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Emerging
Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI)
About the EFRI Program
The Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI)
has been established as a result of strategic planning and reorganization
of NSF Engineering Directorate (ENG). Motivated by the vision of
ENG to be the global leader in advancing the frontiers of fundamental
engineering research, EFRI serves a critical role in helping ENG
focus on important emerging areas in a timely manner. Each year,
EFRI will recommend, prioritize, and fund interdisciplinary initiatives
at the emerging frontier of engineering research and education.
These investments represent transformative opportunities, potentially
leading to: new research areas for NSF, ENG, and other agencies;
new industries or capabilities that result in a leadership position
for the country; and/or significant progress on a recognized national
need or grand challenge.
The EFRI process of selecting, announcing, and funding new frontier
areas will function throughout the year, ensuring continual input
and feedback from the engineering community on promising future
research opportunities. This input comes from such diverse sources
as workshops, advisory committees, technical meetings, professional
societies, proposals and awards, and NSF committees of visitors.
From this comprehensive input, ENG identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes
those frontier topics that best match the EFRI criteria (transformative,
addressing a national need or grand challenge, multi- or inter-disciplinary,
an area where the community is poised to respond, and clearly demonstrating
ENG's leadership role).
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