http://www.nsf.gov/

National Science Foundation

About National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…"​ With an annual budget of more than $8 billion, NSF is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.

NSF awards about 11,000 new awards per year, with an average duration of three years -- to fund specific research proposals that have been judged the most promising by a rigorous and objective merit-review system. In the past few decades, NSF-funded researchers have won more than 200 Nobel Prizes as well as other honors too numerous to list. NSF funds equipment that is needed by scientists and engineers but is often too expensive for any one group or researcher to afford. Another essential element in NSF's mission is support for science and engineering education, from pre-K through graduate school and beyond.

There are many exciting careers at NSF, not only in science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM), but also in business and operations. For more information, please visit us at http://nsf.gov/careers/.

NSF is also one of the best places to work! For the second year in a row, NSF was ranked No. 2 among mid-sized agencies in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® Rankings. Come join our talented and diverse workforce and help us keep NSF at the frontier of discovery!

Reviews

REU Research Intern

May 2023 - July 2023 Greensboro, NC
“Gained independence doing research and gained new real-world knowledge and experience.”

Undergraduate Researcher

May 2023 - July 2023 Miramar, FL
“I did a research program in the Tropical Fish Ecology Lab at Florida International University on the Biscayne Bay campus, which is waterfront. The location was great on Biscayne Bay, with many opportunities to explore the bay and nearby beaches and state parks. It brought the whole experience together being able to reside in the area our research was based on. I also really liked the different excursions the program planned for us to get a more comprehensive understanding of the ongoing coastal research projects the other labs were doing-- we went to the Everglades on an airboat tour and Key Largo for kayaking in the mangroves and snorkeling. Some workshops connected to graduate programs and opportunities, which was really helpful! The research I did on modeling great barracuda worked with global data sets and a geographic information system, GIS/ArcMap-- great experiences to have in the environmental fields!”
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