced | Reference 6 https://www.nsf.gov/mps/materials-research |
| MRSEC results, instrument access, and center themes | Sourced | Reference 7 https://www.nsf.gov/mps/materials-research-science-engineering-centers |
| DMREF content, four directorates, partners, award size, biennial competitions in odd-numbered years | Sourced | Reference 8 https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/dmref-designing-materials-revolutionize-engineer-our-future |
| MagLab description; SBIR/STTR (America’s Seed Fund) | Sourced | Reference 9 https://www.nsf.gov/focus-areas/materials |
| The number of MRSECs being 22 | Our calculation | Our count of the list in Reference 7 |
| The four-type classification, the pairing of MRSEC themes with our explainers, and the arrangement of Fig. 2 | Our calculation | Our own classification |
| Total spending on materials research alone | Not yet confirmed | Not in References 2 or 5. We do not estimate it (our own decision) |
| Enacted fiscal year 2026 MRSEC funding, the next DMREF deadline, the current organization of the relevant offices, any company awardees | Not yet confirmed | Not in References 4 to 9. Not checked in this article |
| Whether NSF has any role in setting materials standards or regulation | Not yet confirmed | Not in References 1 to 9. We do not assert that there is none; we could not confirm one (this article) |
| Interpretations in sections 1, 4 and 6 (a window onto emerging technologies, international referencing, the next DMREF round, shifting emphasis) | Inference | Our own reading of References 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 |
Last updated 10 October 2026 / Troy Technical
Figures in this article come from NSF’s official website and published documents (financial report and budget request). Passages marked “Inference” are our interpretation of the primary sources.