320 
(II) by striking ‘‘core science and 
mathematics courses’’ and inserting 
‘‘core STEM courses’’; 
(iv) in paragraph (2), by striking 
‘‘science, mathematics, and advanced-tech-
nology fields’’ and inserting ‘‘STEM and 
advanced-technology fields’’; 
(v) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting 
‘‘to support the advanced-technology indus-
tries that drive the competitiveness of the 
United States in the global economy’’ be-
fore the semicolon at the end; 
(vi) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘sci-
entific and advanced-technology fields’’ and 
inserting ‘‘STEM and advanced-technology 
fields’’; and 
(vii) in paragraph (5), by striking 
‘‘advanced scientific and technical edu-
cation’’ and inserting ‘‘advanced STEM 
and advanced-technology’’; 
(C) in subsection (c)— 
(i) in paragraph (1)— 
(I) in subparagraph (A)— 
(aa) in the matter preceding 
clause (i), by striking ‘‘to encour-
321 
age’’ and all that follows through 
‘‘such means as—’’ and inserting 
‘‘to encourage the development of 
career and educational pathways 
with multiple entry and exit 
points leading to credentials and 
degrees, and to assist students 
pursuing pathways in STEM 
fields to transition from asso-
ciate-degree-granting colleges to 
bachelor-degree-granting institu-
tions, through such means as—’’; 
(bb) in clause (i), by striking 
‘‘to ensure’’ and inserting ‘‘to de-
velop 
articulation 
agreements 
that ensure’’; and 
(cc) in clause (ii), by strik-
ing ‘‘courses at the bachelor-de-
gree-granting institution’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the career and edu-
cational pathways supported by 
the articulation agreements’’; 
(II) in subparagraph (B)— 
(aa) in clause (i), by insert-
ing ‘‘veterans and individuals en-
322 
gaged in’’ before ‘‘work in the 
home’’; 
(bb) in clause (iii)— 
(AA) by striking ‘‘bach-
elor’s-degree-granting insti-
tutions’’ and inserting ‘‘in-
stitutions or work sites’’; 
and 
(BB) by inserting ‘‘or 
industry internships’’ after 
‘‘summer programs’’; and 
(cc) by striking the flush 
text following clause (iv); and 
(III) by striking subparagraph 
(C); 
(ii) in paragraph (2)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘mathematics and 
science 
programs’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘STEM programs’’; 
(II) by inserting ‘‘and, as appro-
priate, 
elementary 
schools,’’ 
after 
‘‘with secondary schools’’; 
(III) by striking ‘‘mathematics 
and science education’’ and inserting 
‘‘STEM education’’;
323 
(IV) 
by 
striking 
‘‘secondary 
school students’’ and inserting ‘‘stu-
dents at these schools’’; 
(V) by striking ‘‘science and ad-
vanced-technology fields’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘STEM and advanced-technology 
fields’’; and 
(VI) by striking ‘‘agreements 
with local educational agencies’’ and 
inserting ‘‘articulation agreements or 
dual credit courses with local sec-
ondary schools, or other means as the 
Director 
determines 
appropriate,’’; 
and 
(iii) in paragraph (3)— 
(I) by striking subparagraph (B); 
(II) by striking ‘‘shall—’’and all 
that follows through ‘‘establish a’’ and 
inserting ‘‘shall establish a’’; 
(III) by striking ‘‘the fields of 
science, technology, engineering, and 
mathematics’’ and inserting ‘‘STEM 
fields’’; and
324 
(IV) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in-
serting ‘‘, including jobs at Federal 
and academic laboratories.’’; 
(D) in subsection (d)(2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (D), by striking 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 
the period at the end and inserting a ‘‘; 
and’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(F) as appropriate, applications that 
apply the best practices for STEM education 
and technical skills education through distance 
learning or in a simulated work environment, as 
determined by research described in subsection 
(f); and’’; 
(E) in subsection (g), by striking the sec-
ond sentence; 
(F) in subsection (h)(1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘2022’’ and inserting ‘‘2026’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘2022’’ and inserting ‘‘2026’’; and 
(iii) in subparagraph (C)—
325 
(I) 
by 
striking 
‘‘up 
to 
$2,500,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less 
than $3,000,000’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘2022’’ and in-
serting ‘‘2026’’; 
(G) in subsection (i)— 
(i) by striking paragraph (3); and 
(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 
and (5) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respec-
tively; and 
(H) in subsection (j)— 
(i) by striking paragraph (1) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(1) the term advanced-technology includes 
technological fields such as advanced manufacturing, 
agricultural-, biological- and chemical-technologies, 
energy and environmental technologies, engineering 
technologies, information technologies, micro and 
nano-technologies, 
cybersecurity 
technologies, 
geospatial technologies, and new, emerging tech-
nology areas;’’; 
(ii) in paragraph (4), by striking 
‘‘separate bachelor-degree-granting institu-
tions’’ and inserting ‘‘other entities’’; 
(iii) by striking paragraph (7);
326 
(iv) by redesignating paragraphs (8) 
and (9) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respec-
tively; 
(v) in paragraph (7), as redesignated 
by subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(vi) in paragraph (8), as redesignated 
by subparagraph (D)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘mathematics, 
science, engineering, or technology’’ 
and inserting ‘‘science, technology, en-
gineering, or mathematics’’; and 
(II) by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(vii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(9) the term skilled technical workforce means 
workers— 
‘‘(A) in occupations that use significant 
levels of science and engineering expertise and 
technical knowledge; and 
‘‘(B) whose level of educational attainment 
is less than a bachelor degree.’’. 
(3) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
Section 5 of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology
327 
Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 1862j) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Di-
rector for carrying out sections 2 through 4, $150,000,000 
for fiscal years 2022 through 2026.’’. 
(d) GRADUATE STEM EDUCATION.— 
(1) MENTORING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP-
MENT.— 
(A) MENTORING PLANS.— 
(i) UPDATE.—Section 7008 of the 
America Creating Opportunities to Mean-
ingfully Promote Excellence in Technology, 
Education, and Science Act (42 U.S.C. 
1862o) is amended by— 
(I) inserting ‘‘and graduate stu-
dent’’ after ‘‘postdoctoral’’; and 
(II) inserting ‘‘The requirement 
may be satisfied by providing such in-
dividuals with access to mentors, in-
cluding individuals not listed on the 
grant.’’ after ‘‘review criterion.’’. 
(ii) EVALUATION.—Not later than 45 
days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Director shall enter into an agree-
328 
ment with a qualified independent organi-
zation to evaluate the effectiveness of the 
postdoctoral mentoring plan requirement 
for improving mentoring for Foundation- 
supported postdoctoral researchers. 
(B) CAREER EXPLORATION.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 
award grants, on a competitive basis, to in-
stitutions of higher education and non- 
profit organizations (or consortia of such 
institutions or organizations) to develop in-
novative approaches for facilitating career 
exploration of academic and non-academic 
career options and for providing oppor-
tunity-broadening experiences, including 
work-integrated opportunities, for graduate 
students and postdoctoral scholars that 
can then be considered, adopted, or adapt-
ed by other institutions and to carry out 
research on the impact and outcomes of 
such activities. 
(ii) REVIEW OF PROPOSALS.—In se-
lecting grant recipients under this subpara-
graph, the Director shall consider, at a 
minimum—
329 
(I) the extent to which the ad-
ministrators of the institution are 
committed to making the proposed ac-
tivity a priority; and 
(II) the likelihood that the insti-
tution or organization will sustain or 
expand the proposed activity effort be-
yond the period of the grant. 
(C) DEVELOPMENT PLANS.—The Director 
shall require that annual project reports for 
awards that support graduate students and 
postdoctoral scholars include certification by the 
principal investigator that each graduate stu-
dent and postdoctoral scholar receiving substan-
tial support from such award, as determined by 
the Director, in consultation with faculty advi-
sors, has developed and annually updated an in-
dividual development plan to map educational 
goals, career exploration, and professional de-
velopment. 
(D) PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
SUP-
PLEMENT.—The Director shall carry out a five- 
year pilot initiative to award up to 2,500 ad-
ministrative supplements of up to $2,000 to ex-
isting research grants annually, on a competi-
331 
(I) gender, race and ethnicity, 
sexual orientation, gender identity, 
and citizenship; and 
(II) student debt load; 
(iii) the development and assessment 
of new or adapted interventions, including 
approaches that improve mentoring rela-
tionships, develop conflict management 
skills, and promote healthy research teams; 
and 
(iv) research, data collection, and as-
sessment of the state of graduate student 
mental health and wellbeing, factors con-
tributing to and consequences of poor 
graduate student mental health, and the 
development, adaptation, and assessment 
of evidence-based strategies and policies to 
support emotional wellbeing and mental 
health. 
(2) GRADUATE
RESEARCH
FELLOWSHIP
PRO-
GRAM UPDATE.— 
(A) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense 
of Congress that the Foundation should in-
crease the number of new graduate research fel-
332 
lows supported annually over the next 5 years 
to no fewer than 3,000 fellows. 
(B) PROGRAM UPDATE.—Section 10 of the 
National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (42 
U.S.C. 1869) is amended— 
(i) in subsection (a), by inserting 
‘‘and as will address national workforce de-
mand in critical STEM fields’’ after 
‘‘throughout the United States’’; 
(ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘of 
$12,000’’ and inserting ‘‘of at least 
$16,000’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c) OUTREACH.—The Director shall ensure program 
outreach to recruit fellowship applicants from fields of 
study that are in areas of critical national need, from all 
regions of the country, and from historically underrep-
resented populations in STEM.’’. 
(C) CYBERSECURITY
SCHOLARSHIPS
AND 
GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS.—The Director shall 
ensure that students pursuing master’s degrees 
and doctoral degrees in fields relating to cyber-
security are considered as applicants for schol-
arships and graduate fellowships under the
333 
Graduate Research Fellowship Program under 
section 10 of the National Science Foundation 
Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1869). 
(3) STUDY
ON
GRADUATE
STUDENT
FUND-
ING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector shall enter into an agreement with a 
qualified independent organization to evalu-
ate— 
(i) the role of the Foundation in sup-
porting graduate student education and 
training through fellowships, traineeships, 
and other funding models; and 
(ii) the impact of different funding 
mechanisms on graduate student experi-
ences and outcomes, including whether 
such mechanisms have differential impacts 
on subsets of the student population. 
(B) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the organiza-
tion charged with carrying out the study under 
subparagraph (A) shall publish the results of its 
evaluation, including a recommendation for the
334 
appropriate 
balance 
between 
fellowships, 
traineeships, and other funding models. 
(4) FELLOWSHIPS
AND
TRAINEESHIPS
FOR 
EARLY-CAREER AI RESEARCHERS.— 
(A) 
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE 
TRAINEESHIPS.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 
award grants to institutions of higher edu-
cation to establish traineeship programs 
for graduate students who pursue artificial 
intelligence-related research leading to a 
masters or doctorate degree by providing 
funding and other assistance, and by pro-
viding graduate students opportunities for 
research experiences in government or in-
dustry related to the students’ artificial in-
telligence studies. 
(ii) USE OF FUNDS.—A institution of 
higher education shall use grant funds pro-
vided under clause (i) for the purposes 
of— 
(I) providing traineeships to stu-
dents who are pursuing research in 
artificial intelligence leading to a mas-
ters or doctorate degree;
335 
(II) paying tuition and fees for 
students receiving traineeships; 
(III) 
creating 
and 
requiring 
courses or training programs in tech-
nology ethics for students receiving 
traineeships; 
(IV) creating opportunities for 
research in technology ethics for stu-
dents receiving traineeships; 
(V) establishing scientific intern-
ship programs for students receiving 
traineeships in artificial intelligence at 
for-profit institutions, nonprofit re-
search institutions, or government lab-
oratories; and 
(VI) other costs associated with 
the administration of the program. 
(B) ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
FELLOW-
SHIPS.—The Director shall award fellowships to 
masters and doctoral students and postdoctoral 
researchers who are pursuing degrees or re-
search in artificial intelligence and related 
fields, including in the field of technology eth-
ics. In making such awards, the Director shall 
conduct outreach, including through formal so-
336 
licitations, to solicit proposals from students 
and postdoctoral researchers seeking to carry 
out research in aspects of technology ethics 
with relevance to artificial intelligence systems. 
(e) STEM WORKFORCE DATA.— 
(1) SKILLED
TECHNICAL
WORKFORCE
PORT-
FOLIO REVIEW.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector shall conduct a full portfolio analysis of 
the Foundation’s skilled technical workforce in-
vestments across all Directorates in the areas of 
education, research, infrastructure, data collec-
tion, and analysis. 
(B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the review under subparagraph 
(A) is complete, the Director shall submit to 
Congress and make widely available to the pub-
lic a summary report of the portfolio review. 
(2) SURVEY DATA.— 
(A) ROTATING TOPIC MODULES.—To meet 
evolving needs for data on the state of the 
science and engineering workforce, the Director 
shall assess, through coordination with other 
Federal statistical agencies and drawing on
337 
input from relevant stakeholders, the feasibility 
and benefits of incorporating questions or topic 
modules to existing National Center for Science 
and Engineering Statistics surveys that would 
vary from cycle to cycle. 
(B) NEW DATA.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector shall submit to Congress and the Board 
the results of an assessment, carried out in co-
ordination with other Federal agencies and with 
input from relevant stakeholders, of the feasi-
bility and benefits of incorporating new ques-
tions or topic modules to existing National Cen-
ter for Science and Engineering Statistics sur-
veys on— 
(i) the skilled technical workforce; 
(ii) working conditions and work-life 
balance; 
(iii) harassment and discrimination; 
(iv) sexual orientation and gender 
identity; 
(v) immigration and emigration; and 
(vi) any other topics at the discretion 
of the Director.
338 
(C) LONGITUDINAL DESIGN.—The Direc-
tor shall continue and accelerate efforts to en-
hance the usefulness of National Center for 
Science and Engineering Statistics survey data 
for longitudinal research and analysis. 
(D) GOVERNMENT
ACCOUNTABILITY
OF-
FICE REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall submit a re-
port to Congress that— 
(i) evaluates Foundation processes for 
ensuring the data and analysis produced 
by the National Center for Science and 
Engineering Statistics meets current and 
future needs; and 
(ii) includes such recommendations as 
the Comptroller General determines are 
appropriate to improve such processes. 
(f) CYBER WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH 
AND DEVELOPMENT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall award 
grants on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to in-
stitutions of higher education or non-profit organiza-
tions (or a consortia of such institutions or organiza-
tions) to carry out research on the cyber workforce.
339 
(2) RESEARCH.—In carrying out research pur-
suant to paragraph (1), the Director shall support 
research and development activities to— 
(A) understand the current state of the 
cyber workforce, including factors that influence 
growth, retention, and development of that 
workforce; 
(B) examine paths to entry and re-entry 
into the cyber workforce; 
(C) understand trends of the cyber work-
force, including demographic representation, 
educational 
and 
professional 
backgrounds 
present, competencies available, and factors 
that shape employee recruitment, development, 
and retention and how to increase the size, di-
versity, and capability of the cyber workforce; 
(D) examine and evaluate training prac-
tices, models, programs, and technologies; and 
(E) other closely related topics as the Di-
rector determines appropriate. 
(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the ac-
tivities described in paragraph (2), the Director 
shall— 
(A) collaborate with the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology, including the Na-
340 
tional Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, 
the Department of Homeland Security, the De-
partment of Defense, the Office of Personnel 
Management, and other Federal departments 
and agencies, as appropriate; 
(B) align with or build on the National 
Initiative on Cybersecurity Education Cyberse-
curity Workforce Framework wherever prac-
ticable and applicable; 
(C) leverage the collective body of knowl-
edge from existing cyber workforce development 
research and education activities; and 
(D) engage with other Federal depart-
ments and agencies, research communities, and 
potential users of information produced under 
this subsection. 
(g) FEDERAL CYBER SCHOLARSHIP-FOR-SERVICE 
PROGRAM.— 
(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that— 
(A) since cybersecurity risks are constant 
in the growing digital world, it is critical that 
the United States stay ahead of malicious cyber 
activity with a workforce that can safeguard
341 
our innovation, research, and work environ-
ments; and 
(B) Federal investments in the Federal 
Cyber Scholarship-for-Service Program at the 
National Science Foundation play a critical role 
in preparing and sustaining a strong, talented, 
and much-needed national cybersecurity work-
force and should be strengthened. 
(2) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(b)(1) of the Cy-
bersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 (15 U.S.C. 
7442(b)(1)) is amended by striking the semicolon at 
the end and inserting the following ‘‘and cybersecu-
rity-related aspects of other related fields as appro-
priate, including artificial intelligence, quantum com-
puting and aerospace;’’. 
(h) CYBERSECURITY
WORKFORCE
DATA
INITIA-
TIVE.—The Director, acting through the National Center 
for Science and Engineering Statistics established in sec-
tion 505 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act 
of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p) and in coordination with the 
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology and other appropriate Federal statistical agencies, 
shall establish a cybersecurity workforce data initiative 
that—
342 
(1) assesses the feasibility of providing nation-
ally representative estimates and statistical informa-
tion on the cybersecurity workforce; 
(2) utilizes the National Initiative for Cyberse-
curity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce 
Framework (NIST Special Publication 800–181), or 
other frameworks, as appropriate, to enable a con-
sistent measurement of the cybersecurity workforce; 
(3) utilizes and complements existing data on 
employer requirements and unfilled positions in the 
cybersecurity workforce; 
(4) consults key stakeholders and the broader 
community of practice in cybersecurity workforce de-
velopment to determine data requirements needed to 
strengthen the cybersecurity workforce; 
(5) evaluates existing Federal survey data for 
information pertinent to developing national esti-
mates of the cybersecurity workforce; 
(6) evaluates administrative data and other 
supplementary data sources, as available, to describe 
and measure the cybersecurity workforce; and 
(7) collects statistical data, to the greatest ex-
tent practicable, on credential attainment and em-
ployment outcomes information for the cybersecurity 
workforce.
343 
(i) INCORPORATION OF ART AND DESIGN INTO CER-
TAIN STEM EDUCATION .—Section 9(a) of the National 
Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 
1862n(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3)— 
(A) in subparagraph (M), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (N) as 
subparagraph (O); and 
(C) after subparagraph (M), by inserting 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(N) developing science, technology, engi-
neering, and mathematics educational cur-
riculum that incorporates art and design to pro-
mote creativity and innovation; and’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (10)(A)— 
(A) in clause (xi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(B) in clause (xii), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) after clause (xii), by inserting the fol-
lowing new clause: 
‘‘(xiii) have a component that includes 
the integration of art and design principles 
and processes.’’.
344 
(j) MANDATORY COST-SHARING.— 
(1) WAIVER.—The cost-sharing requirements 
under section 7036(c) of the America Creating Op-
portunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in 
Technology, Education, and Science Act (42 U.S.C. 
1862o–14(c)) for the Major Research Instrumenta-
tion Program and under section 10A(i) of the Na-
tional Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 
(42 U.S.C. 1862n–1a(i)) for teaching fellowships ad-
ministered within the Robert Noyce Teacher Schol-
arship Program are waived for a period of 5 years 
following the date of enactment of this Act. 
(2) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 5 years fol-
lowing the date of enactment of this Act, the Direc-
tor shall submit to Congress an assessment, that in-
cludes feedback from the research community, of the 
impacts of the waivers provided under paragraph 
(1), including— 
(A) programmatic and scientific goals; 
(B) institutional commitment and steward-
ship of Federal resources; 
(C) institutional strategic planning and ad-
ministrative burden; 
(D) equity among grantee institutions; and
345 
(E) recommendations for or against ex-
tending or making permanent such waivers. 
(k) INTEGRATING ART AND DESIGN INTO NATIONAL 
SCIENCE FOUNDATION INFORMAL STEM EDUCATION 
PROGRAM.—Section 3 of the STEM Education Act of 
2015 (42 U.S.C. 1862q) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe-
riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) the integration of art and design in STEM 
educational programs.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe-
riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) design and testing of programming that 
integrates art and design in STEM education to pro-
mote creativity and innovation.’’; and 
(3) in subsection (c)(2)(B), as added by sub-
section (a)(4) of this section—
346 
(A) in clause (ix), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(B) in clause (x), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and;’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(xi) the design and testing of pro-
gramming that integrates art and design 
in STEM education to promote creativity 
and innovation.’’. 
SEC. 10305. BROADENING PARTICIPATION. 
(a) PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN 
MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 117(a) of the Na-
tional Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 
(42 U.S.C. 1881b(a)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (B)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘108’’ and inserting 
‘‘110’’; 
(ii) by striking clause (iv); 
(iii) in clause (v), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
(iv) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), 
(iii), and (v) as subclauses (I), (II), (III), 
and (IV), respectively, and moving the
347 
margins of such subclauses (as so redesig-
nated) two ems to the right; and 
(v) by striking ‘‘In selecting teachers’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘two teach-
ers—’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(C) In selecting teachers for an award authorized 
by this subsection, the President shall select— 
‘‘(i) at least two teachers—’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (C), as designated by 
paragraph (1)(A)(v), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(ii) at least one teacher— 
‘‘(I) from the Commonwealth of the North-
ern Mariana Islands; 
‘‘(II) from American Samoa; 
‘‘(III) from the Virgin Islands of the 
United States; and 
‘‘(IV) from Guam.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to awards 
made on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(b) ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PRO-
GRAM UPDATE.—
348 
(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that over the next five years the Founda-
tion should increase the number of scholarships 
awarded under the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholar-
ship program established under section 10 of the 
National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 
2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n–1) by 50 percent. 
(2) OUTREACH.—To increase the diversity of 
participants, the Director shall support symposia, fo-
rums, conferences, and other activities to expand 
and enhance outreach to— 
(A) historically Black colleges and univer-
sities that are part B institutions, as defined in 
section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)); 
(B) Tribal Colleges or Universities; 
(C) Minority serving institutions; 
(D) institutions of higher education that 
are located near or serve rural communities; 
(E) labor organizations; 
(F) emerging research institutions; and 
(G) higher education programs that serve 
or support veterans. 
(c) NSF INCLUDES INITIATIVE.—The Director 
shall award grants and cooperative agreements, on a com-
349 
petitive basis, to institutions of higher education or non- 
profit organizations (or consortia of such institutions or 
organizations) to carry out a comprehensive national ini-
tiative to facilitate the development of networks and part-
nerships to build on and scale up effective practices in 
broadening participation in STEM studies and careers of 
groups historically underrepresented in such studies and 
careers. 
(d) BROADENING PARTICIPATION ON MAJOR FACILI-
TIES AWARDS.—The Director shall require organizations 
seeking a cooperative agreement for the management of 
the operations and maintenance of a Foundation project 
to demonstrate prior experience and current capabilities 
in employing best practices in broadening participation in 
science and engineering and ensure implementation of 
such practices is considered in oversight of the award. 
(e) PARTNERSHIPS WITH EMERGING RESEARCH IN-
STITUTIONS.—The Director shall establish a five-year 
pilot program to enhance partnerships between emerging 
research institutions and institutions classified as very 
high research activity by the Carnegie Classification of In-
stitutions of Higher Education at the time of application. 
In carrying out this program, the Director shall— 
(1) require that each proposal submitted by a 
multi-institution collaboration for an award, includ-
350 
ing those under section 10309, that exceeds 
$1,000,000, as appropriate, specify how the appli-
cants will support substantive, meaningful, and mu-
tually-beneficial partnerships with one or more 
emerging research institutions; 
(2) require awardees funded under paragraph 
(1) to direct no less than 25 percent of the total 
award to one or more emerging research institutions 
to build research capacity, including through support 
for faculty salaries and training, field and laboratory 
research experiences for undergraduate and grad-
uate students, and maintenance and repair of re-
search equipment and instrumentation; 
(3) require awardees funded under paragraph 
(1) to report on the partnership activities as part of 
the annual reporting requirements of the Founda-
tion; 
(4) solicit feedback on the partnership directly 
from partner emerging research institutions, in such 
form as the Director deems appropriate; and 
(5) submit a report to Congress after the third 
year of the pilot program that includes— 
(A) an assessment, drawing on feedback 
from the research community and other sources 
of information, of the effectiveness of the pilot
351 
program for improving the quality of partner-
ships with emerging research institutions; and 
(B) if deemed effective, a plan for perma-
nent implementation of the pilot program. 
(f) TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES PROGRAM 
UPDATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 525 of the America 
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 
U.S.C. 1862p–13) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a) by— 
(i) striking ‘‘Native American’’ and 
inserting ‘‘American Indian, Alaska Na-
tive, and Native Hawaiian’’; 
(ii) inserting ‘‘post-secondary creden-
tials and’’ before ‘‘associate’s’’; and 
(iii) striking ‘‘or baccalaureate de-
grees’’ and inserting ‘‘, baccalaureate, and 
graduate degrees’’; and 
(B) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘under-
graduate’’; and 
(C) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘and 
STEM’’ after ‘‘laboratory’’. 
(2) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Direc-
352 
tor to carry out this program $107,250,000 for fis-
cal year 2022 through fiscal year 2026. 
(g) DIVERSITY IN TECH RESEARCH.—The Director 
shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions 
of higher education or non-profit organizations (or con-
sortia of such institutions or organizations) to support 
basic and applied research that yields a scientific evidence 
base for improving the design and emergence, development 
and deployment, and management and ultimate effective-
ness of organizations of all kinds, including research re-
lated to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the technology 
sector. 
(h) CONTINUING SUPPORT FOR EPSCOR.— 
(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(i) since maintaining the Nation’s sci-
entific and economic leadership requires 
the participation of talented individuals na-
tionwide, EPSCoR investments into State 
research and education capacities are in 
the Federal interest and should be sus-
tained; and 
(ii) EPSCoR should maintain its ex-
perimental component by supporting inno-
353 
vative methods for improving research ca-
pacity and competitiveness. 
(B) DEFINITION OF EPSCOR.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘‘EPSCoR’’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 502 of the America 
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 
U.S.C. 1862p note). 
(2) UPDATE OF EPSCOR.—Section 517(f)(2) of 
the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 
2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–9(f)(2)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) to increase the capacity of rural com-
munities to provide quality STEM education 
and STEM workforce development program-
ming to students, and teachers; and’’. 
(i) FOSTERING STEM RESEARCH DIVERSITY AND 
CAPACITY PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 
a program to make awards on a competitive, merit- 
reviewed basis to eligible institutions to implement 
and study innovative approaches for building re-
search capacity in order to engage and retain stu-
354 
dents from a range of institutions and diverse back-
grounds in STEM. 
(2) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION DEFINED.—In this 
subsection the term ‘‘eligible institution’’ means an 
institution of higher education that, according to the 
data published by the National Center for Science 
and Engineering Statistics, is not, on average, 
among the top 100 institutions in Federal research 
and development expenditures during the 3 year pe-
riod prior to the year of the award. 
(3) PURPOSE.—The program established in 
paragraph (1) shall be focused on achieving simulta-
neous impacts at the student, faculty, and institu-
tional levels by increasing the research capacity at 
eligible institutions and the number of under-
graduate and graduate students pursuing STEM de-
grees from eligible institutions. 
(4) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this pro-
gram, the Director shall— 
(A) require eligible institutions seeking 
funding under this subsection to submit an ap-
plication to the Director at such time, in such 
manner, containing such information and assur-
ances as the Director may require. The applica-
tion shall include, at a minimum a description
355 
of how the eligible institution plans to sustain 
the proposed activities beyond the duration of 
the grant; 
(B) require applicants to identify dis-
ciplines and focus areas in which the eligible in-
stitution can excel, and explain how the appli-
cant will use the award to build capacity to bol-
ster the institutional research competitiveness 
of eligible entities to support grants awarded by 
the Foundation and increase regional and na-
tional capacity in STEM; 
(C) require the awards funded under this 
subsection to support research and related ac-
tivities, which may include— 
(i) development or expansion of re-
search programs in disciplines and focus 
areas in subparagraph (B); 
(ii) faculty recruitment and profes-
sional development in disciplines and focus 
areas in subparagraph (B), including for 
early-career researchers; 
(iii) stipends for undergraduate and 
graduate students participating in research 
in disciplines and focus areas in subpara-
graph (B);
356 
(iv) acquisition of instrumentation 
necessary to build research capacity at an 
eligible institution in disciplines and focus 
areas in subparagraph (B); 
(v) an assessment of capacity-building 
and research infrastructure needs; 
(vi) administrative research develop-
ment support; and 
(vii) other activities necessary to build 
research capacity; and 
(D) require that no eligible institution 
should receive more than $10,000,000 in any 
single year of funds made available under this 
section. 
(5) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In award-
ing a grant under this subsection, the Director may 
also consider— 
(A) the extent to which the applicant will 
support students from diverse backgrounds, in-
cluding first-generation undergraduate stu-
dents; 
(B) the geographic and institutional diver-
sity of the applying institutions; and
357 
(C) how the applicants can leverage public- 
private partnerships and existing partnerships 
with Federal Research Agencies. 
(6) DUPLICATION.—The Director shall ensure 
the awards made under this subsection are com-
plementary and not duplicative of existing programs. 
(7) REPORT.—The Director shall submit a re-
port to Congress after the third year of the program 
that includes— 
(A) an assessment of the effectiveness of 
the program for growing the geographic and in-
stitutional diversity of institutions of higher 
education receiving research awards from the 
Foundation; 
(B) an assessment of the quality, quantity 
and geographic and institutional diversity of in-
stitutions of higher education conducting Foun-
dation-sponsored research since the establish-
ment of the program in this subsection; 
(C) an assessment of the quantity and di-
versity of undergraduate and graduate students 
graduating 
from 
eligible 
institutions 
with 
STEM degrees; and 
(D) statistical summary data on the pro-
gram, including the geographic and institutional
358 
allocation of award funding, the number and di-
versity of supported graduate and under-
graduate students, and how it contributes to ca-
pacity building at eligible entities. 
(8) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Direc-
tor $150,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2022 
through 2026 to carry out the activities under this 
subsection. 
(j) CAPACITY-BUILDING PROGRAM FOR DEVELOPING 
UNIVERSITIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.— 
(A) The Director shall make awards, on a 
competitive basis, to eligible institutions de-
scribed in paragraph (2) to support the mission 
of the Foundation and to build institutional re-
search capacity at eligible institutions. 
(B) The Director shall administer separate 
competitions for each category of eligible insti-
tution described in subclauses (I) through (IV) 
of paragraph (2)(A)(i). 
(2) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 
an award under this subsection, an institu-
tion—
359 
(i) shall be— 
(I) a historically Black college or 
university; 
(II) a Tribal College or Univer-
sity; 
(III) a minority-serving institu-
tion; or 
(IV) an institution of higher edu-
cation with an established STEM ca-
pacity building program focused on 
traditionally underrepresented popu-
lations in STEM, including Native 
Hawaiians, Alaska Natives, and Indi-
ans; and 
(ii) shall— 
(I) 
have 
not 
more 
than 
$50,000,000 in annual federally fi-
nanced research and development ex-
penditures for science and engineering 
as reported through the National 
Science Foundation Higher Education 
Research and Development Survey; or 
(II) not be an institution classi-
fied as having very high research ac-
360 
tivity by the Carnegie Classification of 
Institutions of Higher Education. 
(B) PARTNERSHIPS.—An eligible institu-
tion receiving a grant under this subsection 
may carry out the activities of the grant 
through a partnership with other entities, in-
cluding community colleges and other eligible 
institutions. 
(3) PROPOSALS.—To receive an award under 
this subsection, an eligible institution shall submit 
an application to the Director at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Di-
rector may require, including a plan that describes 
how the eligible institution will establish or expand 
research office capacity and how such award would 
be used to— 
(A) conduct an assessment of capacity- 
building and research infrastructure needs of 
an eligible institution; 
(B) enhance institutional resources to pro-
vide administrative research development sup-
port to faculty at an eligible institution; 
(C) bolster the institutional research com-
petitiveness of an eligible institution to support 
grants awarded by the Foundation;
361 
(D) support the acquisition of instrumen-
tation necessary to build research capacity at 
an eligible institution in research areas directly 
associated with the Foundation; 
(E) increase capability of an eligible insti-
tution to move technology into the marketplace; 
(F) increase engagement with industry to 
execute research through the SBIR and STTR 
programs (as defined in section 9(e) of the 
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)) and di-
rect contracts at an eligible institution; 
(G) provide student engagement and re-
search training opportunities at the under-
graduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels at 
an eligible institution; 
(H) further faculty development initiatives 
and strengthen institutional research training 
infrastructure, capacity, and competitiveness of 
an eligible institution; or 
(I) address plans and prospects for long- 
term sustainability of institutional enhance-
ments at an eligible institution resulting from 
the award including, if applicable, how the 
award may be leveraged by an eligible institu-
tion to build a broader base of support.
362 
(4) AWARDS.—Awards made under this sub-
section shall be for periods of 3 years, and may be 
extended for periods of not more than 5 years. 
(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Di-
rector $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 and 
$250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 
2026 to carry out the activities in this title. 
(k) CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER OF THE NSF.— 
(1) CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER.— 
(A) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall 
appoint a senior agency official within the Of-
fice of the Director as a Chief Diversity Officer. 
(B) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Chief Diver-
sity Officer shall have significant experience, 
within the Federal Government and the science 
community, with diversity- and inclusion-related 
matters, including— 
(i) civil rights compliance; 
(ii) harassment policy, reviews, and 
investigations; 
(iii) equal employment opportunity; 
and 
(iv) disability policy.
363 
(C) OVERSIGHT.—The Chief Diversity Of-
ficer shall direct the Office of Diversity and In-
clusion of the Foundation and report directly to 
the Director in the performance of the duties of 
the Chief Diversity Officer under this sub-
section. 
(2) DUTIES.—The Chief Diversity Officer is re-
sponsible for providing advice on policy, oversight, 
guidance, and coordination with respect to matters 
of the Foundation related to diversity and inclusion, 
including ensuring the geographic diversity of the 
Foundation programs. Other duties may include— 
(A) establishing and maintaining a stra-
tegic plan that publicly states a diversity defini-
tion, vision, and goals for the Foundation; 
(B) defining a set of strategic metrics that 
are— 
(i) directly linked to key organiza-
tional priorities and goals; 
(ii) actionable; and 
(iii) actively used to implement the 
strategic plan under paragraph (1); 
(C) advising in the establishment of a stra-
tegic plan for diverse participation by individ-
uals and institutions of higher education, in-
364 
cluding community colleges, historically Black 
colleges and universities, Tribal colleges or uni-
versities, minority-serving institutions, institu-
tions of higher education with an established 
STEM capacity building program focused on 
traditionally underrepresented populations in 
STEM, including Native Hawaiians, Alaska 
Natives, and Indians, and institutions from ju-
risdictions eligible to participate under section 
113 of the National Science Foundation Au-
thorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1862g); 
(D) advising in the establishment of a 
strategic plan for outreach to, and recruiting 
from, untapped locations and underrepresented 
populations; 
(E) advising on a diversity and inclusion 
strategy for the Foundation’s portfolio of 
PreK–12 STEM education focused programs 
and activities, including goals for addressing 
barriers to participation; 
(F) advising on the application of the 
Foundation’s broader impacts review criterion; 
and
365 
(G) performing such additional duties and 
exercise such powers as the Director may pre-
scribe. 
(3) FUNDING.—From any amounts appro-
priated for the Foundation for each of fiscal years 
2022 through 2026, the Director shall allocate 
$5,000,000 to carry out this subsection for each 
such year. 
(l) GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE PARTICIPA-
TION OF WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES 
IN STEM FIELDS.— 
(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Director of 
the National Science Foundation shall award grants 
to eligible entities, on a competitive basis, to enable 
such eligible entities to carry out the activities de-
scribed in paragraph (4), in order to increase the 
participation of women and underrepresented mi-
norities in the fields of science, technology, engineer-
ing, and mathematics. 
(2) APPLICATION.—Each eligible entity that de-
sires to receive a grant under this subsection shall 
submit an application to the National Science Foun-
dation at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Director of the National 
Science Foundation may reasonably require.
366 
(3) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible enti-
ty that receives a grant under this subsection shall 
use such grant funds to carry out one or more of the 
following activities designed to increase the partici-
pation of women or minorities underrepresented in 
science and engineering, or both: 
(A) Online workshops. 
(B) Mentoring programs that partner 
science, technology, engineering, or mathe-
matics professionals with students. 
(C) Internships for undergraduate and 
graduate students in the fields of science, tech-
nology, engineering, and mathematics. 
(D) Conducting outreach programs that 
provide elementary school and secondary school 
students with opportunities to increase their ex-
posure to the fields of science, technology, engi-
neering, or mathematics. 
(E) Programs to increase the recruitment 
and retention of underrepresented faculty. 
(F) Such additional programs as the Di-
rector of the National Science Foundation may 
determine. 
(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection—
367 
(A) the term ‘‘minority’’ means American 
Indian, Alaskan Native, Black (not of Hispanic 
origin), Hispanic (including persons of Mexican, 
Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central or South 
American origin), Asian (including underrep-
resented subgroups), Native Hawaiian, Pacific 
Islander origin subgroup, or other ethnic group 
underrepresented in science and engineering; 
and 
(B) the term ‘‘underrepresented in science 
and engineering’’ means a minority group 
whose number of scientists and engineers per 
10,000 population of that group is substantially 
below the comparable figure for scientists and 
engineers who are White and not of Hispanic 
origin, as determined by the Secretary of Edu-
cation under section 637.4(b) of title 34, Code 
of Federal Regulations. 
(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027. 
SEC. 10306. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
368 
(1) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
individual’’ means the principal investigator, co-prin-
cipal investigators, and any other person at the in-
stitution who is responsible for the design, conduct, 
or reporting of research or educational activities 
funded or proposed for funding by the Foundation. 
(2) FOREIGN
COUNTRY
OF
CONCERN.—The 
term ‘‘foreign country of concern’’ means the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Re-
public of Korea, the Russian Federation, the Islamic 
Republic of Iran, or any other country deemed to be 
a country of concern as determined by the Depart-
ment of State. 
(3) MALIGN
FOREIGN
GOVERNMENT
TALENT 
RECRUITMENT
PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘malign for-
eign government talent recruitment program’’ means 
any program or activity that includes compensation, 
including cash, research funding, honorific titles, 
promised future compensation, or other types of re-
muneration, provided by the foreign state or an enti-
ty sponsored by the foreign state to the targeted in-
dividual in exchange for the individual transferring 
knowledge and expertise to the foreign country. 
(b) BROADER IMPACTS.—
369 
(1) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 45 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 
shall enter into an agreement with a qualified inde-
pendent organization to assess how the Broader Im-
pacts review criterion is applied across the Founda-
tion and make recommendations for improving the 
effectiveness for meeting the goals established in sec-
tion 526 of the America Creating Opportunities to 
Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, 
Education, and Science Reauthorization Act of 2010 
(42 U.S.C. 1862p–14). 
(2) ACTIVITIES.—The Director shall award 
grants on a competitive basis, to institutions of high-
er education or non-profit organizations (or con-
sortia of such institutions or organizations) to sup-
port activities to increase the efficiency, effective-
ness, and availability of resources for implementing 
the Broader Impacts review criterion, including— 
(A) training and workshops for program 
officers, merit review panelists, grant office ad-
ministrators, faculty, and students to improve 
understanding of the goals and the full range of 
potential broader impacts available to research-
ers to satisfy this criterion;
370 
(B) repositories and clearinghouses for 
sharing best practices and facilitating collabora-
tion; and 
(C) tools for evaluating and documenting 
societal impacts of research. 
(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Director should continue to identify oppor-
tunities to reduce the administrative burden on research-
ers. 
(d) RESEARCH INTEGRITY AND SECURITY.— 
(1) OFFICE OF RESEARCH SECURITY AND POL-
ICY.—The Director shall maintain a Research Secu-
rity and Policy office within the Office of the Direc-
tor with no fewer than 4 full-time equivalent posi-
tions, in addition to the Chief of Research Security 
established in paragraph (2) of this subsection. The 
functions of the Research Security and Policy office 
shall be to coordinate all research security policy 
issues across the Foundation, including by— 
(A) consulting and coordinating with the 
Foundation Office of Inspector General and 
with other Federal research agencies and intel-
ligence and law enforcement agencies, as appro-
priate, through the National Science and Tech-
nology Council in accordance with the authority
371 
provided under section 1746 of the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 
(Public Law 116–92; 42 U.S.C. 6601 note), to 
identify and address potential security risks 
that threaten research integrity and other risks 
to the research enterprise; 
(B) serving as the Foundation’s primary 
resource for all issues related to the security 
and integrity of the conduct of Foundation-sup-
ported research; 
(C) conducting outreach and education ac-
tivities for awardees on research policies and 
potential security risks; 
(D) educating Foundation program man-
agers and other directorate staff on evaluating 
Foundation awards and awardees for potential 
security risks; and 
(E) communicating reporting and disclo-
sure requirements to awardees and applicants 
for funding. 
(2) CHIEF OF RESEARCH SECURITY.—The Di-
rector shall appoint a senior agency official within 
the Office of the Director as a Chief of Research Se-
curity, whose primary responsibility is to manage the 
office established under paragraph (1).
372 
(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—No later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector shall provide a report to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Com-
mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent-
atives, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate on the resources and the number of full time 
employees needed to carry out the functions of the 
Office established in paragraph (1). 
(4) ONLINE RESOURCE.—The Director shall de-
velop an online resource hosted on the Foundation’s 
website containing up-to-date information, tailored 
for institutions and individual researchers, includ-
ing— 
(A) an explanation of Foundation research 
security policies; 
(B) unclassified guidance on potential se-
curity risks that threaten scientific integrity 
and other risks to the research enterprise; 
(C) examples of beneficial international 
collaborations and how such collaborations dif-
fer from foreign government interference efforts 
that threaten research integrity;
373 
(D) promising practices for mitigating se-
curity risks that threaten research integrity; 
and 
(E) additional reference materials, includ-
ing tools that assist organizations seeking 
Foundation funding and awardees in informa-
tion disclosure to the Foundation. 
(5) RISK ASSESSMENT CENTER.—The Director 
shall enter into an agreement with a qualified inde-
pendent organization to create a new risk assess-
ment center to— 
(A) help the Foundation develop the online 
resources under paragraph (4); and 
(B) help awardees in assessing and identi-
fying issues related to nondisclosure of current 
and pending research funding, risks to the 
Foundation merit review process, and other 
issues that may negatively affect the Founda-
tion proposal and award process due to undue 
foreign interference. 
(6) RESEARCH
GRANTS.—The Director shall 
continue to award grants, on a competitive basis, to 
institutions of higher education or non-profit organi-
zations (or consortia of such institutions or organi-
zations) to support research on the conduct of re-
374 
search and the research environment, including re-
search on research misconduct or breaches of re-
search integrity and detrimental research practices. 
(7) AUTHORITIES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to existing 
authorities for preventing waste, fraud, abuse, 
and mismanagement of federal funds, the Di-
rector, acting through the Office of Research 
Security and Policy and in coordination with 
the Foundation’s Office of Inspector General, 
shall have the authority to— 
(i) conduct risk assessments, including 
through the use of open-source analysis 
and analytical tools, of research and devel-
opment award applications and disclosures 
to the Foundation, in coordination with the 
Risk Assessment Center established in 
paragraph (5); 
(ii) request the submission to the 
Foundation, by an institution of higher 
education or other organization applying 
for a research and development award, of 
supporting documentation, including copies 
of contracts, grants, or any other agree-
ment specific to foreign appointments, em-
375 
ployment with a foreign institution, partici-
pation in a foreign talent program and 
other information reported as current and 
pending support for all covered individuals 
in a research and development award ap-
plication; and 
(iii) upon receipt and review of the in-
formation provided under clause (ii) and in 
consultation with the institution of higher 
education or other organization submitting 
such information, initiate the substitution 
or removal of a covered individual from a 
research and development award, reduce 
the award funding amount, or suspend or 
terminate the award if the Director deter-
mines such contracts, grants, or agree-
ments include obligations that— 
(I) interfere with the capacity for 
Foundation-supported activities to be 
carried out; or 
(II) 
create 
duplication 
with 
Foundation-supported activities. 
(B) LIMITATIONS.—In exercising the au-
thorities under this paragraph, the Director 
shall—
376 
(i) take necessary steps, as prac-
ticable, to protect the privacy of all covered 
individuals and other parties involved in 
the application and disclosure assessments 
under clause (A)(i); 
(ii) endeavor to provide justification 
for requests for supporting documentation 
made under clause (A)(ii); 
(iii) require that allegations be proven 
by a preponderance of evidence; and 
(iv) as practicable, afford subjects an 
opportunity to provide comments and re-
buttal and an opportunity to appeal before 
final administrative action is taken. 
(8) MALIGN
FOREIGN
TALENT
RECRUITMENT 
PROGRAM PROHIBITION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 12 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Director shall establish a requirement that, 
as part of an application for a research and de-
velopment award from the agency— 
(i) each covered individual listed on 
the application for a research and develop-
ment award certify that they are not an 
active participant of a malign foreign tal-
377 
ent recruitment program from a foreign 
country of concern and will not be a par-
ticipant in such a program for the duration 
of the award; and 
(ii) each institution of higher edu-
cation or other organization applying for 
such an award certify that each covered in-
dividual who is employed by the institution 
of higher education or other organization 
has been made aware of the requirement 
under this subsection. 
(B) INTERNATIONAL
COLLABORATION.— 
Each policy developed under subparagraph (A) 
shall not prohibit— 
(i) making scholarly presentations re-
garding scientific information not other-
wise controlled under current law; 
(ii) participation in international con-
ferences or other international exchanges, 
partnerships or programs that involve open 
and reciprocal exchange of scientific infor-
mation, and which are aimed at advancing 
international scientific understanding; and 
(iii) 
other 
international 
activities 
deemed appropriate by the Director.
378 
(C) LIMITATION.—The policy developed 
under subparagraph (A) shall not apply retro-
actively to research and development awards 
made prior to the establishment of the policy by 
the Director. 
(9) SECURITY TRAINING MODULES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector, in collaboration with the Director of the 
National Institutes of Health and other relevant 
Federal research agencies, shall enter into an 
agreement or contract with a qualified entity 
for the development of online research security 
training modules for the research community, 
including modules focused on international col-
laboration and international travel, foreign in-
terference, and rules for proper use of funds, 
disclosure, conflict of commitment, and conflict 
of interest. 
(B) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—Prior to en-
tering into the agreement under clause (A), the 
Director shall seek input from academic, private 
sector, intelligence, and law enforcement stake-
holders regarding the scope and content of 
training modules, including the diversity of
379 
needs across institutions of higher education 
and other grantees of different sizes and types, 
and recommendations for minimizing adminis-
trative burden on institutions of higher edu-
cation and researchers. 
(C) DEVELOPMENT.—The Director shall 
ensure that the entity identified in (A)— 
(i) develops modules that can be 
adapted and utilized across Federal re-
search agencies; and 
(ii) develops and implements a plan 
for regularly updating the modules as 
needed. 
(D) GUIDELINES.—The Director, in col-
laboration with the Director of the National In-
stitutes of Health, shall develop guidelines for 
institutions of higher education and other orga-
nizations receiving Federal research and devel-
opment funds to use in developing their own 
training programs to address the unique needs, 
challenges, and risk profiles of such institu-
tions, including adoption of training modules 
developed under this paragraph. 
(E) 
IMPLEMENTATION.—Drawing 
on 
stakeholder input under subparagraph (B), not
380 
later than 12 months after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Director shall establish a 
requirement that, as part of an application for 
a research and development award from the 
Foundation— 
(i) each covered individual listed on 
the application for a research and develop-
ment award certify that they have com-
pleted research security training that 
meets the guidelines developed under 
clause (D) within one year of the applica-
tion; and 
(ii) each institution of higher edu-
cation or other organization applying for 
such award certify that each covered indi-
vidual who is employed by the institution 
or organization and listed on the applica-
tion has been made aware of the require-
ment under this subparagraph. 
(10) RESPONSIBLE
CONDUCT
IN
RESEARCH 
TRAINING.—Section 7009 of the America Creating 
Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in 
Technology, Education, and Science Act (42 U.S.C. 
1862o–1) is amended by—
381 
(A) striking ‘‘and postdoctoral research-
ers’’ and inserting ‘‘postdoctoral researchers, 
faculty, and other senior personnel’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the period at the 
end the following ‘‘, including mentor training’’. 
(11) NATIONAL ACADEMIES GUIDE TO RESPON-
SIBLE CONDUCT IN RESEARCH.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Director shall enter into an agreement with 
the Academies to update the report entitled 
‘‘On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible 
Conduct in Research’’ issued by the Academies. 
The report, as so updated, shall include— 
(i) updated professional standards of 
conduct in research; 
(ii) promising practices for preventing, 
addressing, and mitigating the negative 
impact of harassment, including sexual 
harassment and gender harassment as de-
fined in the 2018 Academies report enti-
tled ‘‘Sexual Harassment of Women: Cli-
mate, Culture, and Consequences in Aca-
demic Sciences, Engineering, and Medi-
cine’’; and
382 
(iii) promising practices for mitigating 
potential security risks that threaten re-
search integrity. 
(B) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 
after the effective date of the agreement under 
subparagraph (A), the Academies, as part of 
such agreement, shall submit to the Director 
and the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate the report re-
ferred to in such subparagraph, as updated pur-
suant to such subparagraph. 
(e) RESEARCH ETHICS.— 
(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that— 
(A) a number of emerging areas of re-
search have potential ethical, social, safety, and 
security implications that might be apparent as 
early as the basic research stage; 
(B) the incorporation of ethical, social, 
safety, and security considerations into the re-
search design and review process for Federal 
awards, may help mitigate potential harms be-
fore they happen;
383 
(C) the Foundation’s agreement with the 
Academies to conduct a study and make rec-
ommendations with respect to governance of re-
search in emerging technologies is a positive 
step toward accomplishing this goal; and 
(D) the Foundation should continue to 
work with stakeholders to understand and 
adopt policies that promote best practices for 
governance of research in emerging technologies 
at every stage of research. 
(2) ETHICS STATEMENTS.—Drawing on stake-
holder input, not later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 
amend award proposal instructions to include a re-
quirement for an ethics statement to be included as 
part of any proposal for funding prior to making the 
award. Such statement shall be considered by the 
Director in the review of proposals, taking into con-
sideration any relevant input from the peer-reviewers 
for the proposal, and shall factor into award deci-
sions as deemed necessary by the Director. Such 
statements may include, as appropriate— 
(A) any foreseeable or quantifiable risks to 
society, including how the research could enable 
products, technologies, or other outcomes that
384 
could intentionally or unintentionally cause sig-
nificant societal harm; 
(B) how technical or social solutions can 
mitigate such risks and, as appropriate, a plan 
to implement such mitigation measures; and 
(C) how partnerships and collaborations in 
the research can help mitigate potential harm 
and amplify potential societal benefits. 
(3) GUIDANCE.—The Director shall solicit 
stakeholder input to develop clear guidance on what 
constitutes a foreseeable or quantifiable risk as de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(A), and to the extent prac-
ticable harmonize this policy with existing ethical 
policies or related requirements for human subjects. 
(4) RESEARCH.—The Director shall award 
grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of 
higher education or non-profit organizations (or con-
sortia of such institutions or organizations) to sup-
port— 
(A) research to assess the potential ethical 
and societal implications of Foundation-sup-
ported research and products or technologies 
enabled by such research, including the benefits 
and risks identified pursuant to paragraph 
(2)(A); and
385 
(B) the development and verification of ap-
proaches to proactively mitigate foreseeable 
risks to society, including the technical and so-
cial solutions identified pursuant to paragraph 
(2)(B). 
(5) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director shall en-
courage awardees to update their ethics statements 
as appropriate as part of the annual reports re-
quired by all awardees under the award terms and 
conditions. 
(f) 
RESEARCH
REPRODUCIBILITY
AND 
REPLICABILITY.—Consistent with existing Federal law for 
privacy, intellectual property, and security, the Director 
shall facilitate the public access to research products, in-
cluding data, software, and code, developed as part of 
Foundation-supported projects. 
(1) DATA MANAGEMENT PLANS.— 
(A) The Director shall require that every 
proposal for funding for research include a ma-
chine-readable data management plan that in-
cludes a description of how the awardee will ar-
chive and preserve public access to data, soft-
ware, and code developed as part of the pro-
posed project.
386 
(B) In carrying out the requirement in 
subparagraph (A), the Director shall— 
(i) provide necessary resources, in-
cluding trainings and workshops, to edu-
cate researchers and students on how to 
develop and review high quality data man-
agement plans; 
(ii) ensure program officers and merit 
review panels are equipped with the re-
sources and training necessary to review 
the quality of data management plans; and 
(iii) ensure program officers and 
merit review panels treat data management 
plans as essential elements of grant pro-
posals, where appropriate. 
(2) 
OPEN
REPOSITORIES.—The 
Director 
shall— 
(A) coordinate with the heads of other 
Federal research agencies, and solicit input 
from the scientific community, to develop and 
widely disseminate a set of criteria for trusted 
open repositories, accounting for discipline-spe-
cific needs and necessary protections for sen-
sitive information, to be used by federally fund-
387 
ed researchers for the sharing of data, software, 
and code; 
(B) work with stakeholders to identify sig-
nificant gaps in available repositories meeting 
the criteria developed under subparagraph (A) 
and options for supporting the development of 
additional or enhanced repositories; 
(C) award grants on a competitive basis to 
institutions of higher education or non-profit 
organizations (or consortia of such institutions 
or organizations) for the development, up-
grades, and maintenance of open data reposi-
tories that meet the criteria developed under 
subparagraph (A); 
(D) work with stakeholders and build on 
existing models, where appropriate, to establish 
a single, public, web-based point of access to 
help users locate repositories storing data, soft-
ware, and code resulting from or used in Foun-
dation-supported projects; 
(E) work with stakeholders to establish the 
necessary policies and procedures and allocate 
the necessary resources to ensure, as prac-
ticable, data underlying published findings re-
sulting from Foundation-supported projects are
388 
deposited in repositories meeting the criteria 
developed under subparagraph (A) at the time 
of publication; 
(F) incentivize the deposition of data, soft-
ware, and code into repositories that meet the 
criteria developed under subparagraph (A); and 
(G) coordinate with the scientific pub-
lishing community to develop uniform consensus 
standards around data archiving and sharing. 
(3) RESEARCH, 
DEVELOPMENT, 
AND
EDU-
CATION.—The Director shall award grants, on a 
competitive basis to institutions of higher education 
or non-profit organizations (or consortia of such in-
stitutions or organizations) to— 
(A) support research and development of 
open source, sustainable, usable tools and infra-
structure that support reproducibility for a 
broad range of studies across different dis-
ciplines; 
(B) support research on computational re-
producibility, including the limits of reproduc-
ibility and the consistency of computational re-
sults in the development of new computation 
hardware, tools, and methods; and
389 
(C) support the education and training of 
students, faculty, and researchers on computa-
tional methods, tools, and techniques to improve 
the quality and sharing of data, code, and sup-
porting metadata to produce reproducible re-
search. 
(g) CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall award 
grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of 
higher education or non-profit organizations (or con-
sortia of such institutions or organizations) to sup-
port research to improve our understanding of the 
climate system and related human and environ-
mental systems. 
(2) USE
OF
FUNDS.—Activities funded by a 
grant under this subsection may include— 
(A) fundamental research on climate 
forcings, feedbacks, responses, and thresholds 
in the earth system, including impacts on and 
contributions from local and regional systems; 
(B) research on climate-related human be-
haviors and institutions; 
(C) research on climate-related risk, vul-
nerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity of 
coupled human-environment systems, including
390 
risks to ecosystem stability and risks to vulner-
able populations; 
(D) research to support the development 
and implementation of effective strategies and 
tools for mitigating and adapting to climate 
change, including social strategies and research 
focused on local level forecasting, impacts, and 
challenges; 
(E) research on the design, development, 
and assessment of effective information and de-
cision-support systems, including understanding 
and developing effective dissemination path-
ways; 
(F) improved modeling, projections, anal-
yses, and assessments of climate and other 
Earth system changes; 
(G) research to understand the atmos-
pheric processes related to solar radiation man-
agement strategies and technologies and exam-
ine related economic, geopolitical, societal, envi-
ronmental, and ethical implications, not includ-
ing research designed to advance future deploy-
ment of these strategies and technologies; 
(H) the development of effective strategies 
for educating and training future climate
391 
change researchers, and climate change re-
sponse and mitigation professionals, in both re-
search and development methods, as well as 
community engagement and science commu-
nication; 
(I) the development of effective strategies 
for public and community engagement in the all 
stages of the research and development process; 
and 
(J) partnerships with other agencies to ad-
dress climate related challenges for specific 
agency missions. 
(h) VIOLENCE RESEARCH.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall award 
grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of 
higher education or non-profit organizations (or con-
sortia of such institutions or organizations) to sup-
port research to improve our understanding of the 
nature, scope, causes, consequences, prevention, and 
response to all forms of violence. 
(2) USE
OF
FUNDS.—Activities funded by a 
grant under this subsection may include— 
(A) research on the magnitude and dis-
tribution of fatal and nonfatal violence; 
(B) research on risk and protective factors;
392 
(C) research on the design, development, 
implementation, and evaluation of interventions 
for preventing and responding to violence; 
(D) research on scaling up effective inter-
ventions; and 
(E) one or more interdisciplinary research 
centers to conduct violence research, foster new 
and expanded collaborations, and support ca-
pacity building activities to increase the number 
and diversity of new researchers trained in 
cross-disciplinary violence research. 
(i) 
SOCIAL, 
BEHAVIORAL, 
AND
ECONOMIC 
SCIENCES.—The Director shall— 
(1) actively communicate opportunities and so-
licit proposals for social, behavioral, and economic 
science researchers to participate in cross-cutting 
and interdisciplinary programs, including the Con-
vergence Accelerator and agency priority activities, 
and the Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure program; 
and 
(2) ensure social, behavioral, and economic 
science researchers are represented on relevant merit 
review panels for such activities. 
(j) MEASURING IMPACTS OF FEDERALLY FUNDED 
R&D.—The Director shall award grants on a competitive,
393 
merit-reviewed basis to institutions of higher education or 
non-profit organizations (or consortia of such institutions 
or organizations) to support research and development of 
data, models, indicators, and associated analytical tools to 
improve our understanding of the impacts of Federally 
funded research on society, the economy, and the work-
force, including domestic job creation. 
(k) FOOD-ENERGY-WATER RESEARCH.—The Direc-
tor shall award grants on a competitive basis to institu-
tions of higher education or non-profit organizations (or 
consortia of such institutions or organizations) to— 
(1) support research to significantly advance 
our understanding of the food-energy-water system 
through quantitative and computational modeling, 
including support for relevant cyberinfrastructure; 
(2) develop real-time, cyber-enabled interfaces 
that improve understanding of the behavior of food- 
energy-water systems and increase decision support 
capability; 
(3) support research that will lead to innovative 
solutions to critical food-energy-water system prob-
lems; and 
(4) grow the scientific workforce capable of 
studying and managing the food-energy-water sys-
394 
tem, through education and other professional devel-
opment. 
(l) BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS AND MARINE LAB-
ORATORIES.—The Director shall continue to support en-
hancing, repairing and maintaining research instrumenta-
tion, laboratories, telecommunications and housing at bio-
logical field stations and marine laboratories. 
(m) SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY RESEARCH AND EDU-
CATION.—In accordance with section 263 of the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, the Di-
rector shall carry out activities in support of sustainable 
chemistry, including— 
(1) establishing a program to award grants, on 
a competitive basis, to institutions of higher edu-
cation or non-profit organizations (or consortia of 
such institutions or organizations) to support— 
(A) individual investigators and teams of 
investigators, including to the extent prac-
ticable, early career investigators for research 
and development; 
(B) collaborative research and development 
partnerships among universities, industry, and 
non-profit organizations; and 
(C) integrating sustainable chemistry prin-
ciples 
into 
elementary, 
secondary, 
under-
395 
graduate, and graduate chemistry and chemical 
engineering curriculum and research training, 
as appropriate to that level of education and 
training; and 
(2) incorporating sustainable chemistry into ex-
isting Foundation research and development pro-
grams. 
(n) RISK AND RESILIENCE RESEARCH.—The Direc-
tor shall award grants on a competitive basis to institu-
tions of higher education or non-profit organizations (or 
consortia of such institutions or organizations) to advance 
knowledge of risk assessment and predictability and to 
support the creation of tools and technologies, including 
advancing data analytics and utilization of artificial intel-
ligence, for increased resilience through— 
(1) improvements in our ability to understand, 
model, and predict extreme events and natural haz-
ards, including pandemics; 
(2) the creation of novel engineered systems so-
lutions for resilient complex infrastructures, particu-
larly those that address critical interdependence 
among infrastructures and leverage the growing in-
fusion of cyber-physical-social components into the 
infrastructures;
396 
(3) development of equipment and instrumenta-
tion for innovation in resilient engineered infrastruc-
tures; 
(4) multidisciplinary research on the behaviors 
individuals and communities engage in to detect, 
perceive, understand, predict, assess, mitigate, and 
prevent risks and to improve and increase resilience; 
and 
(5) advancements in multidisciplinary wildfire 
science, including those related to air quality im-
pacts, human behavior, and early detection and 
warning. 
(o) UAV TECHNOLOGIES.—The Director shall carry 
out a program of research and related activities for un-
manned aerial vehicle technologies, which may include a 
prize competition pursuant to section 24 of the Stevenson- 
Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 
3719) and support for undergraduate and graduate cur-
riculum development. 
(p) LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL EXPERTISE IN RE-
SEARCH.—The Director shall explore and advance oppor-
tunities for leveraging international capabilities and re-
sources that align with the Foundation and United States 
research community priorities and have the potential to 
benefit United States prosperity, security, health, and
397 
well-being, including through binational research and de-
velopment organizations and foundations and by sending 
teams of Foundation scientific staff for site visits of sci-
entific facilities and agencies in other countries. 
(q) BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH COLLECTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall continue 
to support databases, tools, methods, and other ac-
tivities that secure and improve existing physical and 
digital biological research collections, improve the ac-
cessibility of collections and collection-related data 
for research and educational purposes, develop ca-
pacity for curation and collection management, and 
to transfer ownership of collections that are signifi-
cant to the biological research community, including 
to museums and universities. 
(2) SPECIMEN
MANAGEMENT
PLAN.—In con-
sultation with other relevant Federal research agen-
cies, the Director shall require that every proposal 
for funding for research that involves collecting or 
generating specimens include a specimen manage-
ment plan that includes a description of how the 
specimens and associated data will be accessioned 
into and permanently maintained in an established 
biological collection.
398 
(3) ACTION CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL COLLEC-
TIONS.—The Director shall award grants on a com-
petitive basis to institutions of higher education or 
non-profit organizations (or consortia of such insti-
tutions or organizations) to establish an Action Cen-
ter for Biological Collections to facilitate coordina-
tion and data sharing among communities of prac-
tice for research, education, workforce training, eval-
uation, and business model development. 
(r) CLEAN WATER RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY 
ACCELERATION.—The Director shall award grants on a 
competitive, merit-reviewed basis to institutions of higher 
education or non-profit organizations (or consortia of such 
institutions or organizations) to— 
(1) support transdisciplinary research to signifi-
cantly advance our understanding of water avail-
ability, quality, and dynamics and the impact of 
human activity and a changing climate on urban and 
rural water and wastewater systems, including in 
low-income, underserved, and disadvantaged commu-
nities; 
(2) develop, pilot and deploy innovative tech-
nologies, systems, and other approaches to identi-
fying and addressing challenges that affect water 
availability, quality, and security, including through
399 
direct engagement with affected communities and 
partnerships with the private sector, State, terri-
torial, tribal, and local governments, non-profit orga-
nizations and water management professionals; and 
(3) grow the scientific workforce capable of 
studying and managing water and wastewater sys-
tems, through education, training, and other profes-
sional development. 
(s) TECHNOLOGY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE RE-
SEARCH.—The Director shall award grants on a merit- 
based, competitive basis for research to— 
(1) increase understanding of social media and 
consumer technology access and use patterns and re-
lated psychological and behavioral issues, particu-
larly for adolescents; and 
(2) explore the role of social media and con-
sumer technology in rising rates of depressive symp-
toms, suicidal ideation, drug use, and deaths of de-
spair, particularly for communities experiencing 
long-term economic distress. 
(t) MANUFACTURING
RESEARCH
AMENDMENT.— 
Section 506(a) of the America COMPETES Reauthoriza-
tion Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–1(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end;
400 
(2) in paragraph (6)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘virtual man-
ufacturing’’; and 
(B) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ‘‘; and artificial intelligence and ma-
chine learning;’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) additive manufacturing, including new ma-
terial designs, complex materials, rapid printing 
techniques, and real-time process controls; and 
‘‘(8) continuous manufacturing of biological 
products and similar innovative monitoring and con-
trol techniques.’’. 
(u) CRITICAL MINERALS MINING RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall award 
grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of 
higher education or nonprofit organizations (or con-
sortium of such institutions or organizations) to sup-
port basic research that will accelerate innovation to 
advance critical minerals mining strategies and tech-
nologies for the purpose of making better use of do-
mestic resources and eliminating national reliance on 
minerals and mineral materials that are subject to 
supply disruptions.
401 
(2) USE
OF
FUNDS.—Activities funded by a 
grant under this subsection may include— 
(A) advancing mining research and devel-
opment activities to develop new mapping and 
mining technologies and techniques, including 
advanced critical mineral extraction, production, 
separation, alloying, or processing techniques 
and technologies that can decrease energy in-
tensity, potential environmental impact and 
costs of those activities; 
(B) conducting long-term Earth observa-
tion of reclaimed mine sites, including the study 
of the evolution of microbial diversity at such 
sites; 
(C) examining the application of artificial 
intelligence for geological exploration of critical 
minerals, including what the size and diversity 
of data sets would be required; 
(D) examining the application of machine 
learning for detection and sorting of critical 
minerals, including what the size and diversity 
of data sets would be required; 
(E) conducting detailed isotope studies of 
critical minerals and the development of more 
refined geologic models;
402 
(F) improved understanding of the geologi-
cal and geochemical processes through which 
critical minerals form and are concentrated into 
economically viable deposits; or 
(G) providing training and researcher op-
portunities to undergraduate and graduate stu-
dents to prepare the next generation of mining 
engineers and researchers. 
(3) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Director shall 
ensure awards made under this subsection are com-
plementary and not duplicative of existing programs 
across the foundation and Federal Government. 
(v) STUDY OF AI RESEARCH CAPACITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall conduct a 
study, or support the development of a study 
through the Science and Technology Policy Institute 
or by any other appropriate organization as deter-
mined by the Director, on artificial intelligence re-
search capacity at U.S. institutions of higher edu-
cation. 
(2) STUDY CONTENTS.—The Director shall en-
sure that, at a minimum, the study under subsection 
(a) addresses the following topics: 
(A) Which universities are putting out sig-
nificant peer-reviewed artificial intelligence re-
403 
search, including based on quantity and number 
of citations. 
(B) For each of the universities described 
in paragraph (1), what specific factors enable 
their AI research, including computing power, 
data sets and availability, specialized cur-
riculum, and industry and other partnerships. 
(C) Promising practices at universities de-
scribed in paragraph (1) for advancing diver-
sity, equity, and inclusion in AI research pro-
grams. 
(D) How universities not included in para-
graph (1) could implement the factors in para-
graph (2) to produce AI research, as well as 
case studies that universities can look to as ex-
amples and potential pilot programs that the 
Federal Government could develop or support 
to help universities produce AI research. 
(3) WORKSHOPS.—The Director may support 
workshops to help inform the study required under 
this subsection. 
(4) PUBLICATION.—The Director shall ensure 
that the study carried out under this subsection is 
made publicly available not later than 12 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act.
404 
(w) 
ADVANCING
IOT 
FOR
PRECISION
AGRI-
CULTURE.— 
(1) NATIONAL
SCIENCE
FOUNDATION
DIREC-
TIVE
ON
AGRICULTURAL
SENSOR
RESEARCH.—In 
awarding grants under its sensor systems and 
networked systems programs, and in consultation 
with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director shall 
include in consideration of portfolio balance research 
and development on sensor connectivity in environ-
ments of intermittent connectivity and intermittent 
computation— 
(A) to improve the reliable use of advance 
sensing systems in rural and agricultural areas; 
and 
(B) that considers— 
(i) direct gateway access for locally 
stored data; 
(ii) attenuation of signal transmission; 
(iii) loss of signal transmission; and 
(iv) at-scale performance for wireless 
power. 
(2) UPDATING
CONSIDERATIONS
FOR
PRECI-
SION AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THE NSF 
ADVANCED TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM.—Sec-
tion 3 of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology
405 
Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 1862i) is amended in sub-
section (e)(3)— 
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(E) applications that incorporate distance 
learning tools and approaches.’’. 
(3) GAO REVIEW.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall provide— 
(A) a technology assessment of precision 
agriculture technologies, such as the existing 
use of— 
(i) sensors, scanners, radio-frequency 
identification, and related technologies that 
can monitor soil properties, irrigation con-
ditions, and plant physiology; 
(ii) sensors, scanners, radio-frequency 
identification, and related technologies that 
can monitor livestock activity and health; 
(iii) network connectivity and wireless 
communications that can securely support
406 
digital agriculture technologies in rural 
and remote areas; 
(iv) aerial imagery generated by sat-
ellites or unmanned aerial vehicles; 
(v) ground-based robotics; 
(vi) 
control 
systems 
design 
and 
connectivity, such as smart irrigation con-
trol systems; 
(vii) Global Positioning System-based 
applications; and 
(viii) data management software and 
advanced analytics that can assist decision 
making and improve agricultural outcomes; 
and 
(B) a review of Federal programs that pro-
vide support for precision agriculture research, 
development, adoption, education, or training, 
in existence on the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(x) ASTRONOMY
AND
SATELLITE
CONSTELLA-
TIONS.—The Director shall support research into and the 
design, development, and testing of mitigation measures 
to address the impact of satellite constellations on Foun-
dation scientific programs by—
407 
(1) awarding grants on a competitive basis to 
support investigations into the impacts of satellite 
constellations on ground-based optical, infrared, and 
radio astronomy, including through existing pro-
grams such Spectrum and Wireless Innovation en-
abled by Future Technologies (SWIFT) and the 
Spectrum Innovation Initiative; 
(2) supporting research on satellite impacts and 
benefits and mitigation strategies to be carried out 
at one or more Foundation supported Federally 
Funded Research and Development Centers or large 
facilities, as appropriate; and 
(3) supporting workshops related to the impact 
of satellite constellations on scientific research and 
how those constellations could be used to improve 
scientific research. 
(y) GAO TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT TO ADDRESS 
THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct a technology assess-
ment on the use of current and emerging predictive 
analytic tools and technologies to address the opioid 
epidemic. Such assessment shall address the fol-
lowing:
408 
(A) The prevention of deaths occurring 
from overdoses of opioid drugs. 
(B) The improvement of Federal, State, 
and local government responses to the opioid 
epidemic and the quality of interventions, treat-
ments, and resources for opioid use disorder. 
(C) The identification of challenges and 
risks related to the use of predictive analytic 
tools and technologies. 
(2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 1 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall sub-
mit to Congress recommendations based on the find-
ings of the technology assessment conducted under 
paragraph (1). Not later than 180 days after such 
date of enactment, the Comptroller General shall 
provide a briefing to Congress on the progress of 
such recommendations. 
(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) OPIOID
DRUG.—The term ‘‘opioid 
drug’’ means a class of drugs that contains an 
opioid and includes heroin, synthetic opioids 
(including fentanyl), and prescription pain re-
lievers.
409 
(B) OPIOID EPIDEMIC.—The term ‘‘opioid 
epidemic’’ means the misuse of and addiction to 
opioid drugs. 
(z) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION STUDY ON IN-
FLATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 
commission a study to— 
(A) measure the economic impact of infla-
tion on the American people, including an anal-
ysis of cost-of-living impacts; 
(B) assess how the increase in inflation 
has harmed the American workforce through 
decreased, less valuable wages; 
(C) consider the impact of inflation on 
American international competitiveness, par-
ticularly as it relates to offshoring jobs in the 
manufacturing industry; 
(D) evaluate the impact of inflation on 
rural and underserved communities throughout 
the country; 
(E) assess the ways inflation at its current 
trajectory could impact future American gen-
erations; and
410 
(F) make recommendations to Congress on 
the impact of further government spending in 
regards to inflation. 
(2) FUNDING.—Of the funds authorized to 
carry out this section, $1,000,000 shall be used to 
carry out the study under paragraph (1). 
SEC. 10307. RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE. 
(a) FACILITY OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall continue 
the Facility Operation Transition pilot program for 
a total of 5 years. 
(2) COST
SHARING.—The Facility Operation 
Transition program shall provide funding for 10–50 
percent of the operations and maintenance costs for 
major research facilities that are within the first five 
years of operation, where the share is determined 
based on— 
(A) the operations and maintenance costs 
of the major research facility; and 
(B) the capacity of the managing direc-
torate or division to absorb such costs. 
(3) REPORT.—After the fifth year of the pilot 
program, the Director shall transmit a report to 
Congress that includes—
411 
(A) an assessment, that includes feedback 
from the research community, of the effective-
ness of the pilot program for— 
(i) supporting research directorates 
and divisions in balancing investments in 
research grants and funding for the initial 
operation and maintenance of major facili-
ties; 
(ii) incentivizing the development of 
new world-class facilities; 
(iii) facilitating interagency and inter-
national partnerships; 
(iv) funding core elements of multi- 
disciplinary facilities; and 
(v) 
supporting 
facility 
divestment 
costs; and 
(B) if deemed effective, a plan for perma-
nent implementation of the pilot program. 
(b) REVIEWS.—The Director shall periodically carry 
out reviews within each of the directorates and divisions 
to assess the cost and benefits of extending the operations 
of research facilities that have exceeded their planned 
operational lifespan. 
(c) HELIUM CONSERVATION.—
412 
(1) MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION SUP-
PORT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall sup-
port, through the Major Research Instrumenta-
tion program, proposal requests that include 
the purchase, installation, operation, and main-
tenance of equipment and instrumentation to 
reduce consumption of helium. 
(B) COST
SHARING.—The Director may 
waive the cost-sharing requirement for helium 
conservation measures for non-Ph.D.-granting 
institutions of higher education and Ph.D.- 
granting institutions of higher education that 
are not ranked among the top 100 institutions 
receiving Federal research and development 
funding, as documented by the National Center 
for Science and Engineering Statistics. 
(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—No later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act and annually 
for the subsequent two years, the Director shall sub-
mit an annual report to Congress on the use of 
funding awarded by the Foundation for the purchase 
and conservation of helium. The report should in-
clude—
413 
(A) the volume and price of helium pur-
chased; 
(B) changes in pricing and availability of 
helium; and 
(C) any supply disruptions impacting a 
substantial number of institutions. 
(d) ADVANCED COMPUTING.— 
(1) COMPUTING
NEEDS.—To gather informa-
tion about the computational needs of Foundation- 
funded projects, the Director shall require grant pro-
posals submitted to the Foundation, as appropriate, 
to include estimates of computational resource needs 
for projects that require use of advanced computing. 
The Director shall encourage and provide access to 
tools that facilitate the inclusion of these measures, 
including those identified in the 2016 Academies re-
port entitled ‘‘Future Directions for NSF Advanced 
Computing Infrastructure to Support U.S. Science 
and Engineering in 2017–2020’’. 
(2) REPORTS.—The Director shall document 
and publish every two years a summary of the 
amount and types of advanced computing capabili-
ties that are needed to fully meet the Foundation’s 
project needs as identified under paragraph (1).
414 
(3) ROADMAP.—To set priorities and guide 
strategic decisions regarding investments in ad-
vanced computing capabilities, the Director shall de-
velop, publish, and regularly update a 5-year ad-
vanced computing roadmap that— 
(A) describes the advanced computing re-
sources and capabilities that would fully meet 
anticipated project needs, including through in-
vestments in the Mid-Scale Research Infra-
structure program and the Major Research 
Equipment and Facilities Construction account; 
(B) draws on community input, informa-
tion contained in research proposals, allocation 
requests, 
insights 
from 
Foundation-funded 
cyber-infrastructure operators, and Foundation- 
wide information gathering regarding commu-
nity needs; 
(C) considers computational needs of 
planned major facilities; 
(D) reflects anticipated technology trends; 
(E) informs users and potential partners 
about future facilities and services; 
(F) addresses the needs of groups histori-
cally underrepresented in STEM and geo-
415 
graphic regions with low availability and high 
demand for advanced computing resources; 
(G) considers how Foundation-supported 
advanced computing capabilities can be lever-
aged for activities through the Directorate for 
Science and Engineering Solutions; and 
(H) provides an update to Congress about 
the level of funding necessary to fully meet 
computational resource needs for the research 
community. 
(4) SECURING
AMERICAN
RESEARCH
FROM 
CYBER THEFT.— 
(A) 
NETWORKING
AND
INFORMATION 
TECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH
AND
DEVELOPMENT 
UPDATE.—Section 101(a)(1) of the High-Per-
formance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 
5511) is amended— 
(i) by moving the margins of subpara-
graphs (D) and (J) through (O) two ems 
to the left; 
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(J) through (O) as subparagraphs (K) 
through (P), respectively; and 
(iii) by inserting after subparagraph 
(I) the following:
416 
‘‘(J) provide for improving the security, reli-
ability, and resiliency of computing and networking 
systems used by institutions of higher education and 
other nonprofit research institutions for the proc-
essing, storage and transmission of sensitive feder-
ally funded research and associated data;’’. 
(B) COMPUTING
ENCLAVE
PILOT
PRO-
GRAM.— 
(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Director, in 
consultation with the Director of the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology and the Secretary of Energy, shall 
establish a pilot program to award grants 
to ensure the security of federally-sup-
ported research data and to assist regional 
institutions of higher education and their 
researchers in compliance with regulations 
regarding the safeguarding of sensitive in-
formation and other relevant regulations 
and Federal guidelines. 
(ii) STRUCTURE.—In carrying out the 
pilot program established pursuant to 
clause (i), the Director shall select three 
institutions of higher education from 
among institutions classified under the In-
417 
diana University Center for Postsecondary 
Research Carnegie Classification as a doc-
torate-granting university with a very high 
level of research activity, and with a his-
tory of working with secure information for 
the development, installation, maintenance, 
or sustainment of secure computing en-
claves. 
(iii) REGIONALIZATION.— 
(I) IN
GENERAL.—In selecting 
universities pursuant to clause (ii), 
the Director shall give preference to 
institutions of higher education with 
the capability of serving other regional 
universities. 
(II) GEOGRAPHIC
DISPERSAL.— 
The enclaves should be geographically 
dispersed to better meet the needs of 
regional interests. 
(iv) PROGRAM
ELEMENTS.—The Di-
rector shall work with institutions of high-
er education selected pursuant to clause 
(ii) to—
418 
(I) develop an approved design 
blueprint for compliance with Federal 
data protection protocols; 
(II) develop a comprehensive and 
confidential list, or a bill of materials, 
of each binary component of the soft-
ware, firmware, or product that is re-
quired to deploy additional secure 
computing enclaves; 
(III) develop templates for all 
policies and procedures required to 
operate the secure computing enclave 
in a research setting; 
(IV) develop a system security 
plan template; and 
(V) develop a process for man-
aging a plan of action and milestones 
for the secure computing enclave. 
(v) 
DURATION.—Subject 
to 
other 
availability of appropriations, the pilot pro-
gram established pursuant to clause (i) 
shall operate for not less than 3 years. 
(vi) REPORT.— 
(I) IN GENERAL.—The Director 
shall report to Congress not later than
419 
6 months after the completion of the 
pilot program under clause (i). 
(II) CONTENTS.—The report re-
quired under subclause (I) shall in-
clude— 
(aa) an assessment of the 
pilot program under clause (i), 
including an assessment of the 
security benefits provided by such 
secure computing enclaves; 
(bb) recommendations re-
lated to the value of expanding 
the network of secure computing 
enclaves; and 
(cc) recommendations on the 
efficacy of the use of secure com-
puting enclaves by other Federal 
agencies in a broader effort to 
expand security of Federal re-
search. 
(vii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Director, $38,000,000 for 
fiscal years 2022 through 2024, to carry 
out the activities outlined in this section.
420 
(e) NATIONAL SECURE DATA SERVICE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consulta-
tion with the Chief Statistician of the United States, 
shall establish a demonstration project to develop, 
refine and test models to inform the full implemen-
tation of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policy-
making recommendation for a government-wide data 
linkage and access infrastructure for statistical ac-
tivities conducted for statistical purposes, as defined 
in chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code. 
(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 
shall establish a National Secure Data Service dem-
onstration project. The National Secure Data Serv-
ice demonstration project shall be— 
(A) aligned with the principles, best prac-
tices, and priority actions recommended by the 
Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence 
Building, to the extent feasible; and 
(B) operated directly by or via a contract 
that is managed by the National Center for 
Science and Engineering Statistics. 
(3) DATA.—In carrying out this subsection, the 
Director shall engage with Federal and State agen-
cies to collect, acquire, analyze, report, and dissemi-
421 
nate statistical data in the United States and other 
nations to support government-wide evidence-build-
ing activities consistent with the Foundations for 
Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018. 
(4) PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY PROTEC-
TIONS.—If the Director issues a management con-
tract under paragraph (2), the awardee shall be des-
ignated as an ‘‘agent’’ under chapter 35 of title 44, 
United States Code, subchapter III, section 3561 et 
seq., with all requirements and obligations for pro-
tecting confidential information delineated in the 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical 
Efficiency Act of 2018 and the Privacy Act of 1974. 
(5) TECHNOLOGY AND PRIVACY STANDARDS.— 
In carrying out this subsection, the Director shall— 
(A) consider application and use of sys-
tems and technologies that incorporate protec-
tion measures to reasonably ensure confidential 
data and statistical products are protected in 
accordance with obligations under chapter 35 of 
title 44, United States Code, subchapter III, 
section 3561 et seq., including systems and 
technologies that ensure raw data and other 
sensitive inputs are not accessible to recipients
422 
of statistical outputs from the National Secure 
Data Service demonstration project; and 
(B) to the extent feasible, consider apply-
ing privacy-enhancing technologies to approved 
projects when appropriate, or take appropriate 
measures to minimize re-identification risks 
consistent with any applicable guidance or regu-
lations issued under chapter 35 of title 44, 
United States Code, subchapter III, section 
3561 et seq. 
(6) TRANSPARENCY.—The National Secure 
Data Service established under paragraph (2) shall 
maintain a public website with up-to-date informa-
tion on supported projects. 
(7) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the National Secure 
Data Service demonstration project established 
under paragraph (2) shall submit a report to Con-
gress that includes— 
(A) a description of policies for protecting 
data, consistent with applicable Federal law; 
(B) a comprehensive description of all 
completed or active data linkage activities and 
projects;
423 
(C) an assessment of the effectiveness of 
the demonstration project for mitigating risks 
and removing barriers to a sustained implemen-
tation of the National Secure Data Service as 
recommended by the Commission on Evidence- 
Based Policymaking; and 
(D) if deemed effective by the Director, a 
plan for scaling up the demonstration project to 
facilitate data access for evidence building while 
ensuring transparency and privacy. 
(8) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Di-
rector to carry out this subsection $9,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 
SEC. 10308. DIRECTORATE FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEER-
ING SOLUTIONS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the availability of 
appropriated funds, there is established within the Foun-
dation the Directorate for Science and Engineering Solu-
tions to advance research and development solutions to ad-
dress societal and national challenges for the benefit of 
all Americans. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Directorate estab-
lished under subsection (a) is to support use-inspired re-
search, accelerate the translation of Foundation-supported
424 
fundamental research and to advance technologies, facili-
tate commercialization and use of federally funded re-
search, and expand the pipeline of United States students 
and researchers in areas of societal and national impor-
tance. 
(c) ACTIVITIES.—The Director shall achieve the pur-
poses described in subsection (b) by awarding financial as-
sistance through the Directorate to— 
(1) support transformational advances in use- 
inspired and translational research through diverse 
funding mechanisms and models, including conver-
gence accelerators; 
(2) translate research into science and engineer-
ing innovations, including through developing inno-
vative approaches to connect research with societal 
outcomes, developing approaches to technology 
transfer that do not rely only on traditional market 
and commercialization tools, education and training 
for students and researchers on engaging with end 
users and the public, partnerships that facilitate re-
search uptake, application, and scaling, prototype 
development, entrepreneurial education, developing 
tech-to-market strategies, and partnerships that con-
nect research products to businesses, accelerators,
425 
and incubators and encourage the formation and 
growth of new companies; 
(3) develop and expand sustainable and mutu-
ally-beneficial use-inspired and translational research 
and development partnerships and collaborations 
among institutions of higher education, including 
minority serving institutions and emerging research 
institutions, non-profit organizations, labor organiza-
tions, businesses and other for-profit entities, Fed-
eral or State agencies, community organizations, 
other Foundation directorates, national labs, field 
stations and marine laboratories, international enti-
ties as appropriate, binational research and develop-
ment foundations and funds, excluding foreign enti-
ties of concern, and other organizations; 
(4) 
build 
capacity 
for 
use-inspired 
and 
translational research at institutions of higher edu-
cation, including necessary administrative support; 
(5) expand opportunities for researchers to con-
tribute to use-inspired and translational research in-
cluding through support for workshops and con-
ferences, targeted incentives and training, and multi-
disciplinary research centers; 
(6) support the education, mentoring, and 
training of undergraduate students, graduate stu-
426 
dents, and postdoctoral researchers in use-inspired 
and translational approaches to research and entre-
preneurship in key focus areas identified under sub-
section (g) through scholarships, fellowships, and 
traineeships; 
(7) support translational research infrastruc-
ture, including platforms and testbeds, data manage-
ment and software tools, and networks and commu-
nication platforms for interactive and collective 
learning and information sharing; 
(8) identify social, behavioral, and economic 
drivers and consequences of technological innova-
tions; and 
(9) ensure the programmatic work of the Direc-
torate and Foundation incorporates a worker per-
spective through participation by labor organizations 
and workforce training organizations. 
(d) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall appoint 
an Assistant Director responsible for the manage-
ment of the Directorate established under this sec-
tion. 
(2) TERM LIMIT.—The Assistant Director ap-
pointed under paragraph (1) shall serve a term last-
ing no longer than 4 years.
427 
(3) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Assistant Director 
shall be an individual, who by reason of professional 
background and experience, is specially qualified 
to— 
(A) advise the Director on all matters per-
taining to use-inspired and translational re-
search, development, and commercialization at 
the Foundation, including partnership with the 
private sector and other users of Foundation 
funded research; and 
(B) develop and implement the necessary 
policies and procedures to promote a culture of 
use-inspired and translational research within 
the Directorate and across the Foundation and 
carry out the responsibilities under paragraph 
(4). 
(4) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 
the Assistant Director shall include— 
(A) advising the Director on all matters 
pertaining to use-inspired and translational re-
search and development activities at the Foun-
dation, including effective practices for conver-
gence research; 
(B) identifying opportunities for and facili-
tating coordination and collaboration, where ap-
428 
propriate, on use-inspired and translational re-
search, development, commercialization, and so-
cietal application activities— 
(i) among the offices, directorates, 
and divisions within the Foundation; and 
(ii) between the Foundation and 
stakeholders in academia, the private sec-
tor, including non-profit entities, labor or-
ganizations, Federal or State agencies, and 
international entities, as appropriate; 
(C) ensuring that the activities carried out 
under this section are not duplicative of activi-
ties supported by other parts of the Foundation 
or other relevant Federal agencies; 
(D) approving all new programs within the 
Directorate; 
(E) developing and testing diverse merit- 
review models and mechanisms for selecting 
and providing awards for use-inspired and 
translational research and development at dif-
ferent scales, from individual investigator 
awards to large multi-institution collaborations; 
(F) assessing the success of programs; 
(G) administering awards to achieve the 
purposes described in subsection (b); and
429 
(H) performing other such duties per-
taining to the purposes in subsection (b) as are 
required by the Director. 
(5) RELATIONSHIP
TO
THE
DIRECTOR.—The 
Assistant Director shall report to the Director. 
(6) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROGRAMS.—No 
other directorate within the Foundation shall report 
to the Assistant Director. 
(e) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the Fed-
eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) the 
Director shall establish an advisory committee to as-
sess, and make recommendations regarding, the ac-
tivities carried out under this section. 
(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory committee 
members shall— 
(A) be individuals with relevant experience 
or expertise, including individuals from industry 
and national labs, educators, academic subject 
matter experts, including individuals with 
knowledge of the technical and social dimen-
sions of science and technology, technology 
transfer experts, labor organizations, and rep-
resentatives of civil society, community organi-
430 
zations, and other nongovernmental organiza-
tions; and 
(B) consist of at least 10 members broadly 
representative of stakeholders, including no less 
than 3 members from the private sector, none 
of whom shall be an employee of the Federal 
Government. 
(3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Committee shall 
be responsible for— 
(A) reviewing and evaluating activities car-
ried out under this section; and 
(B) assessing the success of the Direc-
torate in and proposing new strategies for ful-
filling the purposes in subsection (b). 
(f) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Convergence Accel-
erator, the Growing Convergence Research Big Idea, and 
any other program, at the discretion of the Director, may 
be managed by the Directorate. 
(g) FOCUS AREAS.—In consultation with the Assist-
ant Director, the Board, and other Federal agencies and 
taking into account advice under subsection (e), the Direc-
tor shall identify, and regularly update, up to 5 focus 
areas to guide activities under this section. In selecting 
such focus areas, the Director shall consider the following 
societal challenges:
431 
(1) Climate change and environmental sustain-
ability. 
(2) Global competitiveness and domestic job 
creation in critical technologies. 
(3) Cybersecurity. 
(4) National security. 
(5) STEM education and workforce. 
(6) Social and economic inequality. 
(h) ELIGIBILITY.—Recipients of funds under this 
section may include institutions of higher education, re-
search institutions, non-profit organizations, private sector 
entities, consortia, or other entities, as defined by the Di-
rector. 
(i) TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Director may award 
grants and cooperative agreements to institutions of 
higher education, or consortia thereof, for the plan-
ning, establishment, and support of Technology Re-
search Institutes in key technology areas, as deter-
mined by the Director. 
(2) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under 
this section may be used by a Technology Research 
Institute to— 
(A) conduct fundamental research to ad-
vance innovation in a key technology;
432 
(B) conduct research involving a key tech-
nology to solve challenges with social, economic, 
health, scientific, and national security implica-
tions; 
(C) further the development, adoption, and 
commercialization of innovations in key tech-
nology focus areas, including through partner-
ship with other Federal agencies and Federal 
laboratories, industry, including startup compa-
nies, labor organizations, civil society organiza-
tions, and State, territorial, local, and Tribal 
governments; 
(D) develop and manage multi-user re-
search testbeds and instrumentation for key 
technologies; 
(E) develop and manage an accessible re-
pository, as appropriate, for research data and 
computational models relevant to the relevant 
key technology field, consistent with applicable 
privacy and intellectual property laws; 
(F) convene national workshops for re-
searchers and other stakeholders in that tech-
nology area; 
(G) establish traineeship programs for 
graduate students who pursue research related
433 
to the technology leading to a masters or doc-
torate degree by providing funding and other 
assistance, and by providing graduate students 
opportunities for research experiences in gov-
ernment or industry related to the students’ 
studies in that technology area; 
(H) engage in outreach and engagement to 
broaden participation in technology research 
and education; and 
(I) support such other activities that the 
Director determines appropriate. 
(3) 
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
making 
awards 
under this section, the Director may consider the ex-
tent to which the activities proposed— 
(A) have the potential to create an innova-
tion ecosystem, or enhance existing ecosystems, 
to translate Technology Research Institute re-
search into applications and products, as appro-
priate to the topic of each Institute; 
(B) support transdisciplinary research and 
development across multiple institutions of 
higher education and organizations; 
(C) support transdisciplinary education ac-
tivities, including curriculum development, re-
search experiences, and faculty professional de-
434 
velopment across undergraduate, graduate, and 
professional academic programs; 
(D) involve partnerships with multiple 
types of institutions, including emerging re-
search institutions, historically Black colleges 
and universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, 
and minority serving institutions, and with 
other Federal agencies, Federal laboratories, in-
dustry, State, territorial, local, and Tribal gov-
ernments, labor organizations, civil society or-
ganizations, and other entities that may use or 
be affected by the technology; and 
(E) include a component that addresses 
the ethical, societal, safety, and security impli-
cations relevant to the application of the tech-
nology. 
(4) DURATION.— 
(A) INITIAL
PERIOD.—An award under 
this section shall be for an initial period of 5 
years. 
(B) RENEWAL.—An established Tech-
nology Institute may apply for, and the Direc-
tor may grant, extended funding for periods of 
5 years on a merit-reviewed basis.
435 
(5) APPLICATION.—An institution of higher 
education or consortia thereof seeking financial as-
sistance under this section shall submit to the Direc-
tor an application at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Director may re-
quire. 
(6) COMPETITIVE, MERIT-REVIEW.—In making 
awards under the section, the Director shall— 
(A) use a competitive, merit review process 
that includes peer review by a diverse group of 
individuals with relevant expertise from both 
the private and public sectors; and 
(B) ensure the focus areas of the Institute 
do not substantially and unnecessarily duplicate 
the efforts of any other Technology Research 
Institute or any other similar effort at another 
Federal agency. 
(7) COLLABORATION.—In making awards under 
this section, the Director may collaborate with Fed-
eral departments and agencies whose missions con-
tribute to or are affected by the technology focus 
area of the institute. 
(j) PLANNING AND CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS.— 
Section 602 of the American Innovation and Competitive-
ness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–9) is amended—
436 
(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub-
section (f); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (d), the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e) PLANNING AND CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program estab-
lished in section 508 of the America COMPETES 
Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–2) 
and the activities authorized under this section, the 
Director shall award grants to eligible entities for 
planning and capacity building at institutions of 
higher education. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an institu-
tion of higher education (or a consortium of such in-
stitutions) that, according to the data published by 
the National Center for Science and Engineering 
Statistics, is not, on average, among the top 100 in-
stitutions in Federal R&D expenditures during the 3 
year period prior to the year of the award. 
‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—In addition to activities 
listed under subsection (c), an eligible entity receiv-
ing a grant under this subsection may use funds 
to—
437 
‘‘(A) ensure the availability of staff, includ-
ing technology transfer professionals, entre-
preneurs in residence, and other mentors as re-
quired to accomplish the purpose of this sub-
section; 
‘‘(B) revise institution policies, including 
policies related to intellectual property and fac-
ulty entrepreneurship, and taking other nec-
essary steps to implement relevant best prac-
tices for academic technology transfer; 
‘‘(C) develop new local and regional part-
nerships among institutions of higher education 
and between institutions of higher education 
and private sector entities and other relevant 
organizations with the purpose of building net-
works, expertise, and other capacity to identify 
promising research that may have potential 
market value and enable researchers to pursue 
further development and transfer of their ideas 
into possible commercial or other use; 
‘‘(D) develop seminars, courses, and other 
educational opportunities for students, post-doc-
toral researchers, faculty, and other relevant 
staff at institutions of higher education to in-
crease awareness and understanding of entre-
438 
preneurship, patenting, business planning, and 
other areas relevant to technology transfer, and 
connect students and researchers to relevant re-
sources, including mentors in the private sector; 
and 
‘‘(E) create and fund competitions to allow 
entrepreneurial students and faculty to illus-
trate the commercialization potential of their 
ideas. 
‘‘(4) 
MINIMUM
DURATION
AND
SIZE
OF 
AWARD.—Grants awarded under this subsection 
shall be at least 3 years in duration and $500,000 
in total amount. 
‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking 
funding under this subsection shall submit an appli-
cation to the Director of the Foundation at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such informa-
tion and assurances as such Director may require. 
The application shall include, at a minimum, a de-
scription of how the eligible entity submitting an ap-
plication plans to sustain the proposed activities be-
yond the duration of the grant. 
‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
From within funds authorized for the Directorate 
for Science and Engineering Solutions, there are au-
439 
thorized to carry out the activities under this sub-
section $40 million for each of fiscal years 2022 
through 2026.’’. 
(k) ENTREPRENEURIAL FELLOWSHIPS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall award 
fellowships to Ph.D.-trained scientists and engineers 
to help develop leaders capable of maturing prom-
ising ideas and technologies from lab to market and 
forge connections between academic research and 
government, industry, and finance. 
(2) APPLICATIONS.—An applicant for a fellow-
ship under this subsection shall submit to the Direc-
tor an application at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Director may re-
quire. At a minimum, the Director shall require that 
applicants— 
(A) have completed a doctoral degree in a 
STEM field no more than 5 years prior to the 
date of the application; and 
(B) have included in the application a let-
ter of support from the intended host institu-
tion that describes how the fellow will be em-
bedded in that institution’s research environ-
ment.
440 
(3) OUTREACH.—The Director shall conduct 
program outreach to recruit fellowship applicants— 
(A) from diverse research institutions; 
(B) from all regions of the country; and 
(C) from groups historically underrep-
resented in STEM fields; 
(4) The Director may enter into an agreement 
with a third-party entity to administer the fellow-
ships, subject to the provisions of this subsection. 
(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Direc-
tor $100,000,000 for fiscal years 2022 through 
2026, to carry out the activities outlined in this sub-
section. 
(l) LOW-INCOME SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall award 
scholarships to low-income individuals to enable such 
individuals to pursue associate, undergraduate, or 
graduate level degrees in mathematics, engineering, 
or computer science. 
(2) ELIGIBILITY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 
a scholarship under this section, an indi-
vidual—
441 
(i) must be a citizen of the United 
States, a national of the United States (as 
defined in section 1101(a) of title 8), an 
alien admitted as a refugee under section 
1157 of title 8, or an alien lawfully admit-
ted to the United States for permanent 
residence; 
(ii) shall prepare and submit to the 
Director an application at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such infor-
mation as the Director may require; and 
(iii) shall certify to the Director that 
the individual intends to use amounts re-
ceived under the scholarship to enroll or 
continue enrollment at an institution of 
higher education (as defined in section 
1001(a) of title 20) in order to pursue an 
associate, undergraduate, or graduate level 
degree in mathematics, engineering, com-
puter science, or other technology and 
science programs designated by the Direc-
tor. 
(B) ABILITY.—Awards of scholarships 
under this section shall be made by the Director 
solely on the basis of the ability of the appli-
442 
cant, except that in any case in which 2 or 
more applicants for scholarships are deemed by 
the Director to be possessed of substantially 
equal ability, and there are not sufficient schol-
arships available to grant one to each of such 
applicants, the available scholarship or scholar-
ships shall be awarded to the applicants in a 
manner that will tend to result in a geographi-
cally wide distribution throughout the United 
States of recipients’ places of permanent resi-
dence. 
(3) SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT AND RENEWAL.— 
The amount of a scholarship awarded under this 
section shall be determined by the Director. The Di-
rector may renew scholarships for up to 5 years. 
(4) AUTHORIZATION.—Of amounts authorized 
for the Directorate for Science and Engineering So-
lutions, $100,000,000 shall be authorized for this 
program. 
(m) AUTHORITIES.—In addition to existing authori-
ties available to the Foundation, the Director may exercise 
the following authorities in carrying out the activities 
under this section: 
(1) AWARDS.—In carrying out this section, the 
Director may provide awards in the form of grants,
443 
contracts, cooperative agreements, cash prizes, and 
other transactions. 
(2) APPOINTMENTS.—The Director shall have 
the authority to make appointments of scientific, en-
gineering, and professional personnel for carrying 
out research and development functions which re-
quire the services of specially qualified personnel re-
lating to the focus areas identified under subsection 
(g) and such other areas of national research prior-
ities as the Director may determine. 
(n) ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND SOCIETAL CONSIDER-
ATIONS.—The Director shall establish policies regarding 
engagement with experts in the social dimensions of 
science and technology and set up formal avenues for pub-
lic input, as appropriate, to ensure that ethical, legal, and 
societal considerations are explicitly integrated into the 
priorities for the Directorate, including the selection of 
focus areas under subsection (g), the award-making proc-
ess, and throughout all stages of supported projects. 
(o) REPORTS AND ROADMAPS.— 
(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director shall pro-
vide to the relevant authorizing and appropriations 
committees of Congress an annual report describing 
projects supported by the Directorate during the 
previous year.
463 
related to engineering biology is integrated into the 
Initiative; 
(4) ensuring, through the agencies and depart-
ments that participate in the Initiative, that public 
input and outreach are integrated into the Initiative 
by the convening of regular and ongoing public dis-
cussions through mechanisms such as workshops, 
consensus conferences, and educational events, as 
appropriate; and 
(5) complying with all applicable provisions of 
Federal law. 
SEC. 10404. INITIATIVE COORDINATION. 
(a) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The President, act-
ing through the Office of Science and Technology Policy, 
shall designate an interagency committee to coordinate ac-
tivities of the Initiative as appropriate, which shall be co- 
chaired by the Office of Science and Technology Policy. 
The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Pol-
icy shall select an additional co-chairperson from among 
the members of the Interagency Committee. The Inter-
agency Committee shall oversee the planning, manage-
ment, and coordination of the Initiative. The Interagency 
Committee shall— 
(1) provide for interagency coordination of Fed-
eral engineering biology research, development, and
464 
other activities undertaken pursuant to the Initia-
tive; 
(2) establish and periodically update goals and 
priorities for the Initiative; 
(3) develop, not later than 12 months after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and update every 
5 years thereafter, a strategic plan submitted to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, the 
Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation, the Committee on Agriculture, Nu-
trition, and Forestry, and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 
that— 
(A) guides the activities of the Initiative 
for purposes of meeting the goals and priorities 
established under (and updated pursuant to) 
paragraph (2); and 
(B) describes— 
(i) the Initiative’s support for long- 
term funding for interdisciplinary engineer-
ing biology research and development; 
(ii) the Initiative’s support for edu-
cation and public outreach activities;
465 
(iii) the Initiative’s support for re-
search and other activities on ethical, legal, 
environmental, safety, security, and other 
appropriate societal issues related to engi-
neering biology including— 
(I) an applied biorisk manage-
ment research plan; 
(II) recommendations for inte-
grating security into biological data 
access and international reciprocity 
agreements; 
(III) recommendations for manu-
facturing restructuring to support en-
gineering biology research, develop-
ment, and scaling-up initiatives; and 
(IV) an evaluation of existing 
biosecurity governance policies, guid-
ance, and directives for the purposes 
of creating an adaptable, evidence- 
based framework to respond to emerg-
ing biosecurity challenges created by 
advances in engineering biology; 
(iv) how the Initiative will contribute 
to moving results out of the laboratory and
521 
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy. 
(2) FEDERAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Fed-
eral laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno-
vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703). 
(3) FEDERAL
SCIENCE
AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘Federal science agency’’ means any Federal agency 
with an annual extramural research expenditure of 
over $100,000,000. 
(4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
(5) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON INCLU-
SION
IN
STEM.—The term ‘‘interagency working 
group on inclusion in STEM’’ means the interagency 
working group established by section 308 of the 
American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (42 
U.S.C. 6626). 
(6) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics, including 
computer science.
634 
be for a period that the Secretary deems appro-
priate for the proposed activities but not less 
than 2 years. 
‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT
PERFORMANCE
PE-
RIOD.—The Secretary may renew a grant or co-
operative agreement awarded to a regional tech-
nology and innovation hub under paragraph (1) 
for such period as the Secretary considers ap-
propriate, if the Secretary determines that the 
regional technology and innovation hub has 
made satisfactory progress towards the metrics 
agreed to under subsection (j). 
‘‘(C) FLEXIBLE APPROACH.—In renewing 
a grant or cooperative agreement under sub-
paragraph (B), the Secretary and the eligible 
consortium may agree to new or additional uses 
of funds in order to meet changes in the needs 
of the region. 
‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF AWARDS.— 
‘‘(A) INITIAL
PERFORMANCE
PERIOD.— 
The amount of an initial grant or cooperative 
agreements awarded to a regional technology 
and innovation hub under paragraph (3)(A) 
shall be no more than $150,000,000.
866 
turing facility or operation in the country of concern 
for the duration of the equity capital. 
(l) CREDITWORTHINESS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—For a loan or loan guar-
antee provided under this section, the manufacturing 
investment company or eligible entity and eligible ac-
tivity receiving such loan or loan guarantee shall be 
creditworthy, which shall be determined by the As-
sistant Secretary. 
(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining the 
creditworthiness of a manufacturing investment 
company or an eligible entity and eligible activity 
under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary shall 
take into consideration relevant factors, including 
the following: 
(A) The terms, conditions, financial struc-
ture, and security features of the loan or loan 
guarantee. 
(B) The revenue sources that will secure or 
fund any note, bond, debenture, or other debt 
obligation issued in connection with the loan or 
loan guarantee. 
(C) The financial assumptions upon which 
the loan or loan guarantee is based. 
(D) The ability of—