Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation

Overview
The National Science Foundation's Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program (EFRI) provides critical, strategic support of fundamental discovery at the frontiers of engineering research and education. These investments represent transformative opportunities, potentially leading to:

and/or
 * new areas for fundamental or applied research;
 * new industries or capabilities that result in a leadership position for the country;
 * significant progress on a recognized national need or grand challenge.

To identify promising future research opportunities, the EFRI program seeks continual input from the engineering community. This input comes from workshops, advisory committees, technical meetings, professional societies, proposals and awards, and NSF committees of visitors, as well as from periodic calls for EFRI topic ideas.

From this comprehensive input, the Engineering Directorate identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes those frontier topics that best match the EFRI criteria:


 * holds potential for transformative outcomes,
 * addresses a national need or grand challenge,
 * involves multi- or interdisciplinary research,
 * includes a community who is poised to respond, and
 * offers a clear leadership role for Engineering.