NSF Releases Five-Year Investment Framework for Graduate Education

The National Science Foundation (NSF) released its Strategic Framework for Investments in Graduate Education for FY 2016-FY 2020 that addresses NSF’s goals in supporting graduate education and formulates a set of strategic objectives to meet those goals by 2020. The three goals outlined by NSF include:

• Advance Science and Engineering (S&E) Research;
• Broaden Participation to Promote Excellence in Research and Build the Next Generation STEM Workforce; and,
• Build Effective Models of Graduate Education and Workforce Development.

To advance these three goals, the document also provides five strategic objectives:

• Prepare the Discoverers of Tomorrow;
• Invest in Broad Research and Education Experiences;
• Support Research on Cultivating Diverse and Effective Science Teams;
• Convene a National Dialogue on S&E Graduate Education; and,
• Enhance What NSF Knows About Investments in S&E Graduate Education.

Each of the five strategic objectives includes specific action items and initiatives that will receive NSF funding or other forms of support. In addition to emphasizing the importance of graduate STEM education to the nation’s scientific discovery and innovation, the strategic framework also includes sections describing its creation and outlining the coordination strategy for its development/implementation.