External Funding

The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF was established in 1950 by Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives. NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.

The Department of Energy is the nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences, the steward of 10 of the Nation’s national laboratories, and the lead federal agency supporting fundamental research for energy production and security. Science is about service and fosters innovation, technology development, and economic progress.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is America’s civil space program and the global leader in space exploration. NASA conducts research, testing, and development to advance aeronautics, including electric propulsion and supersonic flight, and develops and funds space technologies that will enable future exploration and benefit life on Earth.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment. ARPA-E awardees are unique because they are developing entirely new ways to generate, store, and use energy.

The Department of Defense is America's largest government agency. With our military tracing its roots back to pre-Revolutionary times, the department has grown and evolved with our nation. The DoD's mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security.

For sixty years, DARPA has held to a singular and enduring mission: to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security. Working with innovators inside and outside of government, DARPA has repeatedly delivered on that mission, transforming revolutionary concepts and even seeming impossibilities into practical capabilities.

ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. The department is devoted to establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research, and focusing national attention on key educational issues.

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity invests in high-risk, high-payoff research programs to tackle some of the most difficult challenges of the agencies and disciplines in the Intelligence Community. IARPA’s mission is to push the boundaries of science to develop solutions that empower the IC to do its work better and more efficiently for national security.

AFOSR continues to expand the horizon of scientific knowledge through its leadership and management of the Department of the Air Force's basic research program. AFOSR's mission is to discover, shape, champion, and transition high risk basic research to profoundly impact the future Air and Space Force. AFOSR accomplishes its mission by cultivating scientific breakthroughs into world-class solutions to boldly go where no science has gone before.

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory is the Army’s research laboratory strategically placed under the Army Futures Command. ARL is the Army’s sole foundational research laboratory focused on cutting-edge scientific discovery, technological innovation, and transition of knowledge products that offer incredible potential to improve the Army’s chances of surviving and winning any future conflicts.