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NSF Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Apr-2025 00:08 ET (22-Apr-2025 04:08 GMT/UTC)

Breakthrough in energy-efficient avalanche-based amorphization could revolutionize data storage

University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new method for disrupting the crystal structure of a semiconductor that requires as little as one billion times less power density, a result described in a new paper in Nature. This advancement could unlock wider applications for phase-change memory (PCM) — a promising memory technology that could transform data storage in devices from cell phones to computers.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, Anusandhan National Research Foundation Science and Engineering Research Board

Rice bioengineers shed light on dosing challenges for cancer immunotherapy

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of Rice bioengineers has developed a mathematical model that clarifies why interleukin-12 ⎯ a potent immune-boosting protein that holds promise for cancer treatment ⎯ loses effectiveness over time when used as an immunotherapeutic.

Funder: Welch Foundation, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, U.S. National Science Foundation

UVA engineering professor will augment his students’ reality this spring

University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science
Grant and Award Announcement

A new UVA-created mobile augmented reality app will allow students to test the limits of their understanding about how mechanical forces affect frequently used construction components.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

UC San Diego researchers develop low-cost, scalable passive sensors

University of California - San Diego
Reports and Proceedings

New research demonstrates that not only is passive sensing — or sensing without being connected to a power source — possible, it can be done at little cost without any specialized equipment.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Meeting: SenSys '24: Proceedings of the 22nd ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems

New NSF grant seeks to understand resilience to stress

Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Grant and Award Announcement

Neuroscientists have always been interested in what drives an individual’s resilience to stress. While the detrimental effects of prolonged stress have been well documented, little is understood about what biological mechanisms underlie resilience. To better understand the latter, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been awarded $1.8 million by the National Science Foundation.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

How one UIC student is proposing to advance science of superconductivity

University of Illinois Chicago
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Materials called cubic rare earth hydrides could be superconductors in everyday conditions

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science

Ensuring a bright future for diamond electronics and sensors

DOE/Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

To expand the potential use of diamond in semiconductor and quantum technologies, researchers are developing improved processes for growing the material at lower temperatures that won’t damage the silicon in computer chips. These advances include insights into creating protective hydrogen layers on quantum diamonds without damaging crucial properties like nitrogen-vacancy centers.

Journal: Diamond and Related Materials
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, U.S. National Science Foundation, DOE/US Department of Energy, Australian Research Council

Explaining science through dance

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Science can be difficult to explain to the public. Explaining a theoretical science concept to high school students requires a new way of thinking altogether, which is precisely what researchers at UC San Diego did when they orchestrated a dance with high school students at Orange Glen High School in Escondido as a way to explain topological insulators. The experiment was led by former graduate student Matthew Du and UC San Diego Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Joel Yuen-Zhou.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

The secrets of baseball's magic mud

University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The unique properties of baseball’s famed “magic” mud, which MLB equipment managers applied to every ball in the World Series, have never been scientifically quantified — until now. In a new paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering) and School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) reveal what makes the magic mud so special.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research Program, Army Research Office, U.S. National Science Foundation

Satellite imagery may help protect coastal forests from climate change

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study details how climate change transforms coastal wetlands in North Carolina from forest to marshland or even open water, and how satellite imagery may help better direct conservation efforts to preserve those areas.

Journal: Ecosystems
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

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