The National Science Foundation has announced a $20 million investment to launch a two-year pilot supporting small businesses in commercializing their deep-technology ventures.
The pilot aims to address a persistent gap between federally funded deep-technology research and commercial success. The investment ensures that the U.S. remains at the forefront of global innovation.
Led by the University of Central Florida's National Commercialization and Translation Institute, the pilot will provide and test commercialization funding, expert mentorship, and investor connections, while also evaluating which factors, conditions, and approaches most effectively help deep technology companies reach the marketplace.
The results of this pilot will establish and implement best practices for translating deep-tech into nationally impactful technologies.
The NSF Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program authorized the pilot.
In recent years, $1.6 billion in NSF SBIR/STTR investments over five years helped startups attract more than $36 billion in subsequent funding—demonstrating the program's ability to leverage federal R&D investments and accelerate technologies to market.
NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities, and institutions.
Michigan State University has announced that a College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Faculty Laureate and professor in the School of Packaging has won a $540,000 grant to explore packaging materials through experiments and artificial intelligence-driven machine learning techniques.
Packaging materials protect food, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods from contamination, but what happens to them once they’ve served that purpose?
Many cannot be recycled — especially plastics — and contribute substantially to the roughly 350 million tons of global plastic waste generated annually.
A new two-year project supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and led by a Michigan State University scientist focuses on developing innovative thermoplastic packaging that is cost-efficient, high-performing, biodegradable, and microplastic-free.
The inability to recycle many of the plastics currently used is perhaps the largest challenge facing the packaging industry.
The goal is to develop materials that break down in composting environments without leaving persistent plastic particles behind. The project could potentially help enable the creation of a $40 billion annual compostable packaging market.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation has announced the launch of a $100 million prize competition as part of the Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies (PROSPECT) prize.
According to the energy department's press release, the Department of Energy's PROSPECT Planning Prize supports universities in developing the skilled workforce needed to produce, process, recover, and recycle critical minerals on American soil.
The PROSPECT Planning Prize is part of the competitive programs and challenges supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation and administered through the American-Made Program managed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies.
Academic institutions are encouraged to submit plans that aim to substantially increase the number of graduates and other credentialed professionals prepared for relevant mining and supply chain careers in the next two years.
Programs may target a range of beneficiaries, including early-career professionals, incumbent workers, educators, and students in university, community college, or high school.
The PROSPECT Planning Prize will reward implementation-ready plans that expand access to training, upskilling, and experiential learning opportunities for students in key academic fields.
The initiative’s near-term goal is to double the number of graduates with mining, minerals, and supply chain credentials across the United States in the next two years and deliver on the agenda to restore American energy dominance, rebuild domestic supply chains, and reduce reliance on foreign adversaries for critical minerals.
The initiative’s near-term goal is to double the number of graduates with mining, minerals, and associated supply chain credentials across the United States.
Plans submitted for the PROSPECT competition can aim to reach a range of beneficiaries, including early-career professionals, workers, educators, and students in university, community college, or high school.
This prize competition is part of the energy department's $100 million. Applications are now open. The submission deadline is Oct. 5, 2026.