'Talent and ideas are democratized in the sense that they are everywhere'

摘要

National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan took the helm of the agency last summer in the midst of the pandemic, leaving behind his position as executive vice president of the Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise, where he was also founder and director of the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC). Issues in Science and Technology editor William Kearney recently spoke with "Panch," as he's called, about his vision for NSF, keeping the United States at the forefront of global science, and diversity as a driver of innovation.The federal health agencies got most of the public attention in the pandemic, but how has NSF fit into the US response to COVID-19?Panchanathan: Good question. First, the fundamental tenet of NSF is supporting curiosity-driven, discovery-based exploratory research. But when you look at all the work NSF has done-in computing, biology, engineering, social and behavioral sciences, mathematical and physical sciences-you find that it all assists in solving the problems of this moment. So while the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are rightly charged with addressing much of the immediate situation, let us not forget that NSF has laid the groundwork for us to bring scientific and engineering innovations to the forefront in delivering solutions to the pandemic. Second, as soon as COVID hit, we immediately supported nonmedical research through our Rapid Response Research program and our Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) program. This allowed us to quickly pivot and do things that are exceedingly important for this moment. We have added over 1,200 research awards totaling over $200 million, $75 million of which came from the federal CARES Act.