The National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of the federal government's most important resources for encouraging scientific inquiry, technological advancement, innovation and discovery, providing approximately 27 percent of all federal support for basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. The independent agency also has been responsible for the design and development of programs integral to most state and local tech-based economic development efforts, programs such as EPSCoR, SBIR/STTR, Partnerships for Innovation, and the Engineering Research Centers, to note a few.
NSF is the major federal source for funding for fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences.
NSF also is the source for some of the most relevant statistical data TBED practitioners and policymakers use for assessing the health of their communities: industrial and academic R&D expenditures, education and workforce information, the science and engineering indicators, etc.
