Announcement September 03, 2020

Research drives the development of innovations that improve our daily lives. That's why the U.S. National Science Foundation works to make the transition from use-inspired research into practical applications as fast and productive as possible. NSF created the Convergence Accelerator program as a cornerstone for efforts to address national-scale societal challenges, integrating multidisciplinary research and innovation processes to transition research and discovery toward impactful solutions.

NSF is pleased to announce the investment of more than $28 million to advance nine research teams who will address national-scale societal challenges and generate knowledge to transition ideas from research into practice. The teams will develop solutions in three topic areas to include Open Knowledge Networks, AI and Future Jobs, and National Talent Ecosystem.

Over the next 24 months, these teams who are entering phase two of their research will continue to apply Convergence Accelerator fundamentals to include leveraging innovation processes and integrating multidisciplinary research and cross-cutting partnerships to develop solution prototypes and to build a sustainability model to continue impact beyond NSF support.

Currently, the convergence research teams comprise 56 academic institutions, 40 non-profit, 21 government, 36 industry partners, 10 education sector organizations, and two healthcare sector organizations.

"Convergence Accelerator is producing true innovation," said Douglas Maughan, program head. "All 2019 cohort teams worked hard to further develop their initial concepts, strengthen their teams, and engage with customers and partners; however, phase two is where we expect to see high-impact deliverables."

Open Knowledge Networks include:

• Systematic Content Analysis of Litigation Events Open Knowledge Network to Enable Transparency and Access to Court Records, led by Northwestern University.
• A Multi-Scale Open Knowledge Network for Biomedicine, developed by University of California San Francisco
• Knowledge Network Development Infrastructure with Application to COVID-19 Science and Economics, developed by the University of Michigan
• Know Where Graph: Enriching and Linking Cross-Domain Knowledge Graphs Using Spatially-Explicit AI Technologies, led by the University of California Santa Barbara.
• The Urban Flooding Open Knowledge Network: Delivering Flood Information to Any One, Any Time, Any Where, led by the University of Cincinnati

AI and Future Jobs, and National Talent Ecosystem include:

• Learning Environments with Augmentation and Robotics for Next-gen Emergency Responders, led by Texas A&M
• Skill-XR: An Affordable and Scalable X-Reality Platform for Skills Training and Analytics in Manufacturing Workforce Education, led by Purdue University.
• Competency Catalyst Phase II, led by Eduworks Corporation
• Inclusion AI for Neurodiverse Employment, led by Vanderbilt University

Learn more about Convergence Accelerator at nsf.gov.

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Media Contacts
Media Affairs, NSF, (703) 292-7090, media@nsf.gov