NSF Europe Regional Office

ABOUT THE NSF EUROPE OFFICE

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is a U.S. government agency responsible for promoting basic research and education in science and engineering. International activities are supported throughout the NSF portfolio. NSF typically makes awards to U.S. academic institutions, which retain all intellectual property rights. NSF conducts no research of its own.

The Foundation's Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) maintains a leadership role in promoting and coordinating international cooperation, and manages the NSF Europe Office in Paris, as well as two other overseas offices in Tokyo and Beijing.

The NSF Europe Office has three major roles:

	Facilitation: Promotes collaboration between the U.S. and European science and engineering communities.
	Representation: Represents NSF to national and multi-national science organizations throughout Europe.
	Reporting: Monitors and reports on developments in the European scientific community.

International Collaboration Supported by the NSF

Collaboration between U.S. researchers and researchers abroad can be funded in almost all new proposals to NSF or in supplements to existing NSF awards. No special solicitation is necessary, as international activities are supported throughout the NSF portfolio. However, some disciplines do maintain programs specifically designed to foster international collaboration. (Check this page for examples.) NSF typically supports the costs of the U.S. team and foreign partners are typically supported by their own funding agencies.

Foreign researchers interested in collaborating with U.S. researchers should ask their U.S. counterpart to contact his or her NSF disciplinary program officer or the relevant OISE program officer to inquire about funding possibilities. OISE program officers work with disciplinary program officers to co-fund awards that involve international collaboration.

For additional possibilities, check the Find Funding pages on the main NSF web site.