The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a new $1.2 million pilot effort designed to create new, diverse partnerships among emerging research institutions in U.S. higher education and industry innovators to accelerate breakthrough technologies to impact.
The 18-month effort will be led by Halo, an artificial intelligence-powered technology platform that helps corporate research and development (R&D) teams more efficiently connect with scientific partners and bring innovations to market faster. As part of the NSF-funded pilot, Halo will initially focus on matching industry researchers with academic scientists in materials science and engineering at emerging research institutions, or institutions of higher education that receive less than $50 million in federal research expenditures. By democratizing access to industry partners among a broader set of institutions, NSF seeks to advance and commercialize a growing number of exciting early-stage innovations to address urgent challenges facing the country and the planet.