About NSF Forward

Since its founding more than 75 years ago, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has served as a bedrock of American discovery and innovation. As the scientific landscape evolves, the agency faces increasing challenges that raise important questions about how NSF can best support the nation's research enterprise for decades to come.

To help answer those questions, the American Physical Society (APS), in collaboration with strategic partners, launched NSF Forward — an initiative to develop bold, actionable recommendations that will help position the NSF to meet the evolving needs of the nation, its citizens, and science.

Our goal is ambitious: to crowdsource ideas from across the R&D ecosystem and translate them into actionable policy proposals and legislative language for consideration by the 120th Congress.

As part of this effort, APS invites members of the U.S. scientific enterprise to share their ideas for strengthening the NSF. We are seeking input from researchers, educators, students, administrators, industry and policy professionals, and others across our scientific ecosystem who understand best how NSF programs support discovery, where challenges exist, and where opportunities for improvement can have the greatest impact.

We welcome ideas both large and small, with short- or long-term impact, that improve existing programs and processes or explore bold new approaches for how the NSF supports research and innovation.

How your responses will be used

Responses will be reviewed alongside commissioned white papers, guidance from leaders in the scientific community, and input from the NSF Forward Task Force.

Common themes and recommendations identified through this process will help inform the NSF Forward report and accompanying policy proposals. We hope these recommendations will contribute to broader discussions about the future of NSF and the national research enterprise.

Demographic information will be used only to understand participation across the research and development community and will be analyzed in aggregate. Responses represent the perspectives of individual participants and are not intended to represent the views of their institutions.

Help build the future of NSF

The future of American science depends on bold ideas and broad participation from the research community.

Share your perspective and help inform recommendations for the next generation of NSF policy.