The Director's 2020 highlights

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Credit: National Science Foundation

1. Major astrophysical breakthroughs

The highest resolution images of the sun's surface ever acquired.

NSF's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope provided its first detailed images of the sun's surface, finding a pattern of cell-like structures – each about the size of the state of Texas. These areas of boiling plasma transport heat from inside the sun to its surface. Future observations will map magnetic fields within the sun's corona, where solar eruptions that drive space weather can occur, and in turn, can impact life on Earth. Separately, researchers at MIT announced they had detected one of the most distant gravitational wave sources ever discovered. The signal, detected by NSF's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, and the Virgo interferometer in Italy, was likely generated by a merger that created a massive black hole about 142 solar masses in size.

2. Remote learning resources

NSF's efforts to support innovative STEM education took on added importance, as students across the U.S. had in-person learning interrupted by the pandemic. NSF-funded online learning opportunities have helped students and teachers keep up with fundamentals; provided additional opportunities to supplement instruction; helped parents relearn subjects so they could help at-home students understand the material; and provided NSF-funded virtual field trips.

3. COVID-19 High-Performance Computing Consortium

The Frontera supercomputer serves as part of the High Performance Computing Consortium

NSF co-led the establishment of the COVID-19 High-Performance Computing Consortium, a public-private consortium announced by the White House in March to offer free computing time to researchers on some of the most powerful and uniquely capable machines in the world to better facilitate research. The NSF-funded XSEDE project serves as the hub of this consortium, providing a portal and associated services to match researchers to resources.

4. MOSAiC

The icebreaker Polarstern frozen into Arctic sea ice.

A great example of what can be accomplished when nations work together is the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate, or MOSAiC, the largest Arctic science expedition in history. MOSAiC researchers aboard the German icebreaker Polarstern observed the air, ice, ocean, and ecosystems of the Arctic Ocean for a year. Findings from this research will yield key insights into better understanding the natural processes and cycles in the region and the role it plays in global climate and weather patterns.

5. Quantum Leap Challenges Institutes

Quantum properties are expected to form the basis of new computers that will do more than simply function as faster and better versions of today's machines. To develop the components of such a system, NSF launched an effort to address key scientific and technological challenges, devoting $75 million to create inter-disciplinary research institutes and $9.75 million to recruit faculty. This included the National Q-12 Education Partnership, which was set up by NSF and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to equip students with the knowledge to understand and advance quantum technology, much like the role computer science courses played in bringing about the digital revolution.

6. NSF AI Research Institutes

NSF is the primary non-defense federal funder of fundamental artificial intelligence research. The foundation expanded its flagship investment in 2020, collaborating with other federal agencies to create AI Research Institutes. These hubs bring university researchers together with industry and government partners to address frontier AI challenges and address pressing issues such as extreme weather preparedness, bioengineering technology, navigation, education, and robust food systems.

7. HBCU STEM Undergraduate Success Research Center

Historically Black colleges and universities enroll about 9% of Black undergraduates in the U.S., but they graduate a significantly higher percentage in critical fields such as engineering, mathematics, and biological sciences. To help expand this number, NSF established the HBCU STEM Undergraduate Success Research Center. Led by researchers at Morehouse College, Spelman College and Virginia State University, STEM-US will study and model the broadening participation success of 50 out of the nation's 100 HBCUs. The study will also help the broader university community understand how to improve success rates for underserved populations.

8. 2020 Nobel Prizes

The CRISPR/Cas9 genetic sequence with a "hairpin" lock added to improve the accuracy of genome editing technology.

NSF's long legacy of support of some of the best and brightest scientific ideas was highlighted by a few of this year's Nobel Prize awards. All three of the 2020 Nobel Prize winners for physics—Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, and Andrea Ghez — received NSF support at some point in their career for their research into black holes. NSF has long supported Jennifer Doudna, the 2020 winner for chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier, for her work in genome editing, starting with the prestigious Alan T. Waterman Award in 2000. NSF also has long supported the research of Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson — 2020 winners for economics — as they explored game theory and used their findings to develop new kinds of auctions that brought in more than $60 billion for U.S. taxpayers.

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